a quieter week

This week was quite calm. One of my students was out sick until Friday, so I just had five students. In science, we continued learning about bats and then also began studying spiders. On Tuesday the kids made cracker, peanut butter, raisin and spaghetti spiders.

The two part-time teachers at PCS who were going to begin working at a hotel decided to stay with PCS. When they went for training the first day, the terms of their work were completely changed, so they said 'no thank you' and came back to us. Hooray! Jenna came through her surgery well and should be back in the 5th and 6th grade classroom on Monday. Thank you for your prayers! Please keep them coming; Mike's hip is hurting him a great deal. Abraham took over teaching PE, which is a new adventure for him. My finances are still in a bad state, and now there is an added complication with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and renewing my credential.

This weekend most of the junior high and high school students, along with several teachers, are camping. After freezing (literally) at last year's camping trip, I didn't hesitate to stay home rather than go this year. I'm sure they'll have fun, but I'm happy to sleep in a warm, comfortable bed and do virtually nothing this weekend.

I was glad to be able to spend time with Abraham every day this week. The fact that he is now a part-time teacher at PCS brings him around here even more often than before. I don't mind at all!

Spa night, Thanksgiving, and Huejotzingo

The school week passed normally with the day-to-day adventures that one first and second grade classroom can expect and the two ESL 'classes' (or English practice) that I have taken on. The weekend came and went rapidly, chock full of activities.

On Friday, after my flute lesson, I walked over to the Blakey's house where soon almost all the female PCS staff gathered for our annual spa night. What fun it was! One of the PCS moms had gathered spa-related gifts for us, Jenna had made or bought chocolate-y desserts, and she had also prepared various natural ingredients for us to make face, hand, feet, and hair masks out of. We passed the evening laughing, talking, and coating our skin with different ingredients.

On Saturday I spent the morning grocery shopping, lesson planning, and making waldorf salad. A Canadian friend of Bethany's came from where she's living in Cuerna Vaca to spend the weekend with us. Although Canada already celebrated Thanksgiving in September, she hadn't been able to because she is in Mexico for the year. Bethany decided to prepare a Thanksgiving meal and invite some friends. We each brought some Thanksgiving food, and Saturday night we feasted.

I spent Saturday afternoon over at Abraham's house watching part of The Fellowship of the Ring. Abraham hadn't seen the whole movie before and still hasn't because we ran out of time, but we'll finish watching it tonight.

Finally, after many weeks of wanting to go, but not being able to because of other commitments, I was able to join the church group that goes out to a mission in Huejotzingo every Sunday afternoon. Abraham is in charge of the mission work. The group gathers children, teens, and adults in the neighborhood in Huejotzingo and teaches Bible stories and songs each week. Because it was the day after Dia de los Muertos, many of the normal attenders were not in town this week. I hope to be able to go regularly from now on.

PCS needs your prayers. Two of our part-time staff members are looking into starting work at a hotel. If they decide to work at the hotel, they will be leaving PCS which will mean that art and beginning Spanish and office work have no one to do them. Another PCS teacher, Mike Contreras, has been suffering from terrible hip pain because of a surgery he had last year. The roads and sidewalks here are rough, so his hip has not healed the way it should. Our 5th and 6th grade class has substitute teachers (parents) all week, because Jenna Blakey has to have surgery today to remove her gall bladder, because she has been passing gall stones. Right now we're teaching with a 'skeleton staff.' It's possible that Abraham will take over the Spanish classes, but for PE, art, and office work, we're very short handed.

I also need your prayers. My finances are tight, and I'm going to be sending out letters and emails asking for more support. I've begun paying off my student loan again, and some supporters have stopped giving. The result of this combination is that I'm low on funds.

Fall is here

We've had some lovely hot days here lately, but at night it gets chilly. With Halloween and Dia de los Muertos right around the corner, the grocery stores have brought out piles of pumpkins. I bought 1 1/2 pumpkins from a nearby store, and found out that the particular variety that I purchased has a rock-hard shell. A parent bought a 'normal' pumpkin for our classroom, so that's what we used in class for the various pumpkin activities that we did. The kids also painted mini pumpkins.







Last Saturday I spent considerable time cutting the flesh from the 1/2 pumpkin and boiling it down. To cut out the flesh, I had to fling the pumpkin on the floor several times and use a butcher knife to get through the shell. It was quite a workout!


On Sunday a week ago, Dios es Amor celebrated its seven-year anniversary as a church. It was quite a festive day. Two members of the youth group were baptized, and two couples who had been married for several years but wanted a church wedding exchanged vows again. After the service, we ate mole, rice, and beans and had cake for dessert. Many people stayed to help with the clean-up afterwards, but I still didn't get back home until 4:45.

My Thursday ESL class at my home was much calmer this time around. The two mothers from PCS couldn't come for their class at 5 and therefore their children also didn't come. The other students showed up around 6, we read a chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and then we began talking. All of us were tired, so soon we descended into a loopy mood where everything was funny, and we laughed and had silly conversation.

On Friday I didn't return to my apartment from school until after 9pm. It was the evening of Fun Fall Fest, PCS' alternative for Halloween. We prepared the school for games and food, and the kids returned with their families at 6 for the festival. It was very well attended. There were some times in the evening when I wanted to go from one room to another and simply couldn't get through the crowd. Everyone seemed to be having a great time too.

Biblioteca Palafoxiana and more

What a week this has been! I'm so glad that I have absolutely no plans for tomorrow - other than the accumulated errands of a week. I think I'll be a hermit this evening and tomorrow. Truly I enjoyed the week, but I'm quite thoroughly tired too.

On Monday I was feeling well enough to teach, although some food poisoning was still holding on. After we'd had our staff meeting, I had my first English class with a 10 or 11 year old boy who goes to my church. He practiced reading out of one of the first graders' story books, recited colors, the alphabet, the days of the week and months of the year, and then began to name animals that I have in the classroom. He stayed with me from 1 o'clock (before my students get out of class) until 5:15, except for the time when I was in staff meeting.

Abraham finished his Spanish class with another PCS teacher at the same time, so we dropped Isai off at his bus, and then went over to my apartment to read from one of Abraham's homework books and eat dinner.

Immediately after school on Tuesday, Abraham came over, and we went downtown to see the incredible Biblioteca Palafoxiana which has free entry on Tuesdays. Photography is absolutely forbidden, even without flash, although I was allowed to take some flash-free pictures from outside the library. It's an amazing place! It dates from the 16 hundreds and contains thousands of dusty old tomes neatly ranked on ornate shelves. If you visit Puebla, stop in to the library in the Casa de la Cultura.


Like usual, the two of us headed out to Dios es Amor for Oansa on Wednesday night. In the youth group we're studying Hebrews, a book I find challenging to understand even in English.

Thursday afternoon was the third ESL class for friends from PCS and Dios es Amor. Two of the PCS teachers can't come at 6 (too late) and three of the other students can't come at 5(too early), so I started class with the three who could be there at five, reading the first chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The two teachers each have two children who came along; three are elementary students, and one is a high schooler.

Before the class began, I had hastily made a batch of cookies, but somehow they turned out as flat mush. It was tasty flat mush, so the kids were willing to eat it all, but the high school boy said severely,"Miss Greenlee, you need to learn how to make cookies better!" Half kidding I said, "Well, why don't you show me how it's done?" And just like that, he and the other boy decided they would make some cookies for the class. Little did I know they'd never baked before...

As the English learners read page by page and asked vocabulary questions, the sounds of the cookie mixer and periodic questions from the new bakers interspersed the reading. The boys took me seriously when I said to grease the cookie sheets well: they must have emptied half a can of Pam spray on one sheet!

At six o'clock, the other three students arrived. We hadn't gotten very far in the reading, so I gave them the chapter photocopies, and they caught up reading silently. From then on it was a regular zoo of adults, one teen, and children. The two bakers produced pancake-flat chocolate oatmeal cookies that everyone promptly devoured. At 7:30, we'd finished all the cookies and two chapters of the book. Everyone but Abraham left, and quiet descended for the first time in 2 1/2 hours.

In first and second grade, we've been talking about bones, and yesterday in class the kids made pasta skeletons. It's a craft that takes quite a bit of time to make, but it turns out well and does help reinforce the vocabulary that I'm teaching the kids. It also is fun, which doesn't hurt anything.

This week went more smoothly with the little 'penguin.' He seems to have gotten the idea that finishing his work on time in class is a good idea. Wednesday he tied his shoe laces together, and when I asked him why, he said, "I'm helping you, teacher. I stay in my seat better when the laces are tied!" What good logic.

food poisoning

It has struck again. I don't know what I ate this time, but whatever it was, it didn't agree with me. On Saturday night I woke up feeling queezy, so I took some alarmingly pink pepto bismol and returned to bed. Sunday morning I still felt a bit nauseated, but not too bad, so I decided to go to church. Halfway through the first hymn however, I felt light-headed and sat down. As soon as I could stand, I left the sanctuary and went into the kitchen where Six made some chamomile tea for me and then made sure I could safely climb the winding stairs to Janelle's apartment where I slept away the rest of the service time. Janelle was driving into town after church, so she took me home, and I went straight to bed.

Bless his kind heart, after returning from an afternoon at Huejotzingo, Abraham came by the apartment to see how I was feeling. He stayed for awhile, and we passed the time chatting.

The rest of the week before was fine. Things are up and down and uneven with my little 'penguin' - sometimes he works hard on his schoolwork, and sometimes he sits and sings loudly and eats pencils. I hope there's a general improving trend, but really it's hard to tell.

I've been enjoying lots of time with Abraham lately. We spent time together after his Spanish class with another PCS teacher on Monday, went out to Oansa at church on Wednesday and then returned together, had ESL class at my house and then he stayed for awhile after that, walked over to my flute class at the seminary on Friday and then watched Wall-e together afterwards. On Saturday we went downtown all afternoon and had dinner at El Balcon and then watched the free Puebla Nights dancing at the Casa de la Cultura. Lots of fun!

Tired

Sorry, no pictures this week. I can't think how that happened - I did take some pictures of the kids doing a fudge experiment that is supposed to show the difference between igneous rocks that cool quickly and those that cool slowly, but I didn't take any pictures I could post, and besides, someone is borrowing my camera right now, so even those pictures are unavailable.

This was one looooong week. It wasn't even that it was a bad week, just unending. Yesterday was difficult at school because my little "penguin" didn't want to do his work in class. Near the end of the morning, he began to cry - and this child can cry! He can literally make the front of his shirt wet from his tears, and this trick he can produce at the drop of a hat. So anyway, I was at the back table working with the second reading group while the first group did their printing. The other two boys finished their printing and began to play.

The tears began. "It's too hard! I can't do this!" said the boy. Never mind he had done the exact same words the two previous days... He spent the next half-hour soaking his shirt. Wow.

I started the ESL class for friends from Dios es Amor and from PCS this last Thursday. Two of the people who want to come couldn't make it this Thursday but will come next week. Two others never confirmed with Abraham, so they might show up next week, and one other seemed interested but didn't actually show up. As a result, my friend Yeimy and mi novio Abraham were the only ones who came. We chatted in English, drank tea, and ate too many chocolate chip cookies.

Today was the rappelling trip for the junior and senior high students and whichever teachers wanted to go. I went last year and had fun, so I signed up again this time, but when I woke up this morning, I had no interest in spending the day with students. Instead I passed the day largely at home, house cleaning, cooking, gardening, painting, and then doing some grocery shopping. That leaves lesson planning for tomorrow after church.

parents gone and parent-teacher conferences

My parents left on Wednesday morning. Their last few days here, they finished up some sight seeing, and also Mom picked up a reminder of her visit - a virulent case of food poisoning. Not a pleasant souvenir. On Saturday night, before she got sick, we went downtown to see Puebla Nights, a free dance show that includes folklorico and less traditional dances. We were given free tickets to the Sunday afternoon show as well, but since I'm always at church until after 2, and the show starts at 1:30, I'll see who I can give them away to.

Tuesday evening my dad and I went out to Abraham and family's house. We enjoyed rice, soup, and lots of laughter. Abraham and I acted as translators for my dad and his mom and brother since my dad doesn't speak Spanish, and they don't speak English.

Last night Abraham and I watched Happy Feet together. He had observed in my classroom one time and had also heard my many stories about the young Elvis music lover in my room, and he commented that this child acted and sounded a lot like Mumble the Penguin in Happy Feet. I hadn't seen the movie, so we arranged a time when we could, and guess what? My student is uncannily like Mumble. Who knows? He may end up saving mankind through organized tap dancing.

On Friday morning, this child asked for prayer for his dad. "He's hyper," said the boy, "And it makes him sick." From earlier conversations of other teachers, I had some idea what the child actually meant: his dad has been diagnosed with hypoglycemia. A bit different from being hyper, but the word exchange is an easy mistake to make when you're only 6.

Before watching Happy Feet, I (and all the other PCS teachers) had parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon. I didn't have particularly difficult conferences, although one parent wasn't exactly thrilled with what I had to say about their child's prospects for moving on the second grade next year. It is early days yet, so it's not certainly that this child won't move up, but if he continues as he is, he won't move on.

This morning three other PCS teachers, Abraham, and I played soccer at the PE field. We had forgotten to contact the high school students to see if they were interested, so we had an adults-only game. Actually, it was quite fun. We played World Cup and then girls vs. guys short field.

At present, I'm tied to the apartment because there are two men here removing the rotting bathroom window frame and repairing two years' worth of water damage in the surrounding walls. They'll be back Monday afternoon to put in a new window. My landlady left the money to pay them and told me to give it to them "only if you see everything looks good." How am I supposed to know? Too much responsibility! But she's not living here now, so I have to try to judge their repair work. In the meantime, I can't go anywhere which means I can't be lesson planning. Oh fooey.

¡Viva México!

Class party









Staff party






Church party

one week anniversary and parents in town

This has been quite the week! Just after I wrote the previous blog posting, one of my really good friends came to my classroom. This was a friend that started out as my Spanish teacher, but over time the "lessons" became time to get to know each other better - still speaking Spanish though. Around Easter last year, he asked if we could become more than friends, but at the time I didn't know if I'd be returning to Puebla, so I said we'd better just stay friends and pray for further direction. Summer came, I returned to the United States, and we both prayed, along with other friends and family who knew the not-so-secret secret of our more-than-friendship.

When I returned to Puebla, we again began spending lots of time together, walking around the neighborhood and talking. On Friday, Abraham asked again whether we could be more than friends, and this time I said yes. Now we're officially dating, but no general announcement has been made to anyone (however I suspect most people at PCS and Dios es Amor are fully aware of the relationship...)

Over the summer I told my parents that Abraham and I had become more than friends and that I wanted them to visit Puebla close to the beginning of the school year. They arrived in the morning on Wednesday and will be here for two weeks. Their timing is quite good: they'll be here for Independence Day and the various celebrations included in that.

Meanwhile, with parents in town and a new dating relationship, school and the accompanying demands continue. I have stories every day from my classroom that make the other teachers laugh. For example, today one of the children was saying his memory verse, Proverbs 13:13 which says, "He who scorns instruction will be punished, but he who obeys commands will be rewarded." His interpretation, "He who scorns construction will be punished..."

The one young fellow who struggles with behaving well in class adores Elvis, so today I tried a little bribery. If he gets a smiley face for an hour of good listening, he can listen to one Elvis song on my computer. I've been singing "Blue Suede Shoes" all day, because he chose to listen to that song twice as his reward for two good hours. I hope this works for more than just today - not much else has worked so far, but he did quite well in class today.


The kids finished decorating their piñatas today. Oi, what a mess!

A day at a time

This year is going to be significantly different from last year. My current students are younger in more ways than just age. Although I only have six students, sometimes it feels as if I had thirty! What do teachers in the US do with ESL students learning to read for the first time? I have my hands full with just four learners. The other two students know how to read, but English is not their first language, so they don't always understand what they're reading. I'm just going to have to take this year one day (even hour sometimes) at a time.

My kids are a unique bunch. The final student arrived Wednesday, and introduced an entirely different dynamic to the class. He does not know how to behave in a classroom setting. He also does not read or write even his own name, but he does have an extremely active imagination and will build forts out of his pencils and then begin shooting them down. He'll also begin a rousing rendition of "Oh When the Saints" at random intervals of the day - and he can sing it with full gospel style. Yesterday he solemnly asked another teacher to guard his "very important wallet" because "it has money in it, and Elvis Presley's driver's license!" This child is six!

We've begun making piñatas in class in anticipation of Independence Day September 16th. I have been teaching the students brief lessons about Mexico. Making piñatas with a group of 5 - 8 year olds isn't the easiest thing to do, but they sure love doing it, and they are learning how to follow directions and get along with each other as they layer on goopy messes of watery flour and scrap paper.

Today we gave piñata-making a break and concocted avocado popsicles instead. May not sound very appetizing to some, but they taste quite good. We had and avocado/sugar/lime juice mess on the table an some of the kids by the time the stuff was made, but it all turned out pretty well.



Last night five of us single teachers from PCS went out to eat downtown at a restaurant named El Balcon. You can't get better food for better prices anywhere else. Sunday is the birthday of one of the ladies, so Janelle and Lindsey went downtown ahead of Bethany, Flo, and I to decorate the table and hide a cake in the kitchen. When we'd finished dinner, our waiter turned off the lights over our table and brought out the cake with the lit candles.

We took a brief walk downtown afterwards and admired all the festive lights and decorations put up for Independence Day. It's reminiscent of Christmas in looks, because Mexico's colors are red, green, and white.

Last week I signed up for flute lessons at the seminary a few blocks from here. It will be the first time I have lessons from someone who can actually play the flute! Back in 7th grade, when I first started lessons, my teacher knew the fingerings and how it should sound, but couldn't play the flute himself. That was the only time I actually had lessons, although I've practiced sporadically since then. This will be an adventure.