5/11/09-5/13/09

5/11/09
Happy Birthday (Feliz Cumpleanos) Dad!!
Even though all of us seem to be fighting off colds (and whatever other weird illnesses we seem to be getting), we all headed to school today. Laina had a pretty tough time going to her class since she's was gone most of last week. I spent the day with the 5th and 4th grade English classes. I feel pretty comfortable teaching the 5th grade class but the 4th grade class doesn't seem to have any control whatsoever!! (And if you know me, you know that I need some sort of control!!)
It has turned freezing cold again!! I wonder if that has anything to do with our ailments. We've even had to get out the extra blankets and space heaters again!!

5/12/09
What a fun day!! (Yes, that was said with extreme sarcasm!!) The morning started out great with the kids getting all ready to go to school. It wasn't until we went out the front door for school that we found out that there was a flat tire. Luckily Chris had insisted on making sure the spare tire was there when we bought the van and he was able to change it pretty quick. We were still late for school however. Oh, well.
I stayed at school again. The morning was spent observing the principal/director/owner of the school teach the 5th grade class. I'm still not sure why she was doing it since the regular teacher was there also but it was nice to see different styles of teaching. She had me help out a lot to get the kids used to me. After snack time we changed to the 4th grade class. What a relief it was to see how the class behaved for Teacher Michelle rather than their regular teacher! They actually sat in their seats for the most part and listened. One thing that I have noticed here is that all of the kids are very eager to answer questions and to participate even if they don't know the answer. It seems like in the states there are always the shy kids that never raise their hands or hate to participate. Here they have constant competitions between classmates and nobody seems to get their feelings hurt. It's pretty cool to watch the interactions between the students.
When the 4th graders left for p.e., I joined Cole's 3rd grade class. Teacher Michelle (the principal) asked me to watch her class as well. Michelle seems to be very pleased with the way Teacher Deanna conducts her class and the way the kids learn. I have been equally impressed and hope to follow her example. She seems to be more creative with her approach to teaching rather than reading straight out of a text book. Michelle has told me that I can pretty much do what I want with the class and that she is just excited for the kids to have the opportunity to learn from a native English speaker! (Little does she know that I don't have a clue about the grammer aspect of English!! I let that stuff leave my brain a long time ago!!)
Since the morning started out late, why not continue the pattern and fit in with how everything else seems to be run here.
Chris was pretty late picking us up from school. While killing time, Morgan decided to jump over a teeter totter. (background story: this morning Morgan wanted to have a jumping contest during recess jumping over a rope. I told her no way that if somebody didn't clear the rope, they trip and crack their heads open) As I'm sure you can imagine, she didn't quite clear the teeter totter and tore up her knee and hand pretty good. She even tore a big hole in her new gym outfit!! UGH!! She was pretty tough though and I was able to get some peroxide/bandages from the office.
Tonight was choir (coro) practice. I had been practicing all of the songs since I wasn't very familiar with them. I had told Chris several times that I needed to be there at 7:00 and that I also needed to pick up Lily. There was another big storm and everything just kept falling further and further behind. It wasn't until after 7:30 that Chris was able to get home. I felt like I had let everybody down by not being there to play the piano. Anyway, Lily and I ran over to the church in the pouring down rain just to find out that nobody had come. Apparently when it rains really hard a lot of people don't go out since they have to walk everywhere! I am still amazed by the dedication of the people here. It takes us a good 5-10 minutes to drive to the church and most people walk that same distance!! I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but they had a ward temple trip where everybody met at the church at 2:00 in the morning to ride a bus to Guatemala City. They spent several hours at the temple and then crowded back into the bus to come back home. I have to admit that it makes me feel pretty guilty that I don't make the same efforts that they do and that I always took for granted living close to temples.

5/13/09
This morning wasn't quite as crazy since Chris went out early to check the van tire to find out that the repair hadn't worked. He was able to get the tire changed and we were off to school on time. Rather than staying at the school, I went with Chris. He had some conference calls so I was able to get some of my work done while he was in his meeting. When I finished up my stuff, I walked across the street to the mall to do a little shopping. I have to say that it was scary to not have Chris there to depend on if I didn't understand people but at the same time it was so nice to be able to go at my own pace and not feel rushed!! There is a store in the mall that sells all of the brand new items that are leftover from the states. (Did I write about that yet?) I like the store because the employees for the most part leave me alone and don't follow me every step of the way! The store isn't the nicest place but I don't get as stressed out! It is kind of a treasure hunt there also. (Anybody that knows me know that I love the thrill of the hunt for good deals!!) Today I found some treasures! I got a new white blouse, a striped shirt, navy skirt, gray skirt, black school shoes for Alysa, and a wallet for Laina. My grand total Q86 which is just barely over $10!! Yeah!!
The next store that I went to is called El Zeppelin. Chris had finished his meeting and met me there but he had his computer bag and so he didn't want to go in. (At all of the stores have security guards that take any bags that you have and hold them until you are done shopping and Chris didn't feel too comfortable leaving his computer with them!!) So, into the store I went by myself. I gave the security guard my bags and he gave me my little claim ticket, then off I went. After a few minutes, I was approached by a sales guy and he said something to me. My initial reaction is to say, "No hablo espanol". For some reason though, I paused and within a few seconds I realized that I understood one of the words he had said!! He had asked if I was looking for anything special. I said that I was looking for a sweater for my nino (boy). He showed me where they were and then asked how old (or what size. I'm not sure!!) I told him and he helped me find the sizes. I tried to find Chris to show him but couldn't see him past a pole. I said "Mi esposo" and the guy pointed him out to me. I went and took the computer bag so Chris could go in and look (honestly, I don't have a clue about picking out sweaters for a boy!! ) While I was standing at the front door waiting the security guard came over to me again and said, "pase" (pass/enter??) and motioned for me to go ahead. By that point I was feeling pretty confident and proud of myself for trying and for actually communicating. When all was said and done, I was able to find a sweater for Cole, and a pair of dorky sweatpants for me! Oh, how I wish I had brought my warm fuzzy lounging pants here!! Especially on Sunday afternoon after church!!
We picked up the kids from school then Chris dropped us all off at the house while he went back to work. In the afternoon, I realized that we had a different security guard that day and my visiting teachers were supposed to be coming over. (Visiting teachers are all of the women from church. They are generally paired up and assigned a few other sisters to visit each month. They also share a message from the presidency of the church and are there to help out whenever there is a need)
I wrote the best note that I could and had Cole run it down to the security guard for me. It went something like this: (if you know Spanish, don't laugh too hard....I'm trying my best! (: ) "Hola, mis amigas van a mi casa hoy a las 4. Por favor permitir pasar. Lo siento pero mi espanol es no bueno."
My visiting teachers did come but it wasn't the same ones that I was expecting. Sully came along with Lily and also another lady named Blanca. The little Mayan lady wasn't there. Sully isn't super confident in her English so she tried her best to share the message with me. She did great though!! If I could speak Spanish half as good as she does English, I'd be ecstatic! I love how supportive and patient the sisters are with me! They all sat there and helped me practice my Spanish. Blanca would talk (I had to keep asking her to speak slower and to repeat herself!!) and I would try to figure out what she was saying. Then I would try to respond to them in Spanish. It really helps when I can practice in a relaxed atmosphere! I am really excited for Chris' boss to come down next week and hopefully he'll be able to bring the Spanish books that I ordered. I need to do some more studying. I was planning to go to one of the many Spanish Schools that they have here but with my schedule it just isn't working out. Maybe after I am done teaching I'll be able to go! (Or maybe I'll be completely fluent by then and won't need it. (: j/k )