Second day in a row of blogging; gold star worthy? Well, maybe not but its definitely progress (first reference to the title of this entry).
I did a little blog research and found a round about way to post word documents onto a blog. So, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite class activities we do in 3A. Each quarter, the students write an entry for the Student Edition of our class newsletter. We brainstorm 22 things that happened throughout the quarter that were significant to us and then write a paragraph about it. The students all draw a picture of the event as well (which I couldn't figure out how to publish on google docs) and it makes for a hilarious letter for students and parents to read and remember about third grade. We published our first newsletter at the end of October and just sent home the second one last Friday. I showed Keri both editions of the newsletter and she happily noticed tremendous improvements in almost everyones writing. I got this idea from Aubrey who learned it from her cooperating teacher in the U.S. and will probably use it for the rest of my teaching career. I am so incredibly excited to see what the students come up with at the end of fourth quarter and hope that someday they look back on the progress (second reference to the title of this entry) they made throughout the year. I still can't believe that in just a few short months those kids will be leaving my class for good but it still amazes me everyday how much their brains can soak up and absorb. Somedays I wish I could stay in Guatemala forever, or at least until my current students graduate and go on to do awesome things, kind of like what Mr. Feeney did in Boy Meets World.
I've been battling some internal ethical issues lately with the kiddo I tutor after school. I won't go into to many details for the sake of privacy, but basically I haven't been standing up for myself when it comes to being paid by my tutee's (tutee...hilarious word) mother. She is inconsistent, "forgets to pay," and pays me a third less than any other tutor gets paid in the school. Its my own fault that I haven't done anything about it (though we are meeting this Wednesday to discuss the issue) but for some reason I just can't get past the fact that this student needs to be tutored much more than I need to be paid. After getting a little more perspective from some insightful friends, however, I realize that probably isn't the most rational mindset and that if I continue to let this happen, it won't just happen to me and it could happen to me in other areas of life as well. Anywaaaaaay, the point is that today my tutee (hehehe) and I were reading a book about Rosa Parks and at the end there was a map of Alabama to help the students understand the whereabouts of the events in the story. From there the conversation went a little like this...
"Miss Hannah, is Alabama close to Seattle?"
--"Well, no, actually they are really far apart! Here lets look at the map..."
"I want to go to Seattle! And you go to Colombia!"
--"Yes! I would love both of those things. Will you show me on the map where your family is from?"
"My mother is from this pueblo near Barranquilla but the rest of my family [awesome English sentence!] is from Bogota"
--"Why did you leave Colombia? Why did your family move to Guatemala?"
"Well, my father, he is ingeniero quimico and he job in Colombia, one day it is no more! So he go on the computadora and buscando, buscando, buscando and then AH HA! A job in Guatemala! I said 'NOOOOOOOOO! I don't want to leave Colombia!' but you know what Miss Hannah? My mom and my dad, they want the best for me. And I have a mother, a brother, food, a father... my life is perfect."
*At this point I couldn't decide if I should smile or cry. I think I may have done a little of both :)
"Miss Hannah, why did YOU move to Guatemala?"
--"Well, I wanted to be a teacher in another country and I thought Guatemala looked like a wonderful place to be."
"You can no be a teacher in Estados Unidos?"
--"I could, but I wanted to try something new, meet new people, do different things."
"Aaahhhhh, well I am happy you are here"
Okay, I think I need to remind you that this boy is NINE years old, knew almost no English when he entered school, and get bullied like crazy almost everyday. What insight he has; what wisdom! I think we could all learn a little something from that conversation. I know I was so moved that I have since told this story at least five times. Now if this isn't progress (third reference), I don't know what is. Not just in his English learning abilities, but in people appreciating what they have. If this third grader can be genuinely thankful for food and family, hopefully someday we can all feel that same way. In a world that seems to want more and be grateful for less, this one boy stands above everyone else and loves life.
Alright, its time I progress (4th) as a teacher by getting more sleep. Thanks for reading, people. To be honest, you are the reason I write and the reason I will be very thankful someday that I have this blog to look back upon. So, cheers to you! Have a great week and remember, our lives are perfect :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
One year
One year ago this weekend I was in a tiny, freezing town in the middle of Iowa, accepting a job to move to Guatemala. Its hard for me to believe that it was really a year ago because life has changed so much since then that I feel like I have learned a lifetime of lessons. Aubrey and I celebrated our one year anniversary of knowing each other by going out to dinner at a very Guatemalan restaurant called KaKao. We laughed about how crazy we felt while we were waiting outside hotel rooms for interviews, walking through feet of snow in business suits, and turning down jobs to the Middle East one year ago. We recalled the conversation we had about possibly being roommates and what grades we might teach and who else would be coming down to Guatemala. We were amazed with how we thought life was going to be like here and what it really is like. And we hoped that the next year of life wouldn't pass us by. Even though we both have no idea where life is taking us next-- whether its back to our home states in the US, a new state in the US, a new country in Latin America, or a new country elsewhere in the world-- at this moment, here is now and life is good.
This week at Inter we celebrated our 100th day of school. ONE HUNDRED DAYS?! That means only 80 more? Wow. We played a lot of fun games that dealt with the number one hundred such as:
Keri and Kurt came back to the city on Friday afternoon and spent Friday and Saturday with us. We went to dinner on Friday night, only to realize that Keri and Kurt were both coming down with some stomach issues. On Saturday we all bummed around in our pajamas until almost 1pm and then started to make veggie burgers from the Earth Lodge cookbook that Keri had purchased the previous week. They. Were. Amazing! The burgers took almost two hours to make but they were so worth it. We took them and some beers to the roof and ate in the sunshine. We then headed to the mall to see a VIP movie called "Red Social" (Social Network in English, you know, the movie about facebook) only to find that it had been sold out in the VIP theater. So we sucked it up and paid the whole $4 to see the movie in a regular theater. It was actually a relatively enjoyable film that surprised most of us and even made me reconsider using facebook in the first place. After that we headed home, watched many a youtube video, and went to bed. Keri and Kurt left for the airport this morning at 7 and are probably mid-flight to Seattle as I type. I'm so happy they were able to come here and see a new region on their quest to see the world. They told me they loved Guatemala so much they plan to come back someday. I'll see if I can get them to write a reflection or something about their time and post it on here *hint, hint! ;)
Now for some exciting, non-school related news.
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| Happy Anniversary, Miss Aubrey! |
- Draw a picture of what you look like today and what you will look like in 100 years (a lot of us will be in wheelchairs, walking with canes, wearing glasses, and a few of us, represented with tombstones, will be dead)
- Write 100 words as quickly as you can
- Fill out a 100s chart as fast as you can
- Make a necklace out of 100 cheerios and yarn
- Complete the following sentence, "On the fist day of school I could not ___________ but on the 100th day, I can!" (most students can now multiply, write in cursive, say all their classmates names, and "do cool science experiments")
- Grab a handful of rice out of a bowl. The person closest to 100 grains wins (the closest, btw, was 146 grains. Most students grabbed several hundred grains; I guess we'll have to work on estimation again)
- Bring in 100 items of anything and have a partner count to make sure you brought 100 (one girl brought in 100 rose petals, one boy brought 100 hole punched pieces of paper, and another girl brought in 100 buttons sewed to a hat)
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| Veggie Burger Success! |
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| In the back of a very small, almost clown car-like, cab :) |
- First my friend Tessa who I've gone to school with since we were 11, is coming to Guatemala in two weeks! Having so many visitors not only makes me very happy, it also makes the time flyyyy (which I guess is a good thing because it means you're having fun, right?)
- I got a new phone! And its a big girl phone! Like one that has a keyboard and music and internet and stuff. Not that many of you can actually call me but in case there was an emergency, my new number is (502) 5633-7602. The best part of this new phone is that its a Blackberry which means if anyone else out there has one, we can BBM for free! I have already been too giddy with amazement when my brother and I can send each other pictures from Paris to Guatemala instantly. The phone itself was free and the plan is a little less than $30 a month; totally worth it.
- Okay, this next one is something that I am so intensely excited about that I probably mention it to anyone who is willing to listen at least three times a day. SHAKIRA IS COMING TO GUATEMALA! In April! And we are going!!! Aubrey, Katie, Makenzie, Jessica, and I are all planning on going to the Tigo Music Festival on April 9th in the city which is an all day, outdoor concert with other Latin American bands such as this duo where one never takes off his sunglasses and the other wears an entirely too tight of shirt and yet somehow seduce adult women to dance with their hands shaped as a heart, the Latino Sting, and of course these guys who practiced English for weeks to say a few sentence in their video that displays their signature singing tactic of yelling. Mostly, Shakira is coming and that's all that really matters :)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Americano Girls
I thought I would post a quick update so I could, a. get back into the habit of blogging, b. tell you some funny stories and c. (probably most importantly) get in one more blog entry before February. Should we take a poll as to how often I post next month? Winner gets... some tortillas?
Okay, there is a crazy phenomenon going around Inter again that has really thrown me for a loop. Girls in the elementary school have been bringing American Girl dolls to school on a daily basis. First, how did they get American girl dolls here in Guatemala? Second, how do they get clothing for the dolls once they get them? Third, why don't they have Guatemalan girls? Questions aside, the biggest problem about these foot-and-a-half tall dolls walking the halls with my two-and-a-half feet tall students is that the kids are all paranoid that something will happen to their beloved dolls while they are away from them for mere moments. The solution? Babysitters. Students in the other third grade classes will ask their friends to "watch" their AGD (American Girl Doll. I just made up that acronym, BTW (By The Way. Didn't make that one up)) while they go to the bathroom, or while they are in P.E., or even when they forgot their pencil box in Spanish class. I guess you could say its a good thing that these young girls are practicing responsibility and taking ownership of their property but when I have students in my class with FOUR of these dolls on their desks while we are trying to learn, I could care less about responsibility. I have since banned AGB babysitting in my classroom but still can't get over the concept of it in the first place.
For our Language Arts test last week, there was a section about using verbs in the past, present, and future tenses. One of the sentences I wrote was about one of my students "hugging" her American Girl doll, except I didn't write "American" I wrote "Americano." This was a legitimate typo on my part (probably a good sign that I actually am learning Spanish) but my kids just thought it was hilarious. Some of them actually got the question wrong probably because they were so distracted with my error. Blast those dolls!
Today was the due date for our report cards and I feel like I have had a 44 page weight lifted off my shoulders. The report cards are definitely a significant improvement from what we were using in the past but they are also a lot more time consuming. I just hope my students' parents actually look at them, to be honest, because the whole school put a lot of thought into giving more feedback to the families. Luckily, I had help from Claudia and Colin gave me almost instant feedback on my comments so it ended up being a relatively painless process.
One of Makenzie's students shared a hilarious story with her today that I loved so much I told Mak I was going to blog about it. This student recently lost a tooth and after a visit from the Tooth Mouse (yep) he was rewarded with Q.50 (about $6) for his efforts. That sassy Miss Makenzie asked,
"What are you going to buy me with all that money?!"
The student, with a perplexed, almost shocked look on his face, responded with, "I'm not going to spend it! I am going to save it for emergencies."
What kind of emergencies do nine-year-olds have? A sudden and unexpected release of Diary of Wimpy Kid 18? The uncontrollable urge to buy out the entire Shuco supply at school? The chance that someday Justin Bieber will charge Q.50 to hang out with him backstage at his "From rags to riches: I believe in a better Guatemala" tour? The best part is that Makenzie knew to ask how much he had been saving for said "emergencies." The answer: Q875. Big time stud.
Well its late and tomorrow is only Tuesday but it is also the first day of February so I better start this short month on a good note. We have no breaks until the middle of April, a four-day weekend in May, two weeks of school in June, then we're finished! Oh, P.S., my mom has officially purchased her tickets to Guatemala in April for Semana Santa!!! She is going to get in on a Friday, the first day of my vacation, and we are going to spend a whole week traveling with Aubrey and her parents. Then we'll come back to the city and she can hang out in my classroom for a week as well. When I told my kids she was coming, they just screamed. I had to show them on a calendar that we had to wait for many, many Tienda days to pass before she got here but they didn't seem to care. They then asked when everyone else I have ever told them about would be coming "to see us." Oh, how those children have bettered my life :)
Happy February!
Okay, there is a crazy phenomenon going around Inter again that has really thrown me for a loop. Girls in the elementary school have been bringing American Girl dolls to school on a daily basis. First, how did they get American girl dolls here in Guatemala? Second, how do they get clothing for the dolls once they get them? Third, why don't they have Guatemalan girls? Questions aside, the biggest problem about these foot-and-a-half tall dolls walking the halls with my two-and-a-half feet tall students is that the kids are all paranoid that something will happen to their beloved dolls while they are away from them for mere moments. The solution? Babysitters. Students in the other third grade classes will ask their friends to "watch" their AGD (American Girl Doll. I just made up that acronym, BTW (By The Way. Didn't make that one up)) while they go to the bathroom, or while they are in P.E., or even when they forgot their pencil box in Spanish class. I guess you could say its a good thing that these young girls are practicing responsibility and taking ownership of their property but when I have students in my class with FOUR of these dolls on their desks while we are trying to learn, I could care less about responsibility. I have since banned AGB babysitting in my classroom but still can't get over the concept of it in the first place.
For our Language Arts test last week, there was a section about using verbs in the past, present, and future tenses. One of the sentences I wrote was about one of my students "hugging" her American Girl doll, except I didn't write "American" I wrote "Americano." This was a legitimate typo on my part (probably a good sign that I actually am learning Spanish) but my kids just thought it was hilarious. Some of them actually got the question wrong probably because they were so distracted with my error. Blast those dolls!
Today was the due date for our report cards and I feel like I have had a 44 page weight lifted off my shoulders. The report cards are definitely a significant improvement from what we were using in the past but they are also a lot more time consuming. I just hope my students' parents actually look at them, to be honest, because the whole school put a lot of thought into giving more feedback to the families. Luckily, I had help from Claudia and Colin gave me almost instant feedback on my comments so it ended up being a relatively painless process.
One of Makenzie's students shared a hilarious story with her today that I loved so much I told Mak I was going to blog about it. This student recently lost a tooth and after a visit from the Tooth Mouse (yep) he was rewarded with Q.50 (about $6) for his efforts. That sassy Miss Makenzie asked,
"What are you going to buy me with all that money?!"
The student, with a perplexed, almost shocked look on his face, responded with, "I'm not going to spend it! I am going to save it for emergencies."
What kind of emergencies do nine-year-olds have? A sudden and unexpected release of Diary of Wimpy Kid 18? The uncontrollable urge to buy out the entire Shuco supply at school? The chance that someday Justin Bieber will charge Q.50 to hang out with him backstage at his "From rags to riches: I believe in a better Guatemala" tour? The best part is that Makenzie knew to ask how much he had been saving for said "emergencies." The answer: Q875. Big time stud.
Well its late and tomorrow is only Tuesday but it is also the first day of February so I better start this short month on a good note. We have no breaks until the middle of April, a four-day weekend in May, two weeks of school in June, then we're finished! Oh, P.S., my mom has officially purchased her tickets to Guatemala in April for Semana Santa!!! She is going to get in on a Friday, the first day of my vacation, and we are going to spend a whole week traveling with Aubrey and her parents. Then we'll come back to the city and she can hang out in my classroom for a week as well. When I told my kids she was coming, they just screamed. I had to show them on a calendar that we had to wait for many, many Tienda days to pass before she got here but they didn't seem to care. They then asked when everyone else I have ever told them about would be coming "to see us." Oh, how those children have bettered my life :)
Happy February!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Can you feel the love tonight?
I sure can. Today I was overwhelmed with kindness and I just can't stop thinking about it. On Monday, one of my Guatemalan co-workers, Leo, told me I looked like I needed a hug and gave me one. She was spot on, by-the-way, as I was letting school and external feelings get the best of me. Since then, she has given me a hug at some point everyday. This morning, she came into my classroom with spring rolls and soy sauce because she had found out that I was "not a coffee drinker." She then gave me my daily hug and reassured me that, "We all love and appreciate you here in Guatemala... just in case you forgot." :)
Later when we were reading Charlotte's Web in 3A, Walter came into my classroom with flowers, placed them on my desk, smile and waved, and then walked out. I was so speechless I don't even remember if I said anything at all. The funny thing is Walter is heading to Miami tomorrow to run a half marathon and he went out of his way to make others smile. I got so caught up in my own unnecessary stress that I didn't think to make him a card this time around. Good thing I have people like Walter to remind me to be selfless...
We ate lunch in the classroom today because the cafeteria is being used for an Art and Music Festival and we had an unplanned skyping session with Mr. Mike. I'm labeling it a skype "session" rather than "conversation" because my kids pretty much screamed the entire time. I think there were maybe 30 actual words used the entire time and it was mostly me telling everyone to calm down. Anyway, as we were hanging up, I saw out of the corner of my eye one of my students who was particularly attached to Mr. Mike crying in the corner of the classroom. This little dude had a really hard time saying goodbye and has been getting emotional all week whenever he even thinks about the name "Mr. Mike." I guess he got upset this time because everyone was so crowded around the computer that he couldn't even see Mike. He gave up, walked away, and cried his eyes out. As the kids ran off to recess I pulled this student back into the classroom and we called Mr. Mike right back and had a private conversation with him. I think it was exactly what he needed-- to be reassured that he really hadn't been abandoned. Mr. Mike showed this student his dog and the snow on the ground in KS and since this student has never seen snow before, it was a pretty special event. I still can't really believe how much my kids were moved by having Mr. Mike in their class but I am so very thankful they were.
At soccer practice today, the head coach, Francisco, gave me some candies from his hometown in Amatitlán, Guatemala. Apparently this city is not very far from where I live but looks and feels like a completely different place. Its around a lake and has beautiful mountains and other cool things to look at. Not only was he kind to give me candy but he also reminded me that I still have so much to learn about this country.
I bumped into my dear friend Claudia in the halls today and she asked if there was anything she could do to help me with my report cards. I thought about it and realized everything I needed to do were things that only I could do and I sighed and thanked her for the offer. Later in the day after I had entered all the data into a spreadsheet, I backtracked and asked Clau if she could put the numbers, letters, symbols and other nonsense into the actual report card template. She had it done and sent back to me within an hour, when it probably would have taken me at least 3. I can't believe how amazing that woman is, not only at her job, but also at being a friend.
I'm still not sure how I got so lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful people, but hopefully that look of distress that worried those around me has left permanently. My report cards should be completely done by tomorrow which means I'll have the weekend to either meet up with Keri and Kurt at the beach, or hang out with my friends in the city. Either way, I'm grateful this week wasn't as painful as I thought it would be and am actually looking forward to putting on my JEANS (we got casual Friday approved, finally!) tomorrow and finishing this week up strong :)
Later when we were reading Charlotte's Web in 3A, Walter came into my classroom with flowers, placed them on my desk, smile and waved, and then walked out. I was so speechless I don't even remember if I said anything at all. The funny thing is Walter is heading to Miami tomorrow to run a half marathon and he went out of his way to make others smile. I got so caught up in my own unnecessary stress that I didn't think to make him a card this time around. Good thing I have people like Walter to remind me to be selfless...
We ate lunch in the classroom today because the cafeteria is being used for an Art and Music Festival and we had an unplanned skyping session with Mr. Mike. I'm labeling it a skype "session" rather than "conversation" because my kids pretty much screamed the entire time. I think there were maybe 30 actual words used the entire time and it was mostly me telling everyone to calm down. Anyway, as we were hanging up, I saw out of the corner of my eye one of my students who was particularly attached to Mr. Mike crying in the corner of the classroom. This little dude had a really hard time saying goodbye and has been getting emotional all week whenever he even thinks about the name "Mr. Mike." I guess he got upset this time because everyone was so crowded around the computer that he couldn't even see Mike. He gave up, walked away, and cried his eyes out. As the kids ran off to recess I pulled this student back into the classroom and we called Mr. Mike right back and had a private conversation with him. I think it was exactly what he needed-- to be reassured that he really hadn't been abandoned. Mr. Mike showed this student his dog and the snow on the ground in KS and since this student has never seen snow before, it was a pretty special event. I still can't really believe how much my kids were moved by having Mr. Mike in their class but I am so very thankful they were.
At soccer practice today, the head coach, Francisco, gave me some candies from his hometown in Amatitlán, Guatemala. Apparently this city is not very far from where I live but looks and feels like a completely different place. Its around a lake and has beautiful mountains and other cool things to look at. Not only was he kind to give me candy but he also reminded me that I still have so much to learn about this country.
I bumped into my dear friend Claudia in the halls today and she asked if there was anything she could do to help me with my report cards. I thought about it and realized everything I needed to do were things that only I could do and I sighed and thanked her for the offer. Later in the day after I had entered all the data into a spreadsheet, I backtracked and asked Clau if she could put the numbers, letters, symbols and other nonsense into the actual report card template. She had it done and sent back to me within an hour, when it probably would have taken me at least 3. I can't believe how amazing that woman is, not only at her job, but also at being a friend.
I'm still not sure how I got so lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful people, but hopefully that look of distress that worried those around me has left permanently. My report cards should be completely done by tomorrow which means I'll have the weekend to either meet up with Keri and Kurt at the beach, or hang out with my friends in the city. Either way, I'm grateful this week wasn't as painful as I thought it would be and am actually looking forward to putting on my JEANS (we got casual Friday approved, finally!) tomorrow and finishing this week up strong :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A New Year
Oh, hi! I'm going to try not make excuses for not blogging in over a month but I will apologize. So, SORRY! I'm also going to try to somehow some-up the last month of life in an entry... or two.
So, since December 19th (my last post), I have ventured back to Guatemala after a glorious month long vacation of traveling to Wisconsin, Kansas, and Washington to visit some pretty legit humans. It was hard to come back to Guate after being able to relax and catch up with people for 4 weeks but I definitely came back to school feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the rest of the school year. Knowing I'll be back in the U.S. and other countries in just 5 more months makes the next two quarters of school seem more "do-able."
Okay, where to start. School started again on January 4th and it was pretty interesting to see how much English the students had lost after not practicing it for so long. I spent the first few days speaking really slowly, answering endless "como se dice..." questions, and getting back into the routine of trying to be patient at all times. I was happy to learn that though the kids did forget a lot of their English, they did remember to be awesome in my classroom at all times. It only took a few reminders and class discussions to bring back the class community. We made New Year's Resolutions, introduced multiplication, and started writing our very own poetry. Needless to say, their English skills have returned and have seemingly already improved since December.
Aubrey's boyfriend Charles came to Guatemala during that first week back and then Mike got here the Friday after we went back to school. We had a packed apartment with lots of food and lots of fun. The first weekend we traveled to Lake Atitlan via an intensely packed van whose driver seemed to get a lot of pleasure out of trying to make all his passengers shat themselves with his skilled games of "chicken" he played with semi-trucks, large buses, and cliffs. The town was clear and warm and full of young vendor children just waiting to convince Mike to purchase their products. One look at their persistent faces caused him to reach for his wallet, that he also bought from a child vendor, and give them money for things he may not have purchased from a less adorable, older person.
Once we got our fill on market shopping we set sail for our hostel called La Iguana Perdida, The Lost Iguana. This colorful place was owned by a British couple who brought a taste of England to Guate with their Saturday buffet dinners in which all attendees must show up in costume (in drag, mind you) and then procede to take part in an intense game of musical chairs. I couldn't stop laughing thinking about what that place did to people; complete strangers, dressed as the opposite sex, and playing a childhood favorite party game. Hilarious.
We walked around the next day and Aubrey and I did a little swimming (Aubrey on accident) before we made the trek back to the city. The next day was Mike's birthday AND his first day of school. Talk about excitement. As expected, all 22 of my students became obsessed with Mr. Mike within seconds of meeting him. He was just a little bit taller than everyone else in the entire country so shortly after arrival the entire school was equally enthralled. Mr. Brown took liberty of introducing Charles and Mike at the assembly first thing in the morning and Mike even got a shout out about his lengthy hair, which was too long for students at Inter but they "made an exception" for Mike, this time :)
I think the first few days of school were overwhelming/exhausting for our guests but by the end of the trip, Mr. Mike could have made a permanent addition to our school with the entire school community gladly approving. We wrote more poems, multiplied with 2's AND 5's, made our own thermometers, participated in the 3rd grade spelling bee, AND learned about trustworthiness all in 5 days. My students trusted Mike almost instantly which was a huge deal and respected him as teacher from the very beginning. They were all so proud to have Mr. Mike in THEIR class and considered him a member of our classroom forever. I also very much appreciated having an extra set of hands and eyes in the class; its amazing how much more learning occurs with some help.
After a week of tying shoes, grading papers, and playing soccer at recess, we headed to the beach for some Pacific Guatemala time. We went to Paredon, the beach we usually go to, and loved basically every second of it. The hostel has really made some changes since the last time Aubrey and I had been there including more vegetation, games, a swing, new staff, and most importantly, a slack line. I'm fairly certain I annoyed all the tenants that weekend with my stubborn attempts to walk across the entire thing but it was incredibly addicting. The rest of the crew played on it as well, so I was only kind of a slack-line-hog. Anyway, we spent the rest of the weekend playing in the ocean, laying in hammocks, attempting to surf, eating amazing food, meeting cool people, and engaging in awesome conversations.
We then came back to Guate to prepare for another week of school, this time a four day week since I took a personal day on Friday. Mr. Mike made an awesome video of all the pictures he had taken at school for my students and set it to their favorite song, "Wavin' Flag." He worked on it all week, as well as crocheting a hat at school that made for some easy distractions for those 8-year-olds, and when the week came to close, he presented the video to the kids only to find that they were overcome with happiness. Parts of the video were pictures of the kids that had been distorted with a certain setting on Mike's camera. I think my favorite memory of the whole week was hearing and watching those kids crack up laughing while watching their peers look hilariously disproportional on screen. At the end of the video, one of my students who I would label as a "tough guy" who rarely shows emotion or affection towards anyone, leapt out of his seat and ran to Mike to give him a hug. The rest of the class followed suit, of course, and pig-piled him in his chair. It was definitely a touching moment and one that I think everyone involved will not soon forget.
On Thursday afternoon, Mike and I headed to Antigua for the weekend to explore while staying close to home. We stayed at a super unique hotel on the outskirts of Antigua, ate lots of delicious food, explored the market, camped out in a tree house at the Earthlodge, and then headed back home. It was a great experience for me to travel without being surrounded by friends who have better Spanish than I do because I was forced to speak it more. Though I realize that most people who spoke to me were doing so in a manner that was easy to understand, I was still pretty pleased with how smoothly the weekend went despite the language barrier.
Mike returned home to Kansas yesterday after 16 days in Guatemala and *sigh* now I am back into the "normal" routine. Though I wish he, and all my family and friends, could stay forever, I'm really just glad that I've been lucky enough to have visitors to share this experience with and that my students have such positive role models in their lives now. This week is "second quarter exams" at school, which means we give our young children comprehensive tests in every subject over everything they've learned this quarter, yikes. Then report cards are due next week (double yikes) but my dear friend Keri and her husband Kurt, will be arriving in Guate on Wednesday! I have the guest room all ready to go for them and am looking forward to hopefully doing some exploring with them over the next two weekends :)
Hopefully I'll get another entry in before February to spare my pride in only seeing a (1) next to the month of January on my blog page. And hopefully I haven't lost any faithful readers in my blogging delinquency.
So, since December 19th (my last post), I have ventured back to Guatemala after a glorious month long vacation of traveling to Wisconsin, Kansas, and Washington to visit some pretty legit humans. It was hard to come back to Guate after being able to relax and catch up with people for 4 weeks but I definitely came back to school feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the rest of the school year. Knowing I'll be back in the U.S. and other countries in just 5 more months makes the next two quarters of school seem more "do-able."
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| Some McMackens, Andersons, and a Riordan at Christmas |
Aubrey's boyfriend Charles came to Guatemala during that first week back and then Mike got here the Friday after we went back to school. We had a packed apartment with lots of food and lots of fun. The first weekend we traveled to Lake Atitlan via an intensely packed van whose driver seemed to get a lot of pleasure out of trying to make all his passengers shat themselves with his skilled games of "chicken" he played with semi-trucks, large buses, and cliffs. The town was clear and warm and full of young vendor children just waiting to convince Mike to purchase their products. One look at their persistent faces caused him to reach for his wallet, that he also bought from a child vendor, and give them money for things he may not have purchased from a less adorable, older person.
Once we got our fill on market shopping we set sail for our hostel called La Iguana Perdida, The Lost Iguana. This colorful place was owned by a British couple who brought a taste of England to Guate with their Saturday buffet dinners in which all attendees must show up in costume (in drag, mind you) and then procede to take part in an intense game of musical chairs. I couldn't stop laughing thinking about what that place did to people; complete strangers, dressed as the opposite sex, and playing a childhood favorite party game. Hilarious.
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| Mr. Mike Photography |
I think the first few days of school were overwhelming/exhausting for our guests but by the end of the trip, Mr. Mike could have made a permanent addition to our school with the entire school community gladly approving. We wrote more poems, multiplied with 2's AND 5's, made our own thermometers, participated in the 3rd grade spelling bee, AND learned about trustworthiness all in 5 days. My students trusted Mike almost instantly which was a huge deal and respected him as teacher from the very beginning. They were all so proud to have Mr. Mike in THEIR class and considered him a member of our classroom forever. I also very much appreciated having an extra set of hands and eyes in the class; its amazing how much more learning occurs with some help.
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| The newest member of 3A :) |
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| Slack line sharing |
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| Slack line battle scars: the "tuck and roll" instinct is not the best for sand |
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| The most hilarious of distorted photos |
Mike returned home to Kansas yesterday after 16 days in Guatemala and *sigh* now I am back into the "normal" routine. Though I wish he, and all my family and friends, could stay forever, I'm really just glad that I've been lucky enough to have visitors to share this experience with and that my students have such positive role models in their lives now. This week is "second quarter exams" at school, which means we give our young children comprehensive tests in every subject over everything they've learned this quarter, yikes. Then report cards are due next week (double yikes) but my dear friend Keri and her husband Kurt, will be arriving in Guate on Wednesday! I have the guest room all ready to go for them and am looking forward to hopefully doing some exploring with them over the next two weekends :)
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| "Come back soon!" |
Monday, December 20, 2010
Perspective
I’ve been working on this list since I arrived in the U.S. and I’m sure it will grow and when it does I’ll add it to this blog but for now here are some things I never considered luxuries in life until they weren’t there anymore…
Things I took for granted while living in the U.S., in no particular order:
1. tap water
2. milk
3. hot showers
4. dishwashers, garbage disposals, functioning dryers, and other various appliances
5. the presence of traffic laws
6. beer, like real beer
7. the ability to flush toilet paper
8. asking for directions and actually being pointed in the correct direction
9. clean air
10. family
11. consistent internet connection
12. always being able to express myself through spoken language
13. exercising whenever I want
14. being able to walk outside, no matter the time of day, all by myself
15. not having to constantly clutch to my purse, lock every door after opening, or just being on guard at all times
Things I have been taking for granted while living Guatemala:
1. constant sunshine
2. the lack of traffic laws
3. never, ever being bored
4. the beach
5. 22 little 8-year-olds greeting me with a smile each morning
6. my coworkers who are emotionally and physically (literally) always there
7. learning something new everyday
8. inexpensive food, water, clothes… well, inexpensive everything
9. not having to pay to maintain a vehicle
10. not being dependent on a cell phone
11. seeing volcanoes, green trees, tropical flowers, and other blessings from mother nature everywhere I go
12. desayunos tipico: frijoles, aguacate, huevos, platanos; muy delicioso!
13. not having to scrape windshields or remember to bring warm clothes everywhere or staying indoors because its just too darn cold to go outside
14. the opportunity to learn a new language simply through befriending others
15. being greeted with a hug and a kiss from everyone you see, everyday
Things I took for granted while living in the U.S., in no particular order:
1. tap water
2. milk
3. hot showers
4. dishwashers, garbage disposals, functioning dryers, and other various appliances
5. the presence of traffic laws
6. beer, like real beer
7. the ability to flush toilet paper
8. asking for directions and actually being pointed in the correct direction
9. clean air
10. family
11. consistent internet connection
12. always being able to express myself through spoken language
13. exercising whenever I want
14. being able to walk outside, no matter the time of day, all by myself
15. not having to constantly clutch to my purse, lock every door after opening, or just being on guard at all times
Things I have been taking for granted while living Guatemala:
1. constant sunshine
2. the lack of traffic laws
3. never, ever being bored
4. the beach
5. 22 little 8-year-olds greeting me with a smile each morning
6. my coworkers who are emotionally and physically (literally) always there
7. learning something new everyday
8. inexpensive food, water, clothes… well, inexpensive everything
9. not having to pay to maintain a vehicle
10. not being dependent on a cell phone
11. seeing volcanoes, green trees, tropical flowers, and other blessings from mother nature everywhere I go
12. desayunos tipico: frijoles, aguacate, huevos, platanos; muy delicioso!
13. not having to scrape windshields or remember to bring warm clothes everywhere or staying indoors because its just too darn cold to go outside
14. the opportunity to learn a new language simply through befriending others
15. being greeted with a hug and a kiss from everyone you see, everyday
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Winter Break!
*I started this on the plane ride from Guate to Houston and finished it now... almost two weeks later. OOPS!
I’m writing this entry from an incredibly small yet exciting airplane. Its not exciting because we’re watching an action-packed movie or because the flight attendant is one of those hilarious Southwest Airlines joke-tellers, but the fact that I am sitting here, hovering over the landmass known as the U.S.A., is something so exciting to me that I have hardly slept or ate all week. I’m still a little unsure if this is all actually happening; getting an entire month off of work, traveling to three different states in 4 weeks, seeing so many people I love in such a short period of time-- how did life get so awesome?
The flight out of Guatemala was probably the most amazing flying experience of my life, though waking up and getting a cab to the airport at 4:30am was definitely not part of it. I got through security and arrived at my gate with hours to spare, something that I feel rarely happens to me. When it was time to board the plane, I took a quick glance at my seating assignment and saw the number-letter combination, 2A. Thinking this aircraft was one of those small planes were anyone taller than 5’8’’ hits their head on the ceiling and the seat 2A simply meant you were close to the front, I was shocked to find out that 2A on this plane meant first class. I stared at my ticket, stared at the seat, looked at the number written below the overhead compartment that suggested it was indeed my seat, and then repeated this process until the people behind me started to cough under their breath in hopes I would get the heck out of the way.
I took the seat and then showed the man sitting next to me my ticket and asked with the utmost confusion,
-“Is this really my seat?”
The man smiled and said,
-“Well it sure looks like it! Why do you sound so surprised?"
-“Uh, well, I guess I just didn’t expect to be sitting so close to the front of the airplane [insert awkward laugh]”
Then, the passenger in 2B gave me a piece of advice I’ll never forget. He said,
-“The moment you start to question miracles, they’ll stop happening.”
I promptly shut my mouth, smiled, and wrote down the quote so I could share it with you all ☺
I knew I was no longer in Guatemala when I was served French toast, was given those intensely hot wash clothes to “wash” my hands with (?), and watched a full-length feature film about some animated owls who want to save the world on a screen two feet away from my face. Though I never did find out why I was moved to first class, I couldn’t help but marvel at the disparities between Guatemala and the U.S. As I sat in those unnecessarily too big of seats and looked out over Central America, I realized that though Guatemala is not a place I would like to permanently make my home, I am so thankful for the opportunity to truly know that country, learn from it, hopefully help make it a little better through my students, and forever remember what I experienced there.
I remember in one of my undergraduate education classes a professor explaining that in schools there are certain times of the year where teachers need to be on guard. He called these days “hot spots.” Examples of such were the days before long holiday breaks, days of big high school sporting events, and other such activities that could distract students to the point of not learning a single thing when they came to school. I remember thinking, “DUH!” when he lectured about “hot spots” and then never giving it a second thought again. Oh, how I wish I would have asked that professor for some advice about how to deal with these “hot spots” because the week approaching our month long winter break almost drove me crazy. My students seemed to be possessed by some Christmas-loving, fighting-at-recess, being-sent-to-the-principal-multiple-times-by-several-different-teachers, reluctant-to-learn-anything-new, forgetful-of-all-the-things-we-had-already-learned-this-year children that I had never seen before. Seriously, I didn’t even recognize my students by the end of the week. On Wednesday of that week, I only had sixteen kids in my class. Sixteen! I normally have twenty-two! FOUR had been sent to the principal for fighting (yes, fighting!) at recess, one went home “sick”, and one never showed up. We were all very ready for this month long break, to say the least.
I do miss Guatemala, my students, and my friends but am thankful I still have another year and a half to make more memories there. I had missed the United States and the people in it before coming back but am grateful that I had so much time off to catch-up with so many different people. I am also realizing just how fortunate I am to be loving my life abroad but also loving my life in the United States. I mean, how lucky is that?
Hopefully I’ll write a few more entries this month but I haven’t had a whole lot of down time thus far. Now that I finally reached Seattle, there should be more opportunities to write but I’m not making any promises ;)
I’m writing this entry from an incredibly small yet exciting airplane. Its not exciting because we’re watching an action-packed movie or because the flight attendant is one of those hilarious Southwest Airlines joke-tellers, but the fact that I am sitting here, hovering over the landmass known as the U.S.A., is something so exciting to me that I have hardly slept or ate all week. I’m still a little unsure if this is all actually happening; getting an entire month off of work, traveling to three different states in 4 weeks, seeing so many people I love in such a short period of time-- how did life get so awesome?
The flight out of Guatemala was probably the most amazing flying experience of my life, though waking up and getting a cab to the airport at 4:30am was definitely not part of it. I got through security and arrived at my gate with hours to spare, something that I feel rarely happens to me. When it was time to board the plane, I took a quick glance at my seating assignment and saw the number-letter combination, 2A. Thinking this aircraft was one of those small planes were anyone taller than 5’8’’ hits their head on the ceiling and the seat 2A simply meant you were close to the front, I was shocked to find out that 2A on this plane meant first class. I stared at my ticket, stared at the seat, looked at the number written below the overhead compartment that suggested it was indeed my seat, and then repeated this process until the people behind me started to cough under their breath in hopes I would get the heck out of the way.
I took the seat and then showed the man sitting next to me my ticket and asked with the utmost confusion,
-“Is this really my seat?”
The man smiled and said,
-“Well it sure looks like it! Why do you sound so surprised?"
-“Uh, well, I guess I just didn’t expect to be sitting so close to the front of the airplane [insert awkward laugh]”
Then, the passenger in 2B gave me a piece of advice I’ll never forget. He said,
-“The moment you start to question miracles, they’ll stop happening.”
I promptly shut my mouth, smiled, and wrote down the quote so I could share it with you all ☺
I knew I was no longer in Guatemala when I was served French toast, was given those intensely hot wash clothes to “wash” my hands with (?), and watched a full-length feature film about some animated owls who want to save the world on a screen two feet away from my face. Though I never did find out why I was moved to first class, I couldn’t help but marvel at the disparities between Guatemala and the U.S. As I sat in those unnecessarily too big of seats and looked out over Central America, I realized that though Guatemala is not a place I would like to permanently make my home, I am so thankful for the opportunity to truly know that country, learn from it, hopefully help make it a little better through my students, and forever remember what I experienced there.
I remember in one of my undergraduate education classes a professor explaining that in schools there are certain times of the year where teachers need to be on guard. He called these days “hot spots.” Examples of such were the days before long holiday breaks, days of big high school sporting events, and other such activities that could distract students to the point of not learning a single thing when they came to school. I remember thinking, “DUH!” when he lectured about “hot spots” and then never giving it a second thought again. Oh, how I wish I would have asked that professor for some advice about how to deal with these “hot spots” because the week approaching our month long winter break almost drove me crazy. My students seemed to be possessed by some Christmas-loving, fighting-at-recess, being-sent-to-the-principal-multiple-times-by-several-different-teachers, reluctant-to-learn-anything-new, forgetful-of-all-the-things-we-had-already-learned-this-year children that I had never seen before. Seriously, I didn’t even recognize my students by the end of the week. On Wednesday of that week, I only had sixteen kids in my class. Sixteen! I normally have twenty-two! FOUR had been sent to the principal for fighting (yes, fighting!) at recess, one went home “sick”, and one never showed up. We were all very ready for this month long break, to say the least.
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| Santa's Little Helpers :) |
Hopefully I’ll write a few more entries this month but I haven’t had a whole lot of down time thus far. Now that I finally reached Seattle, there should be more opportunities to write but I’m not making any promises ;)
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