Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

So back to work it is! Momo and I had decided that after Semana Santa, I would start working part time in first grade and part time in second with my kids from last year. Because the little kids are gone at the beach this week, I was in second grade the whole week. The teacher is Xiomara, an ex-pequeña herself, and I’m helping her with instructional strategies. It’s been going well – the kids are excited to have me there because they get more individual attention with a second teacher, naturally. I’m back in hogar, which is wonderful. I loved being greeted by some of the girls as if they hadn’t seen me in years. Wednesday was Día del Trabajador. We had a mass honoring Joseph the worker and a fantastic lunch (pork and scalloped potatoes, oh my!) for all the employees. There was also a band and dancing. I was starting to feel like a rejected seventh grader at a junior high dance, so Victoria and I took matters into our own hands and salsa and merengued it up. Thursday was a fun day because I left school at noon to go on compras. One day every month, the kids who had birthdays that month all pile onto the NPH bus with the folks from sponsorship for a day in the city. They get pizza, cake, and some spending money to go shopping. I went with cousins Saravia and Hallan. Hallan’s sister met us at Pizza Hut and I got to hold her precious 4 month-old Vienna Emoly. She loved my Muppet faces, but Saravia really had the magic touch with her. The bus ride home was full of teasing and laughter and general hysteria. That night, there was a tremendous storm with heavy rains, thunder, lightning, and the biggest hail I’ve ever seen in my life. I definitely got some pretty big ice chunks put down my shirt, thanks to my little lovelies in hogar. Today, I found myself alone with the kiddos because Xiomara was sick. I read them a book from my childhood called Two Bad Ants and had them illustrate three main events in order (a comprehension activity they’d never done before). They worked so well I wanted to take a picture. It all went well until computer class because they power went out, so I had to fill an hour and ten minutes. We went out to have the PE class, and they did well with structured activities, but as soon as I gave them some freedom, they lost it. I gave them homework as a consequence, and they weren’t too happy, but such is life. Just left the volunteer meeting and am relaxing a bit before we begin ye olde work weekend.