Before I forget what happened over the holiday break...

NUMBER ONE: I went home to Houston! Even got to Austin for a weekend. :) It was very nice to be home and see everyone (and stuff my face).

Pretty architecture in Antigua

NUMBER TWO: I went to Guatemala! We took an incredibly comfortable bus (Pullmantur) from San Sal to Guate City, then taxied to Antigua for $35. Antigua is really nice! It's really chill and touristy. We ate at Bagel Barn and Frida's (wow the mole was so good) and saw all sorts of neat churches and a museum of colonial art. We met up with some fellow teachers who were also there, and Matt and I even checked out the nightlife (slightly unsuccessful, but oh well). We also hiked up to the Cerro de la Cruz (hill of the cross) that overlooks the city. Our hotel (Aurora) was very nice and included a decent continental breakfast.

We were supposed to go camping on Pacaya volcano, but our guide was sick or something and we didn't get to go. :( We hung around Antigua for an extra day, then hopped in a van to Panajachel to see Lago Atitlán. It was one of the prettiest places I've ever been. Will definitely have to go back. We had dinner at sunset and took lots of pictures. The next morning we went to the market in Chichicastenango (the largest market in Central America) and haggled and bought lots of stuff. I got a cool painted skull, a clay jaguar (my Mayan birth glyph is the jaguar, i'x), and a super amazing painted leather Mayan calendar that I am absolutely in love with.

After a reroute back to Antigua and a really really long day of being on a minibus, we finally made it back to Guate around 9:30 pm. Went right to bed and got up to catch the bus back to San Salvador at 6 am. Phew!

The first week back at school went well, and my kids are being really good. I hope it keeps up! I started using classdojo.com, and the kids are really responding to it. Hopefully they won't get bored.

One of my kiddos is moving back to the US (boo), so I'm down to 20.

I'm so happy to be back!

Lago Atitlán

Sunset din din on Atitlán

Chichi market

Peer Correction of the Week

Samuel: But Ms. Vanessa, I didn't do nothing!

Me: You didn't do WHAT?!

Whole Class: ANYTHING!!!




Double negatives will be gone by June.

PAT Today

We had a pretty rough couple of weeks, but my kids were so good during PAT (personal activity time) today that I had to take some pictures.

Texas Bingo

Origami

The Artists (and Connor)

iPhone Photo Dump

Here're some pictures of my classroom. And stuff.

Our class library

My little corner of insanity before I got my charola from Office Depot

A particularly nice sunset walking home from school one day

Coloring mandalas in class

There's a lot going on here.

The Writing Process

Huge burger from GBC...ate this on an in-service day.

Random note from my student

This chicken was walking around the bus stop at Tunco.

Good morning from the boys' apartment!

Casey and Matt getting ready for a pirate party

Time Flies

I can't believe it's already the middle of October! This week, I'll complete week ten with my kiddos. I have parent/teacher conferences tomorrow, and we have an in-service on Friday, so I only have them for three days this week.

Many challenges have arisen, but I'm finding ways to solve them. This morning, we had a class meeting about how to use kind words if someone is bothering you. I busted out "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," and I think some of them actually understood what I was getting at.

It's really fun to watch them learn. I've almost corrected away their double negative use. They edited and "published" actual paragraphs, formatted on the computer and everything (it was such a test of patience to get 21 eight- and nine-year-olds to format a paper in Word). They can subtract across zero. They know the difference between incomplete and complete metamorphosis. They understand that a rural area does not mean a poor area.

I'm really trying to encourage more creativity, and I luckily have the freedom to (for the most part) do what I want with unlimited-ish resources. After lunch, we color mandalas to settle down. They created small Blot Books to jot down and illustrate ideas. I need to get some songs going because I have a few who are so auditory. One in particular absolutely MUST be making some kind of noise at all times.

I also decided to take on the extra challenge of starting a master's degree. The school flies in professors from Framingham in Massachusetts, and we also get a scholarship for the program. I'm really glad I started it, as I've already completed one of the nine required courses (Curriculum Theory and Practice). Each course goes for two weeks, 3:30-6:30 during the week and 8:00-4:00 on Saturdays. It's a lot, but it's doable. In the fall of 2014, I'll complete a master's of International Teaching. Sweet.

El Salvador is still wonderful. I like my friends, I like my job. I don't have to do laundry or clean.There are bugs everywhere, including a new colony of ants in our kitchen, but oh well. Rainy season is almost over, and it's going to be endless, perfect weather.

We are going to Costa del Sol for Thanksgiving.

I will try to update more often.