kids and back to school!

So, here are my lovelies that decided they wanted to be human canvases and draw on themselves with markers. Yep, never a dull moment around here!

I'm offically part of the working world again. Started with kids last Monday and have a week under my belt. One class is challenging but you have to have at least one to keep you on your toes! I LOVE my new school and staff. We are like a little family, which is something I have never had before. And, most of the staff is on the same page as far as student achievement goes, which again has never happened.

The kids have started at an in-home day care that is right behind my house, literally. They call it the "white house" and they really like going. It makes my heart happy to see that they LIKE going to day care. They are both getting so big, and I can't believe Em will be 2 in less than 2 months! CRAZY!! They have been going through an "I don't want to listen to Mommy" stage which I REALLY hope ends soon. So trying on my patience, which is a virtue that I lack!

Heading to good ol' Chadron on Friday for a little road trip/get outta dodge, and am excited to see my friends. It's been over 5 years since I've visited! Excited to eat some China House and maybe even some Common Cents nachos! Will post pictures when I get back!!

Oh Emmie!

My little one decided she just couldn't finish her fries before passing out! TOO CUTE!

Hazen AND Emmie for hire!

Well, this year I had to hire both of them to wash my car instead of just Hazen. They did a pretty good job. Were a bit obsessed with the soap, but the car ended up nice and shiny!! :)

Emmie's cast

In the middle of July, poor Em had to get a cast on her arm. Mean brother pulled on her arm at just the right angle and pulled her elbow out of joint. After 2 doctors tried to put it back in place, x-rays and 2 visits to the trauma center, they decided to give her a cast for a week. Here are some pictures to show off "Emmie's purple arm" as we called it...

Just got the cast on....
We decided to sign it with washable marker (not my idea) and of course Emmie decided to lick her cast...here's what she looked like!

NOT a happy camper!
A little better...
See, I heart my cast!

Puebla: Days 12-14

Itzel-super cute!
Me and the kids
Jeff and the kids
Eduardo, my fav!

The last 4 days in Puebla were spent teaching, giving final presentations and saying goodbye to the kids. Our unit we taught turned out really good--we had the kids write penpal letters to students in Boulder. Jeff's daughters go to a bilingual school in boulder and he had 3rd graders write letters to our kids in Mexico. It was awesome to see how excited they were when we gave them the letters from the kids in Boulder. The classroom experience was amazing and I had a great time teaching with Jeff. He and I got along great and became very good friends. Love him! Still waiting to get pictures from him and add them to the blog.

We had a going away party at the school that Thursday before we left. All of the teachers came, and they brought out 10 bottles of tequila! Too funny--something you never would see in the States! It was a good time, with a not so good dinner, dancing, gifts and drinking! Afterwards we went to a dance club where they were having a dance-off which was lame so we left. Jose and I went and had some tacos and great conversation at midnight! Tried to have Burger King and McDonald's but they were closed! HA!

The last night in Puebla, there was a farewell celebration on the roof of the hotel. The professors gave everyone awards, had a Mariachi band, pinata, food and lots of drinking. It was a good time had by all. Still need to get pictures from Katharine so I can post them. We had to leave for Mexico City Saturday morning at 5:30 and many people stayed up all night and were hurting units. (I was not one of them! Actually got a good 3 hours of sleep!)

Overall, I learned more about myself and relationships with people than I did about education and teaching. I missed my little ones and V tremendously. I missed American food. I missed hearing English. I missed my big, soft, comfy bed. I made some great friends--Jeff, Manuel, Jose. I bonded with people who I had been in class with for a year and a half and kind of knew before we went down there--Christine, Katie, Peter. I solidified bonds with people-Katharine, Joe and Emily. It was an unforgettable experience and one I will never forget.

Puebla: Days 10-11 Teaching and trip to the Mercado

Dinner out on the town...

Pigs in the Mercado

No, it's not touching my head!
Jose and his small bag o' cheetos.

Yum, tripe and cows heads!

Melia, Cesar, me, Morena at the Mercado.

Food stocked in the Mercado; floor to ceiling.

Chickens!

My kids singing a song. Too cute!

We spent Monday and Tuesday teaching the kids, taking classes and writing papers. Tuesday we went to the Mercado after we were at the schools, and had to spend $50 on food, grocery items to give to someone that we found on the street who seemed to be "in need." It was kind of a strange assignment because we basically bought food and then had to ask random people if they could use what we bought. We asked one man who was selling matches on the street but he said to stop bothering him because he needed to work and we were interrupting his selling. We found an 82-year-old woman who was selling vegetables and gave her the food; beans, sugar, oil, toilet paper, rice, etc. She was very grateful. I was glad that I had 3 fluent Spanish speakers in my group that could translate and communicate with the people in the Mercado. Morena is from El Salvador, and Cesar and Hector are from Mexico. Then there was Melia and I--the token white girls! :) It was a very interesting experience!

Puebla days 8 & 9-weekend of freedom!

After a long, crazy, draining week, I was exhausted and my body was feeling the toll. I started to lose my voice and felt awful. I was drained emotionally--missed my babies tremendously-mentally--too much education talk crammed in my head--and physically. Most of our group left for Mexico City or the beach at Vera Cruz. Not me--I stayed and slept for 12 hours. It was AWESOME! :)



Sunday morning I felt a little better and Katie, Marcellino and I walked to the Convento de Santa Monica. It was the most interesting place that we went to the whole trip. The convent was used as a secret place for unmarried, pregnant girls who were daughters of the well to do people of Puebla, as well as a convent. There was an underground tunnel that they used to smuggle the girls in and out of the convent. The girls stayed until they had the babies; girl babies were killed (actually thrown over a wall in the underground crypt) and boy babies were sold to people in the city. We were taken down into the crypt, which was eerie but a crazy weird interesting experience. On the wall were the descriptions on how 27 women died--some starved, some died violent deaths. It was crazy but I learned SO much! Between the three of us, we were able to communicate with our guide and also undrestand what he was saying since he really didn't speak English.



The nuns of the convent believed in self-mutilation and would whip themselves for as many sins as the Mother Superior told them they had. They were all vegetarians, and ate only enough to survive; and even then, some of them died from starvation. They had very short hair and only took showers once every 4-5 months. It was a very eerie place. Quiet but I am sure we were being watched. We asked our guide if he had ever seen any ghosts and he said he hadn't but people had seen women walking around dressed as nuns! CRAZY!!!



Popo the volcano--view from the roof of our hotel.

K smokin' some Popo.

Popo and the church next door.

Outdoor alter at the convent.

Scary depection of the Last Supper. These were manequins and scared the CRAP out of me. Wasn't expecting it and turned and there they were! YIKES!

Nuns quarters: wooden bench for bed, wooden pillow, and the things laying on the bed were the tools they used to whip themselves or self-mutilate themselves.
I thought this painting was very interesting-a bleeding heart on the world...