Recharged

This Friday was quite possibly the greatest day of the school year thus far. We had a professional development day which means teachers come to school all day and the students enjoy a three-day weekend. Normally, I daydream bitterly about those niños playing at the beach or watching TV while I sit in a stuffy library, trying my hardest to not fall asleep while spending the entire day planning out what will happen next in my classroom with my team (don’t get me wrong, I love my team but spending an entire day planning is pretty much as exciting as eating plain Cheerios without milk). This time, however, was different. By the end of the day, every single teacher walked away feeling inspired and recharged; something we all desperately needed.

My presentation went really well! I was very happy with it and I got a lot of positive feedback from my colleagues. Most said they were going to use the program I talked about in their own classrooms and asked if they could come watch it in action this week. Makenzie even said I should have been paid for the presentation it was so great :) Aubrey’s presentation was also very informative and helpful for teachers and our presentations complimented each other so many teachers felt that both programs were possible to bring to their classes. We also heard from some teachers about the research they had done on bullying. From my experiences, bullying is not nearly as big of an issue at this school as it is in others I have seen, but it exists nonetheless. And as we discussed as a staff, even just one instance can completely shake a young child’s world. We all took a miniature pledge to be more active in our students’ personal lives by ensuring that everyone feels safe at school and most importantly, by making sure we as teachers are not bullying the students.

After we all developed as teachers, the P.E. staff had a little surprise presentation of their own for us. They lead the entire elementary school staff in stretching, aerobics, salsa, and dodge ball. Best. Day. Ever! I was pretty much laughing the entire time watching my uncoordinated colleagues let lose and dance while some high school teachers gazed longingly at us from a distance, desperately wishing they were members of the elementary school instead. After getting all sweaty, we ate at our potluck lunch the Spanish teachers planned and then spent the last hour of the day planning. I don’t think a single person left school that day without a smile on their face.

After the PD, some of the teachers and Colin’s rugby friends met at the soccer friend to play touch rugby. I had played one other time before but couldn’t get the hang of the fact that rugby is a sport that requires the team be moving forward but passing the ball backward. So frustrating! This Friday was so much more fun, however, as we had the right mix of people and we were also playing in the pouring rain. Like waterfalls in the streets or enough water to fill the sink hole, kind of pouring. After coming home with squeaky shoes and a bruised body, we began the weekend of celebrating Katie's 26th birthday. We had a gathering at our apartment and pretty much invited everyone we know. A bunch of Guatemaltecos came which was great because we made a lot of new friends that know the ins and outs of the city and have every intention to initiating us to real Guatemalan livin'.  We already made plans to go watch a futbol game, see some live music, check out some potential apartments for next year, and go to the only winery in Guatemala... all this week. I think its safe to say we made some great new friends :)

Q.35 sunglasses automatically make you cool

The whole apartment building, including especially myself, was pretty dead all day Saturday but in the evening we took two car loads of people to Antigua for day two of Katie's birthday weekend. We stayed at the hostel we usually default to (Q.65 for lodging and breakfast. That's less than $8, in case you were wondering) and went out to eat at a restaurant called Frida's, named after the beloved artist. We went out and listened to some local bands play and then called it a night. The next morning, we walked around the market, ate at our favorite crepe restaurant (it may also be the ONLY crepe restaurant but it really is incredible), and then headed to the Earthlodge for the second time in a week. The Earthlodge was having a BBQ with live music, good food, great games, and awesome people. We are convinced that this party was actually planned for Katie's birthday. We laid in the grass, ate mounds of chocolate, and basked in the glory that is our lives. Even the drive home was pleasant, despite the pollution and traffic, because I found myself in the company of good people and good people seem to make everything, well, good. 

Happy birthday, Miss Kite :)

And I'm afraid that is really all I have to say about that. Sometimes the simplest of weekends are the most enjoyable. Tomorrow is the start of a new month, one that is jam-packed with super cool elementary school activities such as space exploration (from earth, that is), Sports Day at Inter, the end of 3rd quarter (come again?!), beginning to learn DIVISION, and an entire month for 3A with no visitors. They seem to think that someone should come once a month now; they've been spoiled rotten with the awesome visitors they have had so far! Aubrey's sister is coming to Guatemala in less than three weeks and then her parents and my mom are coming a few weeks after that; hopefully we can all hold out until then.  For this weekend we are running an Avon breast cancer run with a bunch of teachers and others in the Inter community. I'm doing a 10K just to prove to myself that I really need to get serious about running again. 

Enjoy your last day of February!