First serious conference/observation..both on the SAME day

So this week got a little intense very quickly. I had emailed a few parents last week about setting up a conference time because I had some concerns about their kids. Well then I got an email yesterday from the secretary saying that one mom was coming in today. Whoa ok great. So I had to quickly prepare for that and decide what I was going to say.

Well the mom came in and we talked about my concerns and what we could do to move forward and better help her son. So I asked how things are at home and she said that he is pretty much in control at home and that she gives him $1 everyday for doing the things that she asks him to do like pick up his things, etc. I wanted to say ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No wonder he acts the way that he does. He acts like he doesn't have to follow the same rules as the other students and now I see why. She basically told me that I have to praise her son like crazy in order for him to behave or do things that I ask. I was like ummmm ok I can try that but I'm not going to over do it either. We also have this other system that we are trying out with him so we'll see how that goes. Well that was in the morning and then after lunch...surprise! The principal comes in to do a surprise observation, so thats just awesome.

Sometimes I like that I am so easy going because I wasn't really nervous at all and was like well, ok here we go. She just plopped down in the back of the room and took notes but was in there for 45 MINUTES!! I had talked with other teachers and they said she usually stays for 10-20. Well either she was very concerned about something or was really enjoying my class. She got to watch us do a little spelling pretest, go over the answers and then talk about our class election. The kids gave their speeches and I think she may have stayed to hear some more of those. I am meeting with her on Friday morning to discuss what she thought.

Also, apparently El Salvador is now on red alert because of all of this CRAZY rain we have been having. Red alert means that all of the schools have to close because of the unsafe conditions. Well lovely Escuela Americana decided to be the only school to NOT cancel tomorrow so I again get to trudge all across campus in the pouring rain, awesome!! Well I think that is all for today, I'll write again soon!

First time dog sitting

So Sarka (my roommate's dog) and I have been hanging out a lot this week/weekend. My roommate (Holly) went back to the states for her sister's wedding so I was put on dog duty. Well I don't mind dogs but they also aren't my best friends in the whole world. Well early in the week, things were good. She went to a neighbors house for a couple nights because they have a dog that is friends with Sarka so that was nice. Well apparently that dog is crazy and Sarka is very peaceful so I said it was fine to bring her back to our apt. Well that probably wasnt the best choice. Sarka doesn't like to sleep alone in Holly's room so I had to sleep in there all weekend. She just whimpers and whines if she is in there alone. Well then she was all distraught from the change of location so she wouldn't eat for a few days. Then she started eating again but then threw up this morning. The dog is crazy and thank god Holly is getting back tonight haha.

I also wanted to post a few pictures from the lake when I tried kneeboarding. The mom sent me the pictures so I thought I would put some up.



Pulling yourself up onto the board was the hardest part.

This week will be a normal week and then this weekend I might go with some friends to some parties at the beach, still not sure yet. After this past weekend of solid rain,rain,rain it would be nice to get away for the weekend and do something exciting. Well hope all is well, miss you lots!

First laugh out loud moment

Two things happened today that I just had to share...

1) We were playing a game in math to practice multiplication where there were two teams....boys vs. girls and I had written a bunch of answers on the board. I called out a problem and each team had a fly swatter that the first player needed to go swat the number on the board. Well a few times one of the teams would swat the incorrect answer so the other team would have a bit more time to make sure they got it right. Well there is one boy in the class that has a hard time paying attention and is always distracted but he was REALLY into this game. So one time the girls swatted the wrong answer and he got soooo excited and was like "OK, TAKE YOUR TIME! YOU HAVE ALL THE TIME IN WORLD" and he was soooo into it! I loved seeing him actually be excited about something. I wanted to say something to him about being quiet and not yelling but I just started laughing.

2) We are having a class election on Monday because we are learning about democracy, forms of government, and voting. So the kids had to decide which position they wanted to run for and then write a speech about why they think the class should vote for them. Some of the speeches are sooo cute and the kids will give them on Monday, they are really excited. Well a few kids were asking me if they could bring stickers or little candies to give to people to try to get votes. To start with I was like...stickers, ok....a little candy, ok....then I get to one of the boys and he asks if he could bring personalized scissors for everyone and a FISH!!!! I was like uhhhhh scissors, maybe.....a fish, no way!! But he could not understand why that wouldn't be ok. He told me that he could just bring in his tank and everyone could take a fish home in a cup. hahaha I was trying so hard not to laugh and didn't know what to say. After that ordeal, I decided that it would be better if nobody brought anything. I turned it into something positive and made something up like "It should be about what you say anyways, not what you bring to give to people" haha

Oh it was a hilarious day. Tonight I'm going to the embassy with a bunch of other American teachers for happy hour and then probably just relaxing. Tomorrow, one of the other teachers here is having an Oktoberfest party so that should be fun. It's supposed to be pretty rainy and there is a hurricane in the area so it might be a great weekend to curl up, watch some movies and lay around. Can't wait :)

First Surf/ Yoga retreat

The retreat was amazing. We left Friday evening and drove the 45 minutes down to the beach house that we would be staying in for the weekend. The house was amazing. There were 3 bedrooms, an outdoor living room area, dining room and kitchen. Huge deck area where we did the yoga and then the pool. It was gorgeous and the weather made it even better!!

We had great meals all weekend. All vegetarian food and amazing! There were 2 other people from El Salvador and then 4 teachers from the American school in Guatemala. It was a good group. Saturday morning we woke up and did some yoga. I had never done it before so it was definitely a new experience. I really liked it though and it was very relaxing

This is the table where we ate all of our delicious meals. This was breakfast, complete with fresh coconuts.

After our morning yoga, we relaxed around the pool and then went down to the beach. At the beach, we did a bunch of synergy yoga or partner yoga. It was fun and intense because you really had to trust the other person. After the beach, we had some lunch and sat around the pool. In the evening, we went to a sweat lodge. It was this little cave and I mean little. They crammed about 20 people into there and it was pitch black. Then they brought in burning rocks and a man was talking about things and pouring water on the rocks so it was getting very very steamy. I didn't really like it that much so when they opened the door one time to get more rocks, I left and hung out in the pool outside until the ceremony was finished. Saturday night was more eating and relaxing.


The waves were HUGE over the weekend so we practiced in the pool, learning the basic idea of how to get up on the board.

Sunday morning, I had a thai massage which was awesome! It was 100x better than the massage I had last time. That last massage was kind of painful but this one was really different. We had another morning yoga session, another trip to the beach and then just hung around the resort. We came back Sunday afternoon but it was such a relaxing, wonderful weekend that it was hard to come back to reality for work on Monday. I got some sun too which is always nice. I think I will try to continue doing yoga because I was definitely sore and it was very relaxing. I think I might go on one of the retreats again in the future. It was a great time!

First kneeboarding experience

So today was the big day. We had the day off for Independence Day and I went with a student's family to their house by the lake. It was a great day and so much fun. We got there around 11am and relaxed for a while before going out on the boat/jet ski. There were 5 other teachers from the upper school that went along too because my student has an older sister too. So it was the other teachers, the sister, Shelly, my student, and the parents. The whole family was soo nice. I went on the big boat with most of the group and we were all knee boarding. I had never done it before but I got up on the board and did really well (pictures of that are to come later). It was such a good time. After we were out on the water for a while, we went back to the house and had lunch. Sooooo much food, it was delicious. Burgers, tamales, corn on the cob, cake, ice cream, cookies and m&ms. Amazing!


Sitting on the deck by the lake.

After dinner we sat by the lake chatting and relaxing, it was wonderful. It was a really nice day but felt strange that it was a Wednesday but feels even more odd that I have school again tomorrow. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow too from the kneeboarding. My arms were burning sooo bad while I was doing it.


View of the back terrace, complete with volleyball court below.

I'm so excited for this weekend too cuz I'm going on a surf/yoga retreat. Should be a good time. Lots of relaxing, learning how to surf, doing some yoga, thai massage and eating all cleansing vegetarian food. Just have to get through 2 more days of school first :)

First invite from a student

Hello!
This week has gone really well. We had a full week, no Labor Day off for us, but it has gone by soooo fast. I can't believe it. Another week down. The weather has been gorgeous the last couple of days too which really helps out a lot. We have a four day week next week though because of Independence Day on Wednesday. Which brings me to the invitation....

So one of my students is part of a big family that goes to the school so she has lots of brothers and sisters in the middle and upper school. This family is very well known in the area and owns a department store here similar to a Sears maybe? Anyways...she invited me to go with her family to their lake house on our holiday next Wednesday. She was so cute and told me that I didn't need to bring anything and they would drive me. All I needed to bring was myself, my bathing suit and a change of clothes. I could even bring a friend if I wanted to and a few of the other international teachers were invited too (by her siblings) so I would know other people that were going. She was so cute and I told her that I would love to go. It will be an interesting experience and something that would be such a no-no in the states. Culture here is just so different and it's not uncommon for this type of thing to happen. I can only imagine how ridiculously nice the house must be too. The mom asked me if I know how to water ski and told me that if I didn't, her daughter would be able to teach me haha I'm excited. It should be fun.

Other than that, this weekend will be nice. Tomorrow night we have another little happy hour/ TGIF party at one of the apartments here and then Saturday I'm going to meet up with some ladies for lunch. My friend Hanna's mom had some friends coming down here so they sent a box of things with them to give to me. I'm excited to see what they sent :)

I also started Spanish classes at the school this week. I was put in the intermediate class which surprised me but I did just fine. So every Monday and Wednesday after school, we meet for an hour and a half. It will be so great. I felt good too because when the teacher was talking and introducing the class and stuff, I understood everything he was saying. It's definitely all coming back to me. Other than that, not a whole lot. Hope everyone had a great week and enjoys the weekend! Lots of love!

First pictures of the apartment

More pictures of the house are to come but here are a few....


This is the living room/dining room and oh hey there's Sarka :)



This is my backyard.


This is some crazy plant that is growing in our yard. It looks like a pink pine cone and feels very waxy but if you push too hard it collapses in.


This is the kitchen.

My room is still a work in progress but I will put pictures of that up once it is more complete. Enjoy!

First "I love teaching moments"

This week at school went really well. The kids and I are in routines now and know what is expected at different times throughout the day. We had the first math test and most of them did really, really well. There were a few moments throughout the week too that were so rewarding and reminded me how much I love teaching.

1.On Wednesday, we had been talking about simple and complex sentences in the morning and practicing identifying conjunctions of complex sentences. Well later in the day, we were reading about the scientific method in the science book and one of the girls raised her hand and says “Miss Marissa. That is a complex sentence and the conjunction is and”. Haha It was so great and I loved how she was thinking about things we had learned earlier in the day.

2.We started reading Esperanza Rising as a class this week. For now, I have been reading it to them and having them follow along. There are points along the way that we stop and talk about important events, make predictions or talk about vocabulary words. Well there were 4 pages left in the chapter but we needed to go to music so I said “Ok, we are going to have to stop there for today” and the kids were like “Nooooooooo! Can we finish it when we get back?” haha they were so into it that they couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and wanted to finish the chapter. It was so cute and I love how engaged in this book they are

This weekend should be relaxing. I have some errands to run and other things to get organized for next week. No labor day off for me. My next day off is September 15th for Independence Day. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Love you all!

First $10 massage

So I have never had a massage in my whole life and people here get them pretty regularly so I thought I'd try it out. There are a few people that come to the complejo and give cheap massages. I mean $10 for an hour long massage, you can't really pass that up. The lady came over after school and it was wonderful. A great way to wind down from the day. I was so relaxed all evening and slept great last night.

I can't believe tomorrow is already Friday. This week has gone by so fast. Overall, the week has gone really well. We started our first class novel, Esperanza Rising, and the students are really into it. There are parts in Spanish so they laugh at me when I don't pronounce them exactly correctly or with an "English accent" they always giggle and say "Miss Marissa, you have such a funny accent". I really love my class though! We also had our first math test this week and I was a little worried because they were having a lot of trouble with the concepts. As a whole, the class did really well. There were even 3 kids that got over 100% with the bonus question. There were also a few that didn't do so well so I'm thinking since it was the first test, I may give them the option to retake it. So many of these kids are little perfectionists so I don't want them to get down on themselves after just one test. I explained to them that it was one test and they will have plenty of opportunities to make up the points.

This weekend I don't have too much planned. Hopefully relaxing quite a bit and maybe going to the beach. I have another Spanish lesson tomorrow after school. A friend of a friend is helping me out with my spanish. We got together for an hour and a half on Tuesday and spoke only Spanish. She is so helpful and refuses to let me speak English. I'm sure my grammar was horrible but she would ask me questions about things and we were just talking about all kinds of things....some of my students, my family, studying abroad in Ireland, my day at school. My spanish is definitely getting better and better.

Other than that, nothing really new going on. Very rainy weather because it's technically the "wet" season but it's usually at night so isn't a problem at all. I'm hoping this weekend is nice so I can get some sun. I hear it's been pretty hot at home so hopefully it starts to cool off soon. Miss you all!