El Sal, Brother, Media Maraton

I didn't believe my friends that blog when they warned me that its a lot harder to write during the second year. Turns out they were totally right! I am working on it people...

Roomie Love

Well two three weekends ago now, Makenzie, Aubrey, Tom, Ryan (Tom's high school bro who now also teaches at Inter and lives next door to us) and I went to El Salvador for a three day weekend. We ate Trits, El Salvador's intensely amazing ice cream sandwiches, took naps in hammocks, swam in the pool, surfed a bit, watched Tom and Ryan assist in tearing down an overgrown mango tree, and just completely relaxed. It still really amazes me that we can go to another country so easily and so quickly. Its especially amazing because we have so many opportunities this year to float around and get out of the city with a long weekend almost every single month of the school year. For the next one, we are almost 100% sure we are going to Costa Rica as the plane tickets we just found for $177 are too tempting to resist.

Who will be going to Costa Rica? Aubrey, KyleAnne (a new teacher who teaches in high school), maybe Makenzie, aaaaaaand MY BROTHER! He is here! The process of him getting here was a little more brutal than I would have liked... his expected 8:58pm arrival time turned into hours and hours of delays as he was diverted to El Salvador because of thunderstorms. This wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the fact that the Guatemala City Airport does not think it is necessary to give people any information as to the whereabouts of the flights that become delayed. So we stayed at the airport until 12:05am when his flight landed but since I recently received the "Sister of the Year" award, I had fallen asleep in the truck and woke up at around 1:00am to find my scared and cold little brother alone in the arrivals section of the airport. I still haven't forgiven myself but luckily my brother has.

He came to school on Thursday after 3 hours of sleep and, as expected, was an instant hit with the kids. Kids were volunteering to be Mr. Zack's Spanish teacher, fighting over who was going to get to walk with him in line, and I was happy to have an extra set of hands (and eyes) in the classroom. We have plans of doing some serious touring of the Guate and the countries that surround it but many of the plans are currently not in our control. Hopefully we will have our passports in hand and tickets purchased in the next few days.

Yesterday was the Guatemala City Half Marathon that I have been super excited about for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, nothing special happened. No best time. No moment of triumph. Just pretty average. I felt a little discouraged after the run considering some of my best races seem to now be when I don't train for them but I'm feeling okay with it today. I'm still waiting for that inspiration to try something new in athletics. Maybe half marathons are just not the right distance for me? Maybe I need to do something more exciting? Maybe I should try something that doesn't upset my bowels so much? Perhaps I should look into scuba diving? Plenty of animals to see, has the word "diving" in it, and I get to be submerged in water. Or I could look into the squash court at our apartment building and maybe even start up a team? I'll get back to you on that one ;)

3B with KinderC reading buddies!

Taken by a student in photography club :)

Okay I need to hit the hay but I'll try to update more frequently. One more blog before the end of the month?

INTERNET!

Well folks, it's finally here. After three weeks of going back and forth about who owed who money, the school finally got our internet turned on. I skyped with my mom for 2 straight hours, paid my forgotten credit card bill, checked up on some people, and then got intensely bored with it all. Funny how you can totally get used to not having computer access in such a short amount of time.

So here is a short list of things I need to update everyone on:
1. My new class!
2. My new house!
3. Trip to El Salvador!
4. New people!
5. My little brother's approaching trip to Guatemala!

Lets start with the first two and then perhaps the others will come in another blog entry (I don't want to write TOO much and bore you all).

First day of school!

So, this year I am section 3B instead of 3A and alls I can say is that they are totally lovely little people. I had been warned all last year that this group of kids were really wild and less motivated than my kids but I haven't seen any signs of that at all (I mean, obviously they are 8 and are a little wiggly but they are super fun at the same time). I'm already loving all the hugs and kisses and high fives I'm receiving each morning and getting to know what makes this group tick. Its funny being a second year teacher because for some reason I thought I would be getting third graders that were at the same level academically as my third graders were at the end of last year... not a chance! I completely forgot how slow the beginning of the year is as they are really more like second graders than third at this point. But I'm also doing a much better job of teaching the procedures and routines so I think my class this year will probably progress faster than last year.

Putting together our puzzle pieces

Oh, you know, playing Zip-Bong :)

I have twenty-one students, two are new to Inter, one having moved to Guate from the Dominican Republic and the other from Tanzania, and six of the twenty-one are Aubrey's old kids. They are very excitable, motivated by praise and whole class rewards, understanding of the mistakes we all make, and absolutely hilarious. I have to share one story about when I finally felt like I had my first "moment" with this group. We were reading Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (a 3A favorite passed on to the next generation), where Junie B's mother asks if she has any suggestions for baby names. Junie B throws out the idea of "Teeny." Then Junie B's mother explains, "Well, Teeny is a great name for the baby when it is little, but what will we call the baby when it grows up?" Junie B, with all her sass, responds with, "BIG Teeny!" My kids absolutely. lost. it. They had the rolling-on-the-floor, holding-gut, wiping-tears-from-their-eyes laughs and seeing their reaction to understanding a joke... IN English... made me SO happy. At first I had the biggest grin on my face but then as I scanned the room and watched as every kid held tight to make sure they didn't pee their pants in laughter, I started laughing the same way. When we finally all caught our breath, I told the kids it was time to go home and they all yelled, "Nooooo! One more chapter!" Unfortunately, I had already read one chapter more than I should have so I hustled them out of class. As they grabbed their backpacks and headed for the buses, I couldn't handle the cuteness of them shaking their heads and smiling while the mouthed "Big Teeny" all the way home. This was the day I decided I officially loved 3B :)

Guest Speaker #1: Mr. Juan Pablo speaking about Citizenship :)

Teaching Kindergarteners how to tie their shoes :)

Since the first day of school, we've had two birthday parties, three visiting hamsters, zero kids sent to the principal, twelve parents come to Open House, two chain links for everyone doing their homework, only one set of tears, and twenty-one smiles every single day. I'm very excited to see all the magic unfold in 3B this year and to learn even more from this group.

Lunch with some 3A alumni

If you're wondering if I've already forgotten about 3A, do not worry! They are still a big part of my life. They have to walk past my classroom from the fourth grade classes to go to the bathroom so multiple times a day kids will walk by with arms outstretched and say in a slow-motion voice, "Meeeeeeeeeeessssssss Aaaaaannnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" I also get the best hugs ever from them at recess and lunch and in the hall and in the bathroom and other inappropriate places. I've had a few kids come visit me during their recesses or invite me to play in their game of basketball. I even got to have lunch with two of my kids from last year because they completed a summer challenge packet I gave them to work on over the summer. I'm planning on going to one student's goodbye party as his family heads to Seattle (yahoo!) and am going to Antigua with a mom and student next weekend. I think its safe to say that last year was a total success in terms of keeping those kids in my life. I cannot wait to see what they accomplish in school and know that they will be in touch for years to come.

My new house is just perfect. Its a lot smaller and older than our old one but not only does it have fast internet (well, except for when they cut us off) and hot showers, but it also comes equipped with awesome neighbors, the ability to walk to the grocery store, the safety to run in the streets (alone even!), and a cold but refreshing pool. What else could we ask for? Aubrey and I are exponentially happier at this place and are really looking forward to hosting more visitors this year (hint, hint!).

Speaking of visitors.... ZACK IS COMING! ON WEDNESDAY! My students are jazzed, my friends are pumped, and I am going crazy with excitement. He is staying for almost an entire month and within the time that he will be here, we have one three-day weekend and one four-day weekend; YES! I'm really looking forward to paying him back for being such an amazing host for me this summer and for him to get to see a completely new part of the world. I'm also excited to see him interact with my students as I know he has put some thought into perhaps becoming a teacher someday.

four days until I'll be reunited with this guy!

Alright, well I still have more to report but I need some breakfast first. I'm planning on blogging again this weekend and even posting more pictures so stay tuned.

Setting the bar too high

Well, as you can probably guess, the internet still hasn't been turned back on. We also just got a bill under our door for internet since May (when we moved in in August) for almost Q.2000. So, we're still not really sure whats going to happen there.

Normally I would attempt to update you quickly but I think we are staying in town this weekend so if the internet comes back I may do a series of blog updates to fill you in since school started. For now, know that almost all is well and we are hosting Open House tonight at school (which means we'll be here until 8:30pm, yahoo!). Happy Thursday!

One quick photo for you to enjoy. One of my students brought in her hamsters last week ... just because. When explaining the procedures for handling hamsters, she told the students that if they screamed, it would scare the hamsters and they would DIE! It was the sweetest sounds on earth to hear the kids whispering the whole time they played with the little dudes. This event almost reminded me of my dream of someday having a class pet :)

Blogger Neglagence

Well, obviously a lot has been happening. One thing, that really isn't too important but I feel you must be informed about considering it may lend as an excuse for why I have been MIA this week, is that our internet got cut off...again. We haven't had it for about 8 days now which means I haven't been able to blog from home and since school is still in its "crazy" mode (when is it not?), I haven't had time to post from there either.

But please don't think that I have forgotten about you readers. I have a goal: Monday. Though its almost entirely out of my hands whether or not the internet will be back by then, I still like goals.

See ya Monday :)

Back in the GUA

Well, school starts tomorrow. It doesn't feel quite as real as it did last year for some reason, perhaps because its no longer my first day ever and so I am certain that I will make it out alive. Or perhaps its because I know many of the kids coming to my class this year. But for whatever reason, I am strangely calm. I am insanely excited thinking about playing at recess tomorrow and getting big hugs from such small people but I am feeling confident. Confident that tomorrow will be FUN. Confident that my kids will learn. Confident that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and feeling pretty fantastic about it. Confident.

Before the school stuff happened this week I went to Semuc Champey with my friend Jaron who is doing Peace Corps in Guatemala. I have a hard time explaining this place to people because its really just a magical jungle that doesn't even look like a real place. We went swimming in clear natural pools, walked through bat caves with nothing but candles, hiked out to a lookout to take it all in, went tubing down the river, jumped off of things, and met some cool people along the way. It was quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been to and is one that I will soon be making a common stop for visitors (though it is a 6 hour, packed shuttle ride (22 people in an 18 seater) to get there). I would tell you more about it but I think the pictures would do a better job this time :)

Friends!

I've had a great time getting to know all the new teachers so far. They are all super motivated and well traveled and generally hilarious people. Our new principal has also done a stellar job of coming in and getting things started right away. He is really flexible and open to new ideas and feedback so I am anxious to see where all these ideas take our school this year. Aubrey and I also moved apartments and are exponentially happier now. We can walk to the grocery store, run in the neighborhoods, walk to local restaurants, swim in the pool, take hot showers, use fast internet and other various happy things. In all, this year will be different in so many ways that I'm looking forward to a fresh start. I plan on blogging just as much this year I just need to get back into the rhythm after taking so much time off this summer... oops!

Cheers!