The Best Email

I just received an email from my students in my last placement. I could cry, I'm so happy to hear from them. No joke.

The news that made me the most happy?? That one of my students had a week of getting all 10's on his chart. This was the same student who threw chairs, had to be walked to the bus with his hand held, and caused a lot of trouble at the beginning of the year. However, due to my cooperating teacher's and my consistency in disciplining him, and our persistence in encouraging him, he started to really turn the corner when I was there. I KNEW that he would continue to succeed.... and he has blown me away. Maybe 5 students total had ever had a perfect week (10's every day).

I love this student.... I can't explain it, and Leeann would always laugh at me because I had a story about him every day. But this kid means the world to me. I can't wait to see him (and the rest of the class) in January.

I also got a Thanksgiving card from Mom and Dad yesterday... It was definitely unexpected, so it was even more-so appreciated! Included was a photo of our Compassion child - the one who is visiting me in 2 weeks. What excitement God has in store for me! Who am I to be anything but thankful for my life?

Fake Post

So, this isn't a real update on my life or my happenings in Honduras. It's more of an excuse to keep my blog "updated." I don't want to lag, because writing in my blog has been something I've enjoyed so much. With full-time teaching (this is the last week!!!), I just haven't had time to recount all of the details about my Nicaragua trip and life here. I WILL write more this weekend, but first, I have to get through this week. Things are going well, but are busy, as always. (When isn't the life of a teacher busy??)

I got to speak in Spanish for about an hour tonight and pray in Spanish as well. I love that.

Nicaragua

Emily and me
In front of a cool mural at Masaya!
Here we are!
Volcanic crater. Awesome? I'd say so. Steam is constantly emitted from the crater because it's so close to the Earth's core.

A church in Granada.
Overlooking Granada.

I am a petroglyph!!
Lago de Nicaragua

Concepcion erupted just as we left the island!!!
The sulfer made the ocean turn green!!
AHH ! The volcano is erupting!!!
Yummm. A licuado and a Tralala (or something to that effect)
My delicious grilled chicken, rice, and plantain chips! Yumm...

Me Voy a Nicaragua

I'm going to Nicaragua! The story is way to long to tell here..but basically, I had the top people of International School on the phone with the bus company, the head people at the Honduran Immigration Office, and anyone else they could think of. Clearly they could see that I was worried...We pulled some strings (also called "personal connections") and I got my passport! I feel very loved by the IST staff, because they bent over backwards for me.

One more week of full-time teaching! I have to say that I'm really glad. I don't know what else to do to with them, talking-wise. I have gotten to know the students better, but still don't feel really attached to them. Maybe it's because they know I'll eventually leave? Who knows. I just know that this weekend will hopefully be GLORIOUS, because it will be time away from school and will be time with fun, quality people. And, hopefully, I'll get in some sleep as well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happenings in my Honduran life

There is currently a birthday party underway outside my house. A child (apparently one of my neighbors) is having his or her party in the street. They had a piñata, sang Happy Birthday, and everything. There is a special tune to Feliz Cumpleaños here. Actually, it´s a totally different song - one that I do not know yet. I love the sounds of the birthday party - kids playing in the street, obviously having fun. They´re comforting and encouraging sounds. All seems well in the world - for awhile, at least - when kids are happy.

A problem I have run into - I need to renew my permit to be here in Honduras. They gave me a 30 day permit, and I am here for exactly 60 days. Today marks the 1month anniversary of me leaving the States. Thus, I brought in my passport to school, and they took it to the Honduran office of immigration or whatever. I was informed (today) that it usually takes 3 days to get your passport back.

I bought a bus ticket to Nicaragua last night for $66. We leave on Thursday.

See a problem? Today is Tuesday. Three days from today is Friday. The bus leaves early on Thursday morning for Nicaragua (a different country) which requires me to have my passport.

Uh oh. Problem. What am I going to do? I don´t know yet. It looks like my options include these -
-try (again) to persuade the immigration office to get me my passport TOMORROW!
-stay in the country, at my house, with my roommate and find some ministry opportunities
-go on a trip with other IST teachers and stay in the country
-take the bus to Nicaragua and try to pay off the guards at the border. Possible? Yes. Scary and somewhat risky? Yes.

If you have input or divine wisdom, please let me know. It looks like things will be different (at least somewhat) than I anticipated. I should have known..... or as some teachers say TIH!! (This is Honduras)

La Vida Dura

An American teacher just found out today that the waitresses at the coffee shop we always frequent only get paid 100 Lempiras a day. That's about $5 for an 8-hour shift. It's minimum wage here, apparently. That means, that if they worked every day of the year, they would earn 36,500 Lempiras a year. The first-year teachers at IST earn 90,000 Lempiras (about $5000) a year. Basically, the baristas at the coffee shop would earn roughly $2000 a year. The IST teachers' housing, electricity, and insurance is paid for by the school.

Apparently beans and common staple foods in Honduras have been increasing in price, because the Honduran food company that produces many of these staples can sell them for cheaper to the neighboring countries (El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala). So, Hondurans have to pay an import tax on the beans, which were made in their own country. For this reason, beans which used to cost 50 Lempiras now cost 80 Lemps. Asi es la vida, I guess.

This is what I like talking about instead of lesson planning. :-)

Oops

Worst cultural "fo paw" (clearly I don't speak French) of my life so far:

I was reading a book to the students about what life was like on the Mayflower. One section talked about food and what the Pilgrims and passengers on the Mayflower ate. The sentence said that they used a _______ to heat their food. The word was "brazier." Well, I had not read this book before, so I paused a little before the word, because I was unsure of the pronunciation. I wound up saying "brazierre," which actually means "bra" in Spanish. Way to go, Miss Carlson! So I had just said that the Pilgrims used bras to heat their food on the Mayflower. Needless to say, my kids were laughing pretty hard. I couldn't help but to laugh myself. Oh my.

It was a pretty good day - filled with ups and downs, but the kids were better. Still talkative like crazy, but better.

I bought my bus ticket for Nicaragua today, so I'm officially going ! Yay!

Now off to read and learn about electricity. Hijole....

Pure Honduras

Alejandro, Alex, and Kyle.
Fernando, Daniel, Mario, Eduardo, Juan, and German. They all dressed up for the Thanksgiving chapel and meal.
I love this picture! Mario, Eduardo, Juan, and German. It pretty-well captures their personalities (all except German's).

The view from the apartment next to my house.
Neighbor's house.
The street on which I live!
Ahh, this is Honduras.
The teal house is mine!

Otra informacion

I'm going to Nicaragua over Thanksgiving Break. It should be a good time. It's going to be 6 of us - Jen Walsh (from TU), Roshanna Lehman (from TU), Emily (from Calvin), Deanna (from Colorad0), and Jony (from Honduras). Details need to be figured out this weekend.

I AM going to see my family's Compassion child - he is coming on December 17th. I'm meeting him at McDonalds en El Centro and we're going to the Copan Virtual museum. I'll have to detail more on my blog as the next month passes. I'm beyond excited.

I'm meeting with some American missionaries on Sunday. I think it'll provide good insight into the Honduran culture. I'm looking for ministries to invest in my last week here, so that might provide me with some contacts.

Mejor

Today was much better. I had a more positive outlook on the day, and I tried to channel that attitude through the students. Tomorrow will be good, I think, because my teacher is going to be gone at a conference. I need to think about a fun activity that I can do with my students.

I'm so ready for the weekend. I'm tired! I came back from school and watched a movie. Christy watching a movie on a week day? Yup. The movie choice: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It was a good choice. :-) I always need to chill for about an hour before approaching the evening ahead.

Haha. My teacher and I are finding out about male-female relationships between our students in our class. It's so funny when I find love notes. The students are horrified, of course, that I have retrieved such a valuable item, but I just laugh when I read it. Actually, though, I have to talk to some students about these "relationships." No wonder they did horribly on their math exams. Ah, young love....

I have a ton of grading and recording to do for tomorrow, so adios!

Maybe It's Just a Long Week??

Unfortunately, my kids weren't any better today. Actually, they might have been worse. They talked through half of their exam, so I wrote down names of students and had them flip their cards. 12 of my 26 kids have detention tomorrow! Yikes. Only 5 of the 26 had "green" cards, which means that they had a good day. My cooperating teacher is beside herself with our students' behavior, too. I took the hour after school (before the teacher bus left) to sit in the silence of my classroom, with half of the lights dimmed, and ponder the day's events. I couldn't bring myself to grade papers. I went running after school, because I knew that I had to decompress.

The kids took their Math exam today and did horribly. We were supposed to start a new unit tomorrow, but instead, we're re-teaching the material from the previous unit. They will take the new test on Monday or Tuesday. However, what do we do with the students who did fine on the test today? Hijole, no se. ("Wow, I don't know.")

I just hope they get all of this out of their system before Friday.. when my cooperating teacher is gone. On the other hand, my teacher isn't even really in the room much anyway, so maybe it won't make that big of a difference. Ayyy.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

One of my students told me that my hair looks like a mushroom. She assured me that it was a good mushroom. She called me "Miss Mushroom" today.

I was explaining symmetry to a group of boys in our science lab today. I used my face as an example. One of the boys "secretly" turned to his neighbor and commented about how my face wouldn't be symmetrical, because I have a pimple on the right side of my nose.

Oh my......

Another Long Day...

My students have been crazy this week... I'm sure what's "eating them" but it's really taxing on me! Maybe it's because I'm teaching full-time, so that's a change for them. One student told me today that she likes it when Miss Schmitkons teaches better when I teach. Wow, the guts of that girl! Really, I'm not completely surprised that she said that today, because frankly, I was constantly "on" the students today for talking and inappropriate behavior. If I had two teachers, and one was being "stern," I would definitely prefer the other teacher, too! It's a kid comment to say.

There are so many cultural things telling them that it's ok to talk when others are talking.... Many of the American teachers here battle with these things all of the time. I just hope they get better before Friday, when my teacher will be gone at a conference. Please, kids, don't be horrific for me! It's so frustrating.... At least my cooperating teacher was frustrated, too.

On a positive note, we're having a faculty Thanksgiving dinner on Friday afternoon. Should be fun??

I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for Thanksgiving break. Hopefully that will be settled soon. I'll probably be going to either Nicaragua or Belize. I still want to see my family's Compassion child in Santa Rosa de Copan, but Compassion told me it would cost $200 to bring him to Tegus! No thank you... I need to pray that another option opens up (basically, that someone would want to go to Santa Rosa de Copan with me).

La Tigra

The picture does not do it justice. On the way back to Tegus from La Tigra.

Debbie and Me in the bed of a pickup on the way to La Tigra!
Blackberry (Mora) fields
Cute house
The countryside is beautiful!!!!

Long Day!

Today seemed so long - other teachers even commented about it.

I taught Math, Reading, Social Studies, Grammar, and Writing today. No wonder I'm tired! Writing, Reading, and Grammar weren't that involved, but still..... I guess that's a record for me ! I only (at most) had to teach 4 subjects a day.

I don't know what to do with my students... they have so much more potential than they show. This whole morning I was pulling teeth to get them to understand the lessons. Math was SO long because they weren't understanding how to make improper fractions into mixed numbers and visa versa. I guess it's kind of a difficult concept. I'm worried, though, because they haven't had much practice with it, and their test is Wednesday. Test on Wednesday = review tomorrow = bad scores on the test! I wish we could put off the test for another day.

Another thing that's frustrating is that they don't follow directions! I have kids who get 50% on their homework because they didn't follow directions, even when it's clear that they understand the concept. I don' t know if they're just not understanding the directions because of being ESL students, but it's a horrible problem. My class is really immature, too, so that contributes to everything.

I have a ton to do tonight....this is the part of teaching I don't like. I guess it's reality, though, so I'd better get on it!

This Week

This upcoming week is my first week of teaching full-time. I'm kind of nervous - because I have so much to do. On the other hand, there isn't nearly as much to do as the previous placement. I already have a general sketch of what we're doing in most of the subjects. I have never EVER taught a lesson in science, so that's intimidating. The only subjects I'm completely creating from scratch are grammar and math, as I did the previous weeks. Actually, creating math lessons from scratch begins on Thursday. I'm terrified, because it seems like I can never find time to plan for math.

I don't really know how things will go, seeing as I'm picking up 3 additional subjects this week. AHH! (Tomorrow starts with a bang! 6 subjects)

Back to planning I must go.

Transportation and Nature

Forms of Transportation ("sí" if I've taken it!)

-city bus (sí)
-busito - a smaller bus (sí)
-walking (sí!)
-colectivo - taxi (sí)
-hitch-hiking (sí!)

Note to Mom and Dad : (I knew that you would be concerned about the last one!) We only hitch-hike in the country. We got an amazing hitch! The people were so nice and even offered to take us back. People in the country are so much more laid back and friendly - kind of like how ¨country¨people are in the States.

La Tigra was SO fun today. So relaxing, so wonderful to be in God's creation, so refreshing to be with great girls.... Basically, La Tigra is a national cloud forest - kind of like a rainforest, but colder. It´s BEAUTIFUL. How do I summarize it? We took a taxi to El Centro (the center of Tegus, which is an experience itself), took a busito to El Atillo (on the bus ride, the honduran man next to me fell asleep and almost put his head on my shoulder! it was so funny!), walked for FOREVER, got a few short hitches, visited a house that sells Mora (Blackberry) Wine and Jelly (where I bought some tasty jelly!), walked more (all uphill), got a hitch from some wonderful people, walked in La Tigra for about 2 hours, rode back with the same people to Tegucigalpa, ate Little Caesars and TCBY for dinner, and took a taxi home.

That was my day! Sometime I´ll probably post pictures. But, for now, I´m going wash out my cut that I got in my leg while hiking! Yippee!

A deceivingly-long sentence!

The newly-updated portion "About Me" in my blog profile, for those of you who don't actually read those random parts of the blog:

I'm currently student teaching in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where life tastes different (like tortillas!), there is no completely safe place to be, girls from America receive a lot of stares (and I mean STARES - no blinking involved) from even well-to-do people, buildings have no carpet or form of heat, clothes are hung outside to dry, an entertaining evening consists of chasing a 1 inch-long ant, English-speaking Honduran kids have amazingly cute accents, everyone of at least mild means has a maid, the neighborhood ice cream truck EXISTS!, people wear winter attire when it's 60 degrees outside, the electricity randomly goes out, students have to write 100 sentences for each time they speak Spanish in class (writing, "I will only speak English in class"), little boys easily control their mothers, school regulations are nothing compared to schools in the States, the tortilla and purified water men visit the neighborhood every few days, transportation options include: driving a car (which not many people own), riding the city bus, taking a colectivo (a taxi), walking, hitch-hiking, or riding in the bed of a friend's truck (which I most frequently do), the currency is lempiras (also known as lemps), and GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!

More Adjusted

Today the students had a half day, because it was Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parents were allowed to come from 12-4pm to talk with the teachers. No appointments were made - parents just waited outside until the teacher was free to talk. That was definitely a Latin American version of conferences! They went better than expected, considering that 12 of the 26 students had one or more F's. Some parents were definitely frustrated with their kids. A few parents asked both Jen (my teacher) and I for parenting advice. Neither of us is married or has kids, but surprisingly, sometimes we can offer better parenting advice than parents themselves can provide (at least we THINK we're providing good advice!). Some parents are clueless.

One thing that was interesting is that some of the girls in my class are heading into the "pre-teen" stage. This means that they're having an attitude about things and that they're interested in new things, such as.................. BOYS!!! A few of the girls have formed crushes on boys in our class. Haha....it's pretty funny, the drama that can result as a result of the opposite gender.

Also, conferences were interesting because the meetings (with the exception of two of them) were all in Spanish. My teacher is really fluent in Spanish, because her boyfriend is Honduran and doesn't speak English. So, she spoke really quickly, and I just sat there, trying to soak up all of the Spanish. I understood 99% of what was said, but didn't understand quickly enough to have enough time to add my comments in Spanish. Also, I've only been here for 3 weeks, so I don't know these kids as well as I knew my last students. I wish I could've participated in conferences for my last class, because I think I could've added a lot of suggestions/advice/observations about the students' behavior and patterns.

Not sure what my weekend plans are yet, but I'm determined to learn more about Honduras, whether by going somewhere outside of Tegus tomorrow for the day, or by visiting a few important places in Tegus (such as the Basilica).

Last night I completed a Visit Request for my family's sponsored child (thru Compassion International) to come visit me in Tegus during my last week here. We'll see if it happens, but I really hope it does. It's dependent on how much it will cost me to bring he and a Compassion Representative here (from 6 hours away, north of Santa Rosa de Copan), pay for food and lodging, and any additional costs. It's also dependent on whether 0r not Compassion's local branch approves my request, because I've given them less than 6 weeks to process the request. It would be quite the experience, and I can't even imagine how excited I would be if it actually happened. This is kind of a dream for me ............ so I hope it becomes actualized!

I'm beginning to kind of like it here - this week was the first that I began to appreciate more things about being here. Sure, the school has a lot of rules, and sure, the culture exchange can be annoying and challenging many times, but those things almost make the experience more rich. Maybe it's because I'm teaching more - at my last experience I enjoyed things much more when I was more occupied and more involved in the classroom. I love having the freedom of controlling a classroom. My teacher gives me a lot of freedom that way - when I'm teaching, she frequently leaves the room. Actually, even if she's there, I usually forget that she's present.

Work

"Children are our most valuable natural resource."
Herbert Hoover, 31st U.S. President

I was observed today.... it went well! She said that I was completely in control of the classroom! :-) I personally, didn't feel like they were doing fantastically, because they were really chatty. However, one of the main things I learned in my last placement was CONFIDENCE. My supervisor said I appeared really confident. That makes me happy. Of course, there were things on which I can improve....but that's always the case.

One of the frustrating parts about teaching is that there's always more work to do.... I felt "on-top" of things last night, and tonight I feel like I have to plan the entire next 1000 years of the school's curriculum. Bah!

I'm going to fellow teachers' house for homemade pizza tonight! They're so hospitable. I am a gracious recipient of any pre-planned dinners! :-)

On Friendliness

Jen and I were talking about how we can't even be very friendly to people here in Honduras unless it's in a certain context. The bus to our neighborhood didn't come after waiting for 30 minutes following coffee, so we decided to take a taxi. Our taxi driver was younger and really nice, and I wanted to ask him how his day was, but I didn't. We have learned to be somewhat guarded here because of security. It's a shame, really, but also a reality. I want to be able to smile at people , but the only people I feel that I can smile at here are women and children, unless I'm at church or at school. It's too risky to give any attention (even eye contact) to males here. We already get comments for being gringas. Maybe this is just me overreacting, but I don't think so. It goes against my nature to avoid eye contact with people, but it's just something I've had to adjust to while being here.

Wonderful "Strike" Days

There was no taxi strike today. I'm sure glad there was talk of it, though, because I enjoyed my day off. I washed clothes, hung them out to dry (hopefully), got several assignments typed for Taylor, planned all of next week's grammar lessons, and went out for coffee with Jen Walsh. We went to Espresso Americano and then to Duncan Donuts. Jen is a really neat person. It's so encouraging to talk with her. I think we're going to make these chats a weekly event. We talked about going on a day trip on Saturday, so hopefully traveling this weekend becomes a reality. Now I'm eating a turkey and cheese sandwich on freshly baked bread. Yum. You would think that it would be easy to find freshly baked bread in Honduras, but that's actually not the case. Tortillas are king here.

As I'm writing this, a dog is groaning outside our window. He needs to be put out of his misery. A few weeks ago, I saw the "typical" starving-dog in impoverished areas. Not a pretty site to see the entire ribcage of a living dog.

Now, math is calling my name. It has been whispering to me for...well....several weeks now. I must finally heed it's call.

Education in Honduras

Taken from Compassion International's website:

Education in Honduras:
The typical school year runs from February through November. Education is compulsory from ages seven through 12. Only 58 percent of primary-school-age students reach the fifth grade. According to Honduras' National Statistics Institute (INE), on average, Hondurans complete 5.4 years of schooling. Undergraduate education is only reached by 5.3 percent of the population and graduate studies by 0.2 percent. There is one government-run and several private-run universities in Honduras, along with various trade schools. In urban areas of the country, Hondurans are more aware than their rural neighbors of the importance of education. Although many parents desire education for their children, it is often more important for children to help provide for their families, especially in the country; and because of this, the dropout rate is higher. In addition, the education provided by the government is poor in most cases, from inadequate facilities to teachers constantly going on strike and delaying the school year. There is a sense of helplessness among parents who desire good education for their children but can only afford a public education.

Anonymous "Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate."

When You Wished You Lived in Honduras..........

So..... we just received a call saying that there is a taxi strike tomorrow. This means...............



NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thus, I'm currently viewing a movie........... this is wonderful!

"Cold" Honduran weather

Interesting cultural tidbit from today:
It was about 63 degrees today and everyone was freezing. Granted, it was raining and windy, so I was chilled a few times myself. However, it's really funny to hear Hondurans complaining about this being such cold weather. Several people today were wearing small gloves and hats.

Also, both Jenna and I got our hair cut over the weekend. My kids responded by saying, "Ay, Miss, you look so beautiful" or "Wow, you cut your hair!" I wore my glasses today, and one of my students said to me, "Miss, you are making so many changes!" Jenna's kindergarteners, on the other hand, told her that she looked like an abuela (grandma). Maybe because her hair is short and curly? Who knows, but I think her hair looks pretty cute.

Also, maids here don't get much say in things. One of my students said that her parents were gone so they could not sign her assignment notebook. I told her to have the maid sign it, but she said "she does not have a signature." From what I understand, maids really don't have a signature, because it is a sign of status or something that defines you.

The Honduran teachers' office is right by our classroom, so today the music teacher invited me to come and grade papers in their office. That was really nice of her, and as a result, I was introduced to more of the Honduran faculty. I really enjoyed it, as I was the only "gringa" in the room and got to speak in Spanish a little.

Changes

I don't know exactly what God's got in mind for me, but He's been repeatedly telling me things about myself this week. It's amazing to realize how many times I have been struck with the same, re-occurring idea this past week - that I need to set aside the things that are preventing me from going to God as the Source of life.

I hope that I get the message this time and make second-by-second changes in my life.

Flexibility

Long story short:
Today I experienced the joys of learning to be flexible in the classroom.

I arrived to school in time, ready to print out my lesson plans for today. The computer wasn't working and there was no where else to print the lessons. I internally freaked out, because I couldn't remember my lessons for the day!!! Thankfully, I had a few notes for both grammar and math which jumpstarted my memory of the lessons.

However, upon talking with my teacher, I realized that I had prepared for the WRONG lesson in math. At this point, the students were already lined up and waiting to come into the classroom! So, quickly, my teacher and I figured out what I would teach for the day. Needless to say, the lesson was kind of boring, but actually was useful practice for the kids. You can never be too prepared, but no matter how much preparation a teacher has, there will always be THOSE times when plans don't matter. I prefer to have fewer rather than more of THOSE days, but I know I need to learn how to "think on my feet," and today definitely encouraged that!

I deactivated my facebook account, not realizing that after you deactivate it twice, you can't return to your former account. OOPS! Maybe this is a good way for me focus more on school!

I'm off to plan. Adios.

Honduran Critters

As I already learned, ants bite.

Tonight, Jenna and I learned another fact about ants in Honduras. They can be pretty stinkin' large! Thank goodness, this ant didn't bite us. Here's a photo to demonstrate that. Jenna and I chased this ant around for at least 10 minutes, trying to get a photo so that all of you could enjoy this moment with us. Enjoy, friends!

"Anything is hided under the Ice of God."

This sentence was written by one of my 5th graders trying to write a sentence for the spelling word "anything." Definitely cute!

Our "Fall Festival" is tonight. Should be fun. I'm going to be a Greek Goddess. I'm wearing a fun belt that I found in a box in our house, a sheet, leaves, and sandles. Maybe I'll find something else random to add to the costume.

I think one of the 4th grade American teachers is going to cut my hair tonight. I'm ready for a change.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning - finally, I got up when I was supposed to ! - to work on planning. However, I really wanted to start off the day right and in a mindset of worship, so I started praying and thinking about things. God REALLY used the time to open my eyes to some things in my life and reminded me of how much I need to invest in my current students. Needless to say, I did not get any planning done, but I wasn't concerned. The time was SO much better spent in devoting myself to God and seeking His will. The goal, now, is to remind myself of the things that I learned this morning so I don't become stagnent, like usual.

As much as I'd like to say that things are WONDERFUL now - because I had the good time with God this morning - they're not that fantastic. Actually, I've been frustrated with things. It's been hard for me to be in another teacher's classroom and to have to be the "observer" and not be able to do things the way I think they would best be done. I think the students are gradually learning (hopefully....) that I won't put up with misbehavior and talking at inappropriate times. I have to wrack my brain this weekend for ways too manage the talking so I don't go crazy.

I have to figure out what I'm going to do for Thanksgiving break. We get the normal 2 days off, so a lot of people are traveling. Some people are going to Belize, while others are going to Copan, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Where do I want to go?? I want to go to Copan sometime here, but it would be awesome to go out of the country for that weekend. We'll see. I have time.

Tomorrow I might to go to a children's home nearby. I don't know details about the place, but I know that playing with kids who need love sounds like a great way to spend my Saturday. You would think that I would get tired of kids.

It takes a lot for me to get to that point.

Goodbye to you and "Hola!" to grading and preparing my costume.

Que fresa! = how cool! (literally, "What strawberry!)
My student told me I was "grrr". I think that means that I'm strict. Haha.