I just got my butt kicked. I was sitting there watching the Vikings rock the Cowboys (yes, satellite television in my bedroom—awesome) and I decided it was time for me to get my rear in gear and go for a run. I put on my new running shoes, grabbed my shuffle, stretched out, and shot up the mountain and into the National Park. Less than a quarter mile later I was bent over, breathing extremely hard but had barely broken a sweat. You have to love running a mile above sea level.

Speaking of getting my butt kicked, I told you I was going to be playing soccer with the other staff and students after school Thursday. Well, I did, and it wasn’t necessarily that I couldn’t play with them, but that my out of shapeness paired with the elevation rocked me. It was a lot of fun and a good way to meet some of my students, but like running up that mountain today, I was out of breath quickly.

Anyway, so again, it’s been a few days and I have a decent amount of things to talk about. The most entertaining however happened at school on Friday. So I was observing the 7th grade math teacher and was standing by the classroom door when one of the principals walked into the doorway and said something in Spanish and shut the door. She then pointed to the courtyard of the school and I thought I was experiencing an Old Testament plague—a swarm and I mean a swarm, of the nastiest looking black wasps was flooding into the courtyard. I turned around and on the other side of the classroom are glass windows. Luckily they were glass because wasps were running into it by the dozens. The wasps stayed in the courtyard and didn’t go into any of the classrooms, but they caused quite a ruckus with the kids. It was incredible. The builders, cleaning ladies, and other workers were ducking for cover as the wasps hung around for about 15 minutes. We still haven’t figured out where they came from.

Friday, as mentioned, I finally got to take a break of sequencing and planning and observed the 7th, 8th, and 9th grade classes. It was a lot of fun but also solidified the fact that teaching is going to be extremely challenging. The kids are very impressive with their English, however it is very hard to understand them at times, and it will be difficult when teaching English because I do not yet have the ability to clarify a point in Spanish. But either way, I am eager to get into the classroom and teach—I start a week from tomorrow!

Yesterday (Saturday) was a lot of fun. A few of the other teachers and I walked the almost 4.5 mile trek down the mountain into Gracias to grab some lunch and do something shopping. I had a hodgepodge of things to get, and so did the girls. We first ate lunch and I had some of the best tacos I have ever had in my life. We then went to the supermarket and the actual market to pick some things up. (I only took two pictures, so pictures of town and the market will have to wait—we go down again on Wednesday) We then stopped at what the girls call the “jar place.” It’s this store owned by a woman who sells all types of things in jars—the entire store is filled from top to bottom with stuff in clear jars. She also makes her own popsicles, which is why we stopped there. Probably one of the best strawberry popsicles I’ve ever had. We then took a taxi back up the mountain because it was really warm and we didn’t feel like walking. We got back and just hung out the rest of the day.

Today was nice and relaxing. I woke up at 10 and got right to work on planning out 9th grade World Geography. This wasn’t that difficult because there is not nearly as much content to cover in this class as there is in the 7th and 8th grade history classes. After finishing this I remembered the NFL playoffs were on and being an American I have to watch the playoffs—especially when it’s “America’s Team” the Dallas Cowboys. Granted I was rooting against them, I watched the game and then went for my run as described above. After that I watched the Everton v. Manchester City soccer match with Kirsty (who is a huge soccer fan, she was born in England). After the match all of the teachers met at the girls’ place where Jackie had made an enormous pot of chili and we all feasted for dinner. It was wonderful.

So, it was a pretty relaxing weekend and I am ready for my first full week of school. I do not start teaching until next Monday, so I will again mostly be observing classes and planning all week. Anyway, I’ll get another update posted in the next few days.

NOTE: it is my understanding that the comment option is not working. I accessed the site from one of the other teacher’s computers and saw it for myself (because the comment option works fine for me). So, I will have to look more into that because I love reading comments. I’ll keep you posted on this in the next couple of days. Since the comment section isn’t working feel free to email me any questions or comments. My email address is tad.vandenbrink@gmail.com.

Adios!

La Escuela