Weekend Update

Here's a weekend update, SNL style.

This weekend we have our 6th day of work on Saturday where we spent another 8 hours at school watching children play in various sports and eat an assortment of junk food at the same time. 3A wons two games of dodgeball and maybe, sorta, a little bit lost two games of soccer. But let me tell you about how Guatemalan's play dodgeball. They call it "Matado" and its so much cooler than dodgeball (yeah, I didn't think that was possible either!). They only play with one ball but as soon as you get out, you have to run to the other side of the court to the opposing team's side and you can hit people from behind as well. Eventually, there are equal numbers of kids trying to hit you from the front and the back. So no one truly gets "out;" everyone continues to contribute just in a different position. I think this version with a few more balls would be a hit in the U.S. and hopefully I can bring it there someday.

My little munchkins :)

Nothing else too exciting happened on Saturday except for the surprise birthday linner (in between lunch and dinner) for Claudia and my 10:30pm bedtime. Walter picked me up a 6:45am the next day and we unintentionally ran 17K with his running group. It was awesome but also a slap-in-the-face as to how depressing it is when you have to get back in shape. I am running a lot more than I had been but it still blows to be completely dependent on someone else's schedule; if they decide not to run, you can't either. Anywayyyy, that's about the extent of the weekend. This next one will be much better as I plan to go to the beach, lay in a hammock, possibly crochet a few hats, play in the ocean, and practice my Spanish. Yes, please!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day so everyone is coming to my class dressed in green (they are well-aware of the punishments that will ensue if they fail to do so... pinches galore). We are also having a third grade "St. Patty's Day Dash" in honor of my family in Washington. We are going to have a group stretch and a race around the track. Winner gets a prize that I have yet to come up with; suggestions are welcomed. I'm mostly just excited to teach my kids about all the reasons I love St. Patty's Day: Megan Koontz :)

Today as a little break between 7 hours of school and tutoring, my little buddy I tutor and I played UNO. I taught him how to shuffle the deck, we glared at each other while we were "at battle" (his words!) as we played, and I laughed my head off when every time I'd throw down a "draw two" card, he would yell, "Why god, why?!" Then, after beating him for the second time in a row, the kid had to go ruin all our fun by shouting,

"What?! A WOMAN beating a MAN two times?! Impossible!"

Oh snap! You said that to the wrong girl, kid. I pretty much lectured him to death on that comment. I asked him who taught him that or who told him it was okay to think such things and he wouldn't answer me. I think its safe to assume it was the Latin American culture that engrained this thought in his young mind. One of the most frustrating things about this society is that many, many people truly believe that women are inferior to men in every sense of the word. Not all Guatemalans think this way, obviously, but those who do seem to express it in more ways than necessary. It doesn't take a feminist to feel offended by the fact that an 8-year-old thinks that because he is a boy he will automatically beat a 23-year-old girl at a card game. Hopefully the remaining uncomfortable time left in that tutoring session gave him some time to think about what he thinks or at least who he says it to.

Yesterday during math, we all filled out our very own NCAA Basketball brackets. It took forever for the kids to understand the process of it but once they got a hang of it, I was very impressed with their care and confidence. I had printed out the records of each of the teams so the kids had to consider their rankings and records all while looking from one list of data to the next. Eighteen of my students chose Kansas to win the entire tournament. Some kids even chose KU to play UW in the championship game (brown nosers!). Five kiddos chose another team (either Ohio St, Duke, or Texas) and I only threatened to fail them once ;) They are all so excited to hear the results, especially since I told them the winner will get another prize I have yet to determine.

Another event that will bring a smile to the faces of my KU lovers, is when we read the book "Little Miss Sunshine" today in class. For those who don't know the story, Little Miss Sunshine takes a trip to a place called "Miseryland" and, after some persuasion, brings cheer to everyone there. I asked my kids if they knew what the word "misery" meant and one sweet girl raised her hand and answered,

"It is the state next to Kansas!"

It took all my strength to not burst out into laughter but I was able to pull off a smile instead. I told the kids that not only are "misery" and "Missouri" homophones, but they were also synonyms :)

Aubrey's sister, Ali, just got here this morning! They have been so, so excited for that both of them are now passed out asleep. We are hopefully going to an ITRRC (it's been awhile since you've read about that, huh?) dinner tomorrow night to show Ali around the city a bit and for the first time in a long time, Aubrey and I are going to part ways this weekend. Hopefully I can maintain my sanity without her but I think she will have a much-needed sister bonding experience in an Antigua and maybe I'll crochet them matching socks at the beach or something :) Anyway, that's about all I have for you today. Sending my love to all of you!