Vida

Today started out normally: being attacked by hugs as I walked through the door "Buenos Dias" I prepared the lesson for the day and then Lucy asked me to start tracing these flowers. I wasn´t super excited about it, but I thought 'only 12 lisa' and I asked how many and she said muchos so it wasn´t for the kids i figured out.... so i sat down and started tracing. then pakita (my boss) came in the room while the majority of the kids were brushing their teeth and had an apron type thing that all the teachers wear (besides melissa & i) and it was for me!!! I WAS SO EXCITED! While she was putting it on me I felt like I was being crowned or something. Then she said, "Now you´re a teacher" YES Some of the kiddos came back in the room and she asked them how I looked and they said "muy bonito" (very goodish...that´s the best translation i can come up with) and they said it as excited as i felt. =) so as i sat down to finish tracing the flowers i ...

This is how phones are answered here. "Bueno." I don`t know how you couldn`t be happier when your greated by someone that obviously wants to talk to you and hear your voice by answering good.... It`s amazing how quickly phones can become like foreign objects. Melissa & I are now sharing a phone, but we still rarely use it and honestly I think it`s annoying when it`s neccessary for me to carry it around. The director of IWM Missionaries called work a couple times to check in with Melissa & I and I never enjoy it. 1. usually I`m alone in the class when she calls or it`s very loud 2. i already had a fear of talking on phones (i always sound silly) 3. i haven`t used a phone in a while Texting is very popular here which i guess is a good and bad thing for me. I`ve never been fond of texting. I don`t know the rules and what`s rude, etc. (Melissa`s been helping to teach me though...when to respond, when it`s not necessary, because i think it`s never necessary) Luckily I...

Chickity boom barda boom boom rah Chickity boom barda boom boom rah Lisa Lisa rah rah rah (it goes something like that anyway) That is the cheer they say A LOT here and I was very happy to have it said for me for the first time ever at work on Thursday. I didn`t do anything particular, in fact, I was sharpening pencils for the kids and they started the cheer. I love everyday when I get to work I`m greeted with a group hug and lots of "LISA LISA LISA!" I can`t think of a better way to start the day. Today the english teacher told me my spanish is getting better, which is always encouraging. Israel is always full of questions and he commonly asks me why my eyes are green. The last couple days he`s hit me with all sorts of questions: Do I have any friends? Where are they? Where is my sister (not sure how he knew I had a sister)? Why are my eyes green? Why do I speak English? Why is my hair yellow? It`s good practice for me to work through answering all his questions in...

with work as the subject i wanted to share some stories from lunch (sometimes my favorite part of the day) the cook really takes care of me at work. after about a week of me eating beans and tortillas with salsa everyday (they pull the meat and literally put it in everything). she started setting aside a portion for me before adding the meat for the day. i am so appreciative to her! yesterday she even set aside mole without meat (very rare here...it always has meat). today she thought the soup would be ok with me because there wasn`t pulled meat in it, but there were chicken feet in the pot so i couldn`t do it. one day of beans and tortillas was ok with me so i started working on making myself something when she stepped in and made it for me...i`m perfectly capable of making it myself, but it was nice. today at lunch was funny. i was battleing some major tiredness and sat down by one of the boys, Emiliano, who always takes forever to eat. He was so excited about his taco so I t...

So I realized yesterday I keep updating my blog about the fun things I`ve had the opportunity to do here, but work is a very important part of what I`m doing so I wanted to give an update on work. One of my kids, Murat, LOVES to sing and dance to Beat It! Then it spreads to Felipe and I hear the song all day. In fact, I`ve heard it everyday for about the last 2 weeks. I love it when they do the spin. Murat loves to dance. He`s definitely a stinker, but I love him. I`m finding my balance with him because I think he misbehaves to get attention, but I don`t think it`s fair to give him all the attention and not give the good kids any... I love everyday at the Guarderia because everyday is different. But things changed since the last time I wrote about it. I`m no longer working with Lulu. Essentially, an inspector came and removed Lulu from her position because she didn`t have some certificate so now I`m working with the same kids, but a very different teacher. Her name is Lucy. ...

So the title isn`t exactly correct, but I ran a marathon yesterday and it was Melissa & my`s one month being here. But Caro helped me come up with the title and I thought it was catchy. So marathon #2 and a completely different experience than the one I ran last year in Chicago. Lisa Rottler Chamberlin is the name I ran the race with...I tried to sign up as Lisa Rottler, but it forced me to enter mom`s maiden name or i couldn`t continue with registration. the first difference I experienced this marathon in a very different way. In Chicago I was competitive I would say. It was on my mind since February of last year when I signed up. I was didigent about training and very serious about it. This year I signed up like 3 weeks ago and it was very last minute. Although, I ran like I was training for the marathon this summer in Chicago-that was 2 months ago. Last year the weekend of the marathon I rested. This year Friday night I went to my first quinceanera and got home at 4 a...

Mexican Independence Day was yesterday! My celebrations started Monday at work. They always have a "ceremony" Monday morning with the national anthem and other things that I don`t know what they are. This Monday the students were allowed to bring Mexican toy instruments. And wear bows and such for patriotism, on girl, Xion, had fake long braids. The 4 year olds, including 3 students from my class, wore special hats and they were some of the niño heroes (sept. 13). They did such a good job with their lines I just smiled and felt proud. As I traced the Mexican flag 12 times for the lesson I was very happy it wasn`t the American flag. So much detail. (I didn`t have to trace the crest in the middle) =) Tuesday more students sported patriotic gear and we decorated more flags and had another ceremony, this one involved marching around & around the little play area and lots of horn blowing. Lunch was a special celebratory lunch of pozle, a corn dish of some ...