Sunshine on my Shoulders makes Me Happy

I've made it to a Starbucks-where the police monitor the doors with guns.
It's been a long day at school. Yesterday I started my new head teaching job-ESL to 4, 5, and 6th. Once again I'm forced to completely let go and rely on God to sustain me amid this new job. I've taken over for an older American teacher who was fluent in Spanish and had been teaching at the school for 10 years. I'm not sure if I can fill her shoes-this is my first teaching job and I don't even fully know the language of the students I'm teaching! Working with the little ones was different...

Monday-Mandy and I took the bus to Mega (kind of like Target but not nearly as nice) and I bought a couple light blue shirts so that I could match the other teachers-be "professional". I'd much rather wear a tank top, chacos, and shorts-but I guess I have to look the part, so much for comfort :)

I'm sipping on a Mocha Latte-AH! The wonder of coffee-expresso-chocolate. I had an excuse to head to Starbucks (pronounced "starbooks" in Spanish) after school today. I need full wireless connection for a Skype interview for grad school. So I get to sit in AC and drink coffee to extract the remaining bits of energy left in me. Last night I only slept about three hour. It's getting hotter here (yes, I know for Ky this is great-primavera is coming!) but for MX it is almost unbearable. No AC. AH! :) But I'm not as close to the equator as some folks. I'd like to shoot all the street dogs here. Yes, shoot them. Relieve them of their agony and hunger and diseases and...I might get more sleep at night. The poor dogs bark all night.

Some Gator fans came my way this past weekend-visited Casa Hogar. It was so much fun! We went to see the divers on the Pacific coast and ate at the Pink Flamingo Hotel-highlight of the 40's apparently. There was a Hollywood Hall of Fame where John Wayne and others had vacationed back in the day. I put some photos up on FB of the view- spectacular!

Some of the girls are getting lice at Casa Hogar from school-I am crossing my fingers I don't get lice! And I'm rinsing my hair with white vinegar twice a week. Apparently it makes your hair shinier too :)

So, I love teaching.
Even when I'm lacking sleep, impatient, some of the students don't have their own books, and I'm unable to translate sentences into perfect Spanish, I am thankful to have this position. I just act a lot and draw pictures. :) I'm trying to figure out how to teach outdoor adventure sports (that is the theme of our entire 6th grade unit for this month!) to kids that have never been horseback riding, rock climbing, white water rafting, on a hot air balloon, or on a plane-it's difficult. I am constantly frustrated with the textbooks so I make up my own lessons...if only I could take those 6th graders on a field trip to the Red River Gorge to rock climb and show them what outdoor adventures are really like... :)

Well, I should prepare for this interview. Audios mi amigas!