I’m writing to you from a borrowed bed in MY NEW HOUSE. Yep… just spending my first evening listening to my favorite tunes, sitting on my sole piece of furniture, and eating Ramon Noodles. Sound like your entire college experience? …so I cooked my noodles on my brand new electric stove top that had to be lifted up on a few boxes to reach the outlet. (Thanks Mom and Dad for the package, it’s already coming in use!)
I’m pretty pumped about the new place. I decided to use the bigger of the two rooms as my bedroom, where I’ll put a bookshelf and another shelf for my clothes. I’m still trying to think if I want to put in a hanging chair from the ceiling beams. Any thoughts? The smaller room will be the kitchen with a lovely 70’s model refrigerator, and in the very near future, 4 chairs and a table to eat at. The outside room will probably be used for random storage and trash. I’ll hang a hammock from two of the trees in the back yard and we’ll see what else. Originally, I thought of waiting until next month to paint, but I might bump that up. What do you say about light blue and chocolate brown? There might even be room for a World map on the outside back wall. YAY!
One down, 1 billion more; killing mosquitoes could be my profession. Did you know they can bite through clothing? I’m going to be one big mosquito bite by the end of this! The weather is changing again. In December and January we enjoyed nice breezes and cooler evenings which lowered the amount of mosquitoes. Now we can look forward to a hotter two months coming up. I can’t quite wrap my head around this considering I have been wearing tank tops the past two months.
Speaking of tank tops… I swear it was the tank top’s fault. I bought a really snazzy blue one with sequins the other day. Without it I’m sure I would have never gone out in the first place, but I
did. Nikki and I went out for dinner after the soccer game, and met some of her guy friends at the bar down the street later on. After a while, we decided to change scenes and went to one of the local night clubs. I danced, and danced, and danced (the sequins looked so pretty in the lights). We finally left pretty late and got back to the house, where I rummaged around for my pajamas and hit the sack. The next morning I woke up to a huge mess. Apparently I had forgotten to shut the door to my room and the dog entered and had a field day. SHE ATE MY GLASSES! That’s right… chewed them to pieces. I had to go on a two hour bus ride (complete with puking child next to me) to pick out some more, but they won’t be ready for another week. Meanwhile, I am blindly navigating the streets, greeting everyone in hopes of offending no one.On a brighter note, I have actually done WORK this week. Amazing I know. Thursday was the first in-service meeting, where teachers were updated on changes made to the curriculum. The following day was the first TEPCE, a thrilling meeting when the Minister of Education makes a speech by radio and then we meet within our disciplines, discussing the curriculum for the month. (I actually only attended 2 of the 6 hours because I had to get the H1N1 vaccination **Tangent story) So from the TEPCE my 4 counterparts decided to get together and plan with everyone- they want to STANDARDIZE the department! On Sunday we planned for all 5 levels, which only took us 4 hours. We discussed the importance of rules and consequences, pre-assessments, and doing activities that include multi-intelligences. I’d call it a success! Next week we’ll discuss assigned seating, grades, and our goals for the coming year. I cannot tell you how excited I am.
**So my tangent story: I went to Esteli for my H1N1 vaccine. On the way, I was standing in the aisle because the bus was full. Reading The Giver (great book), I glanced up and saw other white people boarding the bus. It was a bit surprising because generally the only other white people are Peace Corps Volunteers. Everyone was told to scoot back to allow for more passengers, which put one of the hot foreign guys right in front of me. At this moment, the bus gods smiled down upon me. The bus swerved, and I fell into the guy. I said I was sorry, but can I tell you a secret? I wasn’t… not even a little bit. He was tall, blonde with blue eyes, and (from what my lingering hands felt) very nice muscles. :) We ended up talking for the rest of the trip. I didn’t catch he name, but I like the name Luke. I’ll always remember the day I fell on Luke, the Scottish doctor traveling through Nicaragua!
Hope you guys are doing well too. Thank you to Mom, Dad, and Katie for the amazing package of Valentine’s gifts, food, and lots of things to pamper myself. Thank you to Steve and Melissa for their wonderful package filled to the brim with school supplies. I literally sat on my floor opening up everything with tears of gratitude in my eyes. Thank you Suzanne for the package of sweets, hair bands, and good smells. I used the fun dips in class as much sought after prizes. The hair bands were used immediatly. You are all incredibly generous and thoughtful. I love you.
