Kids & Cayo

I don’t have much time for blogging these days but here’s the short version:

Last week was my first week with “my” students at other schools. Mitchel and Leisha are so unbelievably lovable and eager to learn. Evelyn seemed to settle into her change of environment well. By the second day she was laughing and playing with the other kids and initiating conversation with me, which was gratifying to see because I was worried about how she’d take to the change in routine. Lupita (Christopher's, Ana's, Carlos', and now Evelyn’s teacher) does not know as much ASL as I’d originally thought so that was a little disappointing. I don’t fault her for it at all; she made the time to attend Nancy’s classes and wants to learn; she just doesn’t have much exposure or anyone to practice with so it’s hard to keep it up. I’m doing mini-classes with her and Miss Sheba (teaching assistant) when classes get out.

Friday was Valentine’s Fair all day at Nancy’s school and I got to run the face-painting booth:D. I loved it, and the kids were really excited about it. I got my first little sunburn that day too, but considering how cold I hear it’s been in the midwest lately, I wasn’t complaining!
Friday afternoon Elodia invited me to spend the weekend in Cayo district (district=state) 3 hrs south of here. Elodia and her son Edgar and I went and had a really relaxing time. It was a beautiful place, just as I’ve been told. Mountainous and green. We swam in the river, slept in, lounged around the house, watched a couple movies, visited their relatives, stopped in at the San Ignacio annual fair (small rides and game booths), drove to the high point of the city at night and looked over the valley to see all the city lights, and went to visit Mayan temples (now ruins) with a spectacular view from the top. I also got a few mini-Kriol lessons from Edgar and got to chat a lot with Elodia.

Monday was back to school and I was glad to see everyone again since I’d missed them on Sunday. Tuesday I spent with Leisha & Mitchel again. Mitchel’s teacher is great; she really wants to learn and has incorporated signs into her lessons since last week. Mitchel’s still really behind b/c he didn’t come to school til this year, but it’s a start. (It doesn’t help that she has 31 kids in her class!) I love working with them. Leisha is precocious and funny, and Mitchel is so sweet, and good w/ his sister. They were both excited about the manual alphabet cards I gave them and were quizzing each other and me on them. I tried to convince their parents to send them on the bus to church on Sunday, so we’ll see how that goes. I would love to get to see them more than once a week.

Big news of the week is that Miss Pech, the woman with Elodia’s job in my other school district (Corozal-- really it’s another state), has arranged for several other Deaf students in the district to come to school 2 days a week with me. Eek! I might have 7 students at the same time all the sudden, which essentially means I become the teacher for a Deaf class, just as Nancy is. I might have help from Lupita if she can (while also teaching the special ed students), but I’m pretty nervous about it all. The details aren’t completely clear yet and I let Miss Pech know that I would love to have all the Deaf students together but I’m not sure I’m the one for the job right now. She's already talked to the parents though, so we shall see who I have on Thursday. Today I’m going with Evelyn and her mom for her appointment with the psychologist. I have the morning off until then which is I why I had some time to blog (and do laundry, and send e-mails inquiring about my future. Still don't know if I have the internship in DC yet).


Ayayay. When I don’t blog for a week, even the short version is long!
My great love for all who read it in its entirety.
Thinking of you all often, ciao ciao