I've been back at work from winter vacation for almost two weeks now which is unbelievable because I have done a total of about 1 hour of lesson planning. I brought my guitar to school for the first time on Monday and taught them "You are my Sunshine" which was fun. Today I winged it and taught them "where is she from?" by pointing a random kids in their desks and mouthing the response "Guadeloupe." It's not usually that pathetic, but any sort of training would have helped a lot. My sister taught me a few things she learned from the Teach for America training and made me realize just how little I know about being a teacher. But I have fun anyways. The kids are really cute and lively and are learning a little English, I hope.
Winter break was so great. I had my sister and dad, my cousin Ali and her parents here. My sister and dad stayed in my apartment with me. They fixed the hot water in the shower, put up a mosquito net in my room and connected the telephone line for the internet, increasing my standard of living about 300%. I rented a car for a month from a really shady lady that was never at the office when we had a appointment. The car drove, but everything else was wrong with it--no radio, doors that locked from the outside only, no AC... One day I had to go back to the office to pay the second installment on the car and after waiting for 1/2 hour she showed up. When I left and starting driving away I realized that I had left a bag of fruit that I had just bought in the office and started crying. In my head I blamed her for taking my fruit. We went to a beach or waterfall almost everyday while they were here and I finally got a tan. (It takes about an hour to get to a beach from my place so I don't go more than twice a month usually) I went scuba diving for the first time!! It was a really bizarre experience. The teacher guy swam above me and held the air tank, guiding me around and pointing at interesting things. I could hardly look, thought, because I was concentrating so hard on breathing out 2 counts, in 1 count, out 2 counts, in 1 count. We ate so much baguette, cheese and fresh fruit that I have to take a break for a while. My family gave me a new perspective on being here, too. I was pretty down before they came. My roommate had dengue fever (kinda like malaria) and couldn't move or eat for a week. I was just getting sick of sitting on my butt so much. My family helped me see things in a new light through their enthusiasm and curiosity.
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