win:
today i rented an overhead projector for the first time from the library. these can be rented for the entire year... it was mere laziness that kept me from getting one sooner. my kids' jaws dropped when i started explaining it and using it. i definitely held their attention all of math, although i'm not sure if it was me or if it was the pretty shining light. when i finished explaining whatever i was talking about with addition, i asked for questions, and i got "but mees, how does it work?" so i might have to reteach tomorrow. :) it was worth it for their faces.
fail:
this week my kids starting writing in their own agendas. this is something that up until now, my assistant has done for them. i decided they're ready to do that themselves. we have them write in their agendas in spanish, because most of the parents don't read english, and the kids... can't read. so i was in a hurry, writing their assignments in spanish on the board. i abbreviated things that i thought could be abbreviated. for example, in science, rather than writing "hoja de ciencias" for "science paper," i wrote "hoja." i was pretty sure this was fine; i'd heard it happen that way before. today i was super confused when i had quite a few kids bring in leaves from trees.
well, "hoja" also means leaf. i guess i'll have to be more clear. :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
can't wait til monday?
today has been one of the most comically terrible saturdays of my life. i am sharing not to complain, but rather to try to show how ridiculous it actually was.
first, today was saturday school. enough said. but things compounded to make it actually worse than a normal school day. or maybe it was just that every time i thought about how the rest of the school-attending world was in bed, i teared up a little.
after school, two friends and i went to the mall to watch a movie and eat sushi. as it was finally the start of the weekend, we were thrilled to go out and make the most of our few hours of saturday. we took a taxi to the farthest-away mall, which is also the nicest. on the way, our taxi got into a crash. the driver was going way too fast and slammed into a car that had already crashed with the car in front of him. he was going very fast on impact... we're thinking at least 40 mph. the car that we crashed into had already crashed with the car in front of him. our taxi's air bags went off, the windshield shattered, and our taxi's hood ended up completely under the back of the pickup truck in front of us. we ended up fine for the most part, and we were so blessed that no one hit us from behind as well.
the hardest part for me to think about now is how the taxi driver lost his job with that crash. i mean, there's a chance that he has mechanic friends who can help him out, but generally taxi drivers barely enough to gas their cars. we can get a ride completely across town for US$4. almost all of that $4 would go to gas. but now with his car smoking on the side of the road and the hood crushed under the back of a pickup, things aren't looking up for him.
fortunately, the elementary school assistant principal came by in her car and took us away from the crash. this was amazing because none of us had our phones, and so we weren't able to call anyone. she just happened to be passing by the place where we crashed. she made some calls and decided to bring us to the mall. she was so excited to help, because she was going to the mall anyway. :)
today ended up being fine, all in all. we ended up seeing a movie that i wouldn't rate higher than a 2/10. but it was great to sit in air conditioning and eat popcorn. tomorrow holds all of my hopes for an entire weekend's worth of work and fun. then the next day starts yet another week.
first, today was saturday school. enough said. but things compounded to make it actually worse than a normal school day. or maybe it was just that every time i thought about how the rest of the school-attending world was in bed, i teared up a little.
after school, two friends and i went to the mall to watch a movie and eat sushi. as it was finally the start of the weekend, we were thrilled to go out and make the most of our few hours of saturday. we took a taxi to the farthest-away mall, which is also the nicest. on the way, our taxi got into a crash. the driver was going way too fast and slammed into a car that had already crashed with the car in front of him. he was going very fast on impact... we're thinking at least 40 mph. the car that we crashed into had already crashed with the car in front of him. our taxi's air bags went off, the windshield shattered, and our taxi's hood ended up completely under the back of the pickup truck in front of us. we ended up fine for the most part, and we were so blessed that no one hit us from behind as well.
the hardest part for me to think about now is how the taxi driver lost his job with that crash. i mean, there's a chance that he has mechanic friends who can help him out, but generally taxi drivers barely enough to gas their cars. we can get a ride completely across town for US$4. almost all of that $4 would go to gas. but now with his car smoking on the side of the road and the hood crushed under the back of a pickup, things aren't looking up for him.
fortunately, the elementary school assistant principal came by in her car and took us away from the crash. this was amazing because none of us had our phones, and so we weren't able to call anyone. she just happened to be passing by the place where we crashed. she made some calls and decided to bring us to the mall. she was so excited to help, because she was going to the mall anyway. :)
today ended up being fine, all in all. we ended up seeing a movie that i wouldn't rate higher than a 2/10. but it was great to sit in air conditioning and eat popcorn. tomorrow holds all of my hopes for an entire weekend's worth of work and fun. then the next day starts yet another week.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
currently canadian
tonight i went out with a couple of friends, and we ended up at tgi friday's while several important soccer games were being broadcast on tv, including those of 6 different latin american countries. there were people up in the bar area getting very enthusiastic about an ecuador- uruguay game, to the point of singing, yelling, and cursing out people on the other side of the bar who were voting for the other team.
currently, honduras is playing the USA in san pedro sula in northern honduras. about 12 people from our group went to go watch, but i decided to stay back, along with several other people. we had even received an email from the US embassy in tegucigalpa telling americans that they were not permitted to go to san pedro for this game. that's not why i didn't go; i had decided to pass based on my general lack of interest in all things soccer.
when we were at the mall around game time, almost everyone we interacted with wanted to know if we were americans, because this game is such a big deal for honduras. we told everyone who asked that we were from canada. it was so interesting to see the responses of these people as we told them, too. it went from an anxious, curious, competitive stare to complete indifference. we didn't really tell people we were canadians because we felt unsafe, but it's strange to try to put into words the discomfort and unknown that comes from being against almost every single person in the country. seeing the passion that hondurans have for soccer is something that i can't even begin to in relationship to something like a sporting event.
i don't really know what's going on with scores or anything of the sort, but it definitely seems that this game means more to honduras than it does to the US. of course it does; the general population of the US hasn't the faintest idea that we're even playing tonight, whereas almost every honduran is wearing a soccer jersey. the mall was a sea of white and blue and face paint. i've never seen anything like it bring a country together. it seems that for hondruas, this game is much more of a way to unite the country again after its whole political crisis. hondurans are genuinely thrilled to be having this game in hondruas. a few weeks ago, it was highly doubtful that the US would even send its team to play. it seemed sure that the game would be moved to the US. but it wasn't, and as a result, i think that it means a lot to honduras. they need this win much more than we do.
currently, honduras is playing the USA in san pedro sula in northern honduras. about 12 people from our group went to go watch, but i decided to stay back, along with several other people. we had even received an email from the US embassy in tegucigalpa telling americans that they were not permitted to go to san pedro for this game. that's not why i didn't go; i had decided to pass based on my general lack of interest in all things soccer.
when we were at the mall around game time, almost everyone we interacted with wanted to know if we were americans, because this game is such a big deal for honduras. we told everyone who asked that we were from canada. it was so interesting to see the responses of these people as we told them, too. it went from an anxious, curious, competitive stare to complete indifference. we didn't really tell people we were canadians because we felt unsafe, but it's strange to try to put into words the discomfort and unknown that comes from being against almost every single person in the country. seeing the passion that hondurans have for soccer is something that i can't even begin to in relationship to something like a sporting event.
i don't really know what's going on with scores or anything of the sort, but it definitely seems that this game means more to honduras than it does to the US. of course it does; the general population of the US hasn't the faintest idea that we're even playing tonight, whereas almost every honduran is wearing a soccer jersey. the mall was a sea of white and blue and face paint. i've never seen anything like it bring a country together. it seems that for hondruas, this game is much more of a way to unite the country again after its whole political crisis. hondurans are genuinely thrilled to be having this game in hondruas. a few weeks ago, it was highly doubtful that the US would even send its team to play. it seemed sure that the game would be moved to the US. but it wasn't, and as a result, i think that it means a lot to honduras. they need this win much more than we do.
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