fun with the bathroom sink

The previous sink problem was a constantly leaking faucet that didn't get fixed for five days. We used the bucket to catch the water, so it wouldn't all be wasted. Now we're going on a week of having leaky pipes under the sink and the sink listing from the wall which is why the sink is propped up with the shelves. Now the water isn't being wasted, because it's only leaking from what we've already used. What a useful bucket we own! If it wasn't here we'd have a vast puddle on our bathroom floor all the time.

Dutch Blitz

The first week of second semester went almost without hitch. My two new girls arrived with an army of cousins who are scattered throughout the grades. Getting the new two acquainted with classroom procedures kept me busier than usual, as did explaining the math vocabulary that Saxon Math uses. However, they'll soon know the routines, so that won't be an issue for long.

On Friday I passed a peaceful evening cooking the main dish that will last me for the next few weeks (in fact I'll probably freeze some - there's an enormous quantity) and reading. I probably should have cleaned the fish tank in the classroom. Someone's been feeding the fish after school, and the tank is filthy after only a week. However, since I didn't clean it Friday, I'll have to do that today, along with lesson planning.

Yesterday was a beautiful warm day, so while the laundry was running, I stayed up on the roof just enjoying warmth and sunlight. Lately the days have been marvelously warm, although our apartment and my classroom are still morgue-like. I don't think they'll ever catch on to the weather change, especially since it's still quite cold at night.

I took care of some house cleaning, and then met Bethany at the gordita stand that's next door to PCS. I kept commenting to Bethany that I still hadn't eaten at the popular stand, and she finally said, "Well the question is, are you going to?" With that, we made plans to do Saturday lunch.

Once we'd eaten, Janelle and I walked downtown. She needed Oansa (awana) prizes for the boys, and I wanted to pick up a talavera item that I'd ordered in December. The poor shop owner was terribly embarrassed when I asked for my order. "Oh no! I forgot!" I assured him it didn't matter, since there was no hurry, but he gave Janelle and I free dessert plates anyway.

In the evening, Bethany and I went along with a young lady who is visiting her family for awhile to the home of PCS's new teacher. We played Dutch Blitz for a few hours and laughed a great deal. I need to polish up my Dutch Blitz skills; my score was 3rd of 4!

Janelle's computer is used for the church's power point, so we always go a little bit early. We also usually stay late as well and get home around 2:45. That's one of the reasons I try to have lesson planning done before Sunday, but oh well, it didn't happen this week.


The church sanctuary and its basketball court.

Procrastinating

I should be at school lesson planning. I really should. But I'm not. I've done just about everything that I need to do this weekend except lesson plan, and now I'm inventing things that I might just possibly have needed to do, but not really. I enjoy teaching a whole lot, but the planning, well, not so much.

This past week was busy. School went as usual, except that I also had to do report cards since the semester ended Friday. This was the last week for one of my students, since her dad's business is moving the family. I will however be getting two new girls Monday. They are both second graders. It's kind of too bad that they're girls because now I'll have seven girls, and the two boys will remain the only ones. At least the two of them get along well.

Monday I had my Spanish lesson as usual after school and staff meeting. When the lesson ended, we went out behind the house to play basketball with the young boy who lives at the house where I have my lessons.

On Tuesday the PCS staff went out to eat for Jenna's birthday and to welcome a new teacher who flew in that day. We had fabulous Italian food.

As usual Wednesday I took the bus to Dios es Amor for Oansa (Awana) and youth group afterwards. When youth group ended, we played some basketball. I have a decorative bruise on one knee from tripping over someone's foot. Elegant.

Last night I returned to Dios es Amor for Bible study. We played a bit of basketball before the study started, and I managed to stay on my feet that time. I hope one of these days we'll play more soccer. I haven't played soccer in a really long time.

At the apartment we've had water issues. A plumber came Wednesday to repair a few minor problems, and just after he left, our bathroom sink began dripping. The PCS secretary called him back to ask for sink repairs, and he returned Thursday morning. - but he only looked at the kitchen sink and cleaned some more gunk from that faucet. When the secretary tried to call him Friday, he wasn't answering the phone, and now I'm waiting at the apartment (although I could be at the school too) to see if she can get ahold of him today. In the mean time, we have a bucket wedged in the sink, and we've been using the water to wash our hands, flush the toilet, and water the houseplants. Even so, a lot is being wasted.

folk dance

School week one of 2008 went by without mishap. Some of my non-school activities haven't started yet, so it was a relatively quiet week with several evenings home.

In school I showed the kids how to make borax snowflakes, and the results were excellent. All of the students ended up with sparkling crystal snowflakes when the project was over.

We also researched emperor penguins. When I asked the kids if they thought polar bears ate penguins, all but one said yes. The one who went against the crowd was right - penguins live in the Antarctic and polar bears live in the Arctic.

On Thursday, my longest day with the kids, I was reading a 'Ranger Rick' article aloud near the end of the day. My youngest student raised his hand, "Miss Greenlee," he said plaintively, "Can you stop reading that? It's too long!" I guess I never have to wonder what he's thinking.

Three PCS seniors are going to Prague with honors choir in 1 1/2 weeks. Saturday evening there was a fund raiser for them. A folk dance instructor had arranged for his students to perform, and all the money from the tickets would be for the PCS seniors. The performance was incredible. The dancers performed with energy, skill, and enthusiasm. It made me wish I knew how to dance like that.

Today at church most of the PCS staff came to Dios es Amor for the farewell service for the Musgraves. Mr. Musgrave was the director of PCS for many years, but now the family is going to Queretero. The service was shorter than usual, but then we had a grand lunch. The youth group, of which I am part because I'm not married, helped serve food, and then once everyone had their food, we began to clean up. I was helping with dishes, and every time we reached the end of one mound of dishes, someone would bring "just one more" thing to wash. By 4:30 the mound was finally all washed, dried, and put away.

Although I had thought this would be an empty and restful weekend, with errands, dance performances, and farewells at church, I didn't get to lesson plans until 5:00 pm today. Hey, at least they're done before Monday!

dazed and woozy

This picture is for you Rachael. My Starbucks from Puebla.

Oh the joys of international travel! But before I complain, I should start out by saying I am safely returned to Puebla and all unpacked. Earlier I also finished prep for school's resuming on Monday - so basically everything's fine. It's just hard to see it that way when I'm loopy and blue from almost no sleep last night. I'll be so glad for this day to end so that I can go to bed at the earliest hour possible and sleep this off.

It's a given that any international trip must come with minor adventures. This LAX to Mexico City was no exception. My dad dropped me off at the terminal for Alaska Air at about 10:45pm, and I trundled my trolley-full of luggage to the only line I could see. It had to have been the slowest moving line in the history of LAX, but after about 45 minutes, I finally arrived near the front and saw the line was marked "Persons Needing Assistance." I didn't need help, and I also finally saw the self-check-in computers (marked step #1), so I bailed from what was left of the line and checked in.

Step #2 was clearly marked above the luggage counter, so I approached the woman there to check in my baggage. "Did you come from the line?" she asked, "These people are ahead of you." Which people? Oh, the ones in the long mislabeled line I'd already waited in for 45 minutes. The lady at the counter wasn't interested in my protests, so I entered the line again - at the end. By that time I already knew my flight was delayed, so there wasn't reason to fret. It was just annoying.

Finally just before 2am the last of the passengers were boarding the plane. As I peered out the window, I noticed two airport employees busily unloading luggage from the baggage compartment of our plane, and oh look! there went one of my suitcases. Just as the two men finished unloading a car-ful of luggage, the captain came over the speakers instructing the flight crew to prepare for take-off. What about our bags? Well, after the crew made their usual safety announcements, we - waited, presumably while the luggage was returned to some other part of the plane.

At 2:30am, you'd think the crew would be interested in letting passengers sleep, but no. Just after take-off, the lights were switched back on, and we were given customs forms to fill out. After that, the cabin lights were turned off, but the crew cheerfully came down the aisles to pass out snacks and drinks. Once that activity ended, I did catch some catnaps.

In Mexico City I needed a trolley because I had a trunk, a large cardboard box, a suitcase, and a computer bag to manage. The trolleys had a large sheet of glass directly over them, and just as I approached, someone tugged a trolley too hard, breaking the glass. The trolleys were now impossible to pull out. I asked the airport employee who had reported the broken glass where else I could get a trolley and he said hopelessly, "There is no other place." Fortunately he was mistaken, and another employee directed me to other trolleys.

The only other travel snafu for me was at the bus station in Puebla. I had asked to be picked up from the station, but no one came. Fortunately, taxis from 4 Poniente to our apartment are cheap, so that's how I got home.

Only about 5 more hours to stay awake...

PS. A few hours later... Closer yet to bed!
However, I couldn't resist adding some pictures. Tomorrow is the Day of the Kings, and today on every street corner people are selling helium balloons. The children who get the balloons make a wish for what gifts they want to find in their shoes tomorrow and then release the balloon. What a cheerful sight these balloon bunches are.

week two

This has been a quieter week than last week, but still I've spent some time with friends and out and about on errands. Christmas day was warm and clear, and we celebrated our usual way. Christmas is the only time when we all eat breakfast together - homemade cinnamon rolls and eggs, and then we listen to the Christmas story. After that come the presents which we open one at a time to savor the suspense. Because there are six of us, the present-opening takes quite awhile.

My sister and I made waldorf salad, and my dad put the finishing touches on the rest of the Christmas feast. A friend from my parents' small group joined us, and we thoroughly enjoyed the traditional fare.

Another tradition we have is to walk on the beach in the afternoon. With the beautiful warmth and clean air, it was a lovely time. We strolled for about an hour before returning home to play several rounds of Madlibs in the evening.

The rest of the week passed rather quietly. Today I had the opportunity to go with two friends for my first (and at this point only) horse-back riding lesson. My horse Frisco was apparently the crabbiest of the lot, but he didn't cause me any particular problems. The lesson was only 20 minutes, and the fastest we ever went was a trot, but that was fine by me. It seemed fast enough for this raw beginner!


Tomorrow at church we will have a pancake breakfast and then only one service. That will be my last Sunday at Newport Mesa Church for 6 months, since I'll be returning to Puebla Jan. 5.

lots of coffee and late nights

After being up all night Saturday/Sunday, I arrived safe but dazed to LAX. This had to have been the easiest airport check-out ever; I think I was one of the first off the plane, and from there it was absolutely smooth "sailing." From the time the plane touched down to the time I met my dad at curb-side, only about 20 minutes had passed.

Sunday evening my dad and I went to see the elaborate miniature village that a neighbor sets up every year in her home. After that I tried to go to church, but apparently the 6pm services don't exist anymore, so my drive to the church accomplished nothing. Upon returning home, I settled down to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding with my parents but kept falling asleep.

Monday night I joined several members of my small group to tour Balboa Island (where the other half live) and see the elaborate lights. Stunning! It was fun to catch up with my friends again.

On Tuesday I met one of my best friends at Norms. She and her husband had just flown in from Connecticut, pulling an all-nighter like I had on Sat/Sun, but she was still able to stay awake and coherent until after midnight.

Wednesday night two more friends met with me at Starbucks, and then we went to watch August Rush. Another late night.

My family had waited for our traditional viewing of Muppet Christmas Carol until I came, and then my brother had to work for several nights, so we finally got to watch that Thursday night. Such a classic - it's the only Christmas movie that we insist on watching every year.

Tonight my sisters, dad, and I went to Fashion Island (where the other half shop) to see their 110 foot environmentally friendly tree. While there we took the opportunity to enjoy some of Macy's more entertaining clothing options. Actually, the gold tree skirt worked quite nicely as a cape.

Tomorrow I'll be playing soccer with the same friends I saw Wednesday night, but I actually have no plans for the evening. During the days I've been shopping to pick up things that I can't get in Mexico (like books for my classrooom), writing Christmas cards, visiting the lovely Huntington Beach Public Library which I definitely miss in Mexico, and going to garden centers to buy plants to fill in areas that have died back in the garden. Oh, and I've enjoyed "playing" in my garden too.

gold, frankenstein, and myrrh

Three weeks of Christmas projects, Christmas stories, and intense practice for the Christmas pageant have ended. Most of the PCS staff left this morning to head to the US. Soon I will also be leaving, but my flight isn't until tomorrow morning. Early. Way too early. It leaves at 7:50am from Mexico City. Calculating backwards - let's see, international flights require passengers to arrive 3 hours ahead. 4:50am. The bus ride from Puebla to Mexico City takes 2 hours. That means I have to be on the 3am bus from here. My poor roommate is dropping me off at the bus station. Hopefully she'll go back to sleep afterwards. I'm not going to bother going to bed tonight.

All that aside, the past three weeks went very well. We had more than enough Christmas projects to fill the time, and then this last week all the kids had practice for the pageant that they were in Thursday. By the way, did you know that the wise men brought gold, Frankenstein, and myrrh to the baby Jesus? So says one of my students anyway. Do you think the wise men invited Frankie, or did he force his way along with them?

That in itself was a story. The pageant started at 6:30. I went over to the school at 6 to get a ride over, but no one came. I tried calling some people's cell phones, but no one answered. By 6:30, the school's cleaning ladies had arrived, and they called a cab for me, but when the cab came, the driver didn't know where the church was and neither did I. I tried more cell phones with no results. They ladies called another cab, but just when it arrived, one of the PCS teachers also drove up. He'd been sent to find me. Unfortunately, the cab driver demanded payment for the call, even though I didn't ride over to the church with him.

On Friday the parents of my students came with Christmas food for lunch. Not all of them could be there, but it was nice to have the ones that could come.

Now I've finished my lesson plans for the first week of school - Jan 2008! and I'm all packed. Ten more hours til I have to be at the bus station.

staying home

Perhaps I'm related to Scrooge or the Grinch. Just perhaps. Anyway, whether I'm related to one of them or not, I have chosen to stay home from a PCS friends and family Christmas party that starts in an hour. I wavered - there will be carol singing and cookies galore, but there will also be scads of people, including many kids. I'm not in the mood for that much noise and socializing.

We actually already had a Christmas party, just last night, in fact. That party was for PCS staff and the board members - adults only. Even with the invitation narrowed down, there were still times during the party when the noise of talking was overwhelming. There was plenty of tasty finger food available, since Jenna, the director's wife, had been preparing the goodies all day.

After returning from the party in the evening, Bethany and I took a walk up to the Catholic church on the hill to see if they had put up Christmas lights since the church on the pyramid in Cholula had put up lights. The church here hadn't, but some houses nearby had. We strolled around part of the neighborhood, searching for the perfect place to take a picture of the chapel capola, a "tree" of lights strung up one of the television broadcast towers, and the massive Mexican flag. No success on that front, but we did get a nice walk.

Today Janelle and I grocery shopped at Walmart early on to avoid the massive weekend crowds, and then I took care of some school business - still not lesson planning (that will be on tomorrow's agenda after church). Early in the afternoon, Bethany and I caught a bus to downtown so she could finish some Christmas shopping.

On Wednesday much of Mexico will be honoring the Virgin de Guadalupe. For this reason right now there are singles, couples, and groups of pilgrims walking through here

on their way to the Basilica in Mexico City. What a walk! As Bethany and I neared home this afternoon, we saw a particularly notable group of pilgrims wearily trudging down the street. They paused briefly for refreshment and rest before continuing the long trek. It's hard to see in the picture, but the young man with the white baseball cap has a glass case strapped to his back. In it is the image of the virgin. Many of the pilgrims have large framed paintings or images strapped to their backs as they walk. Downtown we passed an enclosure where an image of the virgin had been painstakingly created out of dyed rice and brown sugar.

I can't help but think of the contrasts in belief systems. Last night at the Christmas party, one of the board members talked about God's giving us the free gift of his Son Jesus. He came to earth as a humble baby, born in a stable and destined to die for our sins. A free gift. Salvation and a place in heaven for all eternity doesn't depend on us making a tiring, painful trek on foot each year to a center of worship. We don't have to carry any burdens on our backs as we process from home to the Basilica. Christmas is about celebrating or freedom in Christ. May these pilgrims find the same hope in Jesus, not the Virgin de Guadalupe.

around town

The week back from vacation sped by in a blur. We worked on many Christmas related crafts, stories, and activities in school. Two more weeks before vacation begins again, this time for 3 weeks.

This morning a friend from Dios es Amor came by so that we could go to El Centro together. She wanted to show me a couple of places that I hadn't seen yet, so we caught the bus that took us downtown. She showed me the street where the hippies sell their wares. Some of it is really original and well made, and some of it... well, I don't think I'd want a necklace or earrings patterned with psychedelic mushrooms or marijuana leaves.

After going there, we visited a weekend market that sells just about anything. We could have bought Christmas trees or furs, or any number of other gadgets and knick-knacks. As we strolled the streets, we saw all kinds of stores and markets. Finally, after a few hours of walking, we were both hungry and stopped at a restaurant. Finishing our lunches, we explored more of downtown before finding Reforma and walking the 45 minutes back to my home.

Last night I went to Dios es Amor for the bimonthly Friday night youth group. Abraham and I arrived early, so we played kickball with the neighbor kids for awhile. My roommate is driving back from Texas with her new (to her) van, so she wasn't there to teach the young ladies' class. We stayed with the young men, taught by Mario.

With the Spanish from last night and all day today, I actually found it difficult to think of words in English when one of the PCS students saw me returning from El Centro and started talking to me. That doesn't mean I'm fluent in Spanish by any means, but the Spanish saturation had taken over my brain for the time being.