Longest school year ever.

It was mentioned that these extra, unnecessary weeks of school required by Mexico's Secretaria de Educacion Publica are counterproductive. I like that word. It sums up perfectly what it feels like this week. So much for teaching my kids to come inside quietly after lunch, or to not turn around in their seats to chat to a neighbor. They can sense, as well as I, that the end is near. here. long past!.
Yesterday and today were full of randomness. We painted. We made picture frames. We filled out "about me" questionnaire's and guessed who they belonged to. We had a mini "awards show" with the recognitions I'd made for them (Most Friendly, Best Sense of Humor, Most Likely to Be Famous, etc...)
Tomorrow we have practice for Friday's program (we're reciting Philippians 2:5-11, with each kid saying a part. Pretty lame, but last minute...) and then a party.
Friday we come for only the program and then leave.
I love my kids. So much. I will miss them! But this is just TOO much!

What the....?

I saw this in my local grocery/everything store. I feel very sorry for the poor non-English speaker who unknowingly buys it. Sure makes me think twice about buying anything with any other language on it.

Absence from and return to the real world

I have been so fortunate to have my mom, sister, and best friend visiting me for the past week and a half. They arrived on Thursday the 7th. Mom and Mallory stayed until Friday the 15th. Mackenzie extended her trip until yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
While they were here, I tried to show them the most Mexican, or just nicest, areas. We visited Tlaquepaque, a quaint artsy town nearby, we did all usual the downtown activities, went to the VIP theater, and took a tour of a Tequila factory in the town of Tequila. They also spent some time in my classroom and got to meet my crazy kids. After Mom and Mallory left, Mackenzie and I went to the beach (Playa Manzanillo) with Joy and Jenny for the weekend. We stayed at a hotel where Joy had stayed previously, and it was SO cute! A little family run place right on the beach with a nice pool. We ended up spending most of the time in the pool because of the startling amount of washed up jellyfish and puffer fish on the shore. After another day at school with me, Kenzi took off back to the states, too.
Now, I'm trying to finish up the week and 2 days I have left of school, without becoming the monster I sometimes feel is growing inside.
This year is just toooo long.
Today's insane field trip didn't help my nerves much, either. I wont go into it, but I'll summarize by saying that it would NEVER have happened in a school in the states. We were downtown, in busy streets, crossing busy streets, with very little supervision. More than once I almost cried or puked from frustration.
However, I don't want to end on a bad note. All in all, my last few weeks have been glorious and I look forward to my summer at home. I return on July 1st.
Click below to check out my pictures!

Visitors!

Yay for Visitors

This time tomorrow three of my favorite people will be here!!! I am very excited to show them around and have them experience what is now my day-to-day. Hopefully I will have pictures up here soon of our time together.

wow.

It. Is. So. Hot.

Barranca Pictures

Here's the link to the album of photos from the Barranca clean up. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Ms.TaraPeterson/BarrancaCleanUp

(Read about the trip to the Barranca in the previous post)