Mon Petite Etoile

And all of a sudden I feel very alone.

I am tired and I need a break from my classroom and teaching. Am I a bad person?

Love me for who I am <3

Dear Lia...

Give me your new address. Pretty please. I miss you.

First week... check!

I love my friends because they make me feel like I am not so nerdy, and almost semi-normal, hehe. (As I turn on the History Channel, ehm).

So my first week of student teaching is done and now that the week is over I feel less stressed out. I wrote my case study paper, which was a huge relief. The fact that I made it through week 1 without injuries is also a good sign. My teacher doesn’t really direct me, so I don’t know what she wants me to do. On Friday I just decided that I am going to start diving into the academic portion (teacher table). This is a little hard for my because I don’t know the abilities of the student or how they learn best- but I guess i will learn that as they learn their academics!

I am keeping up with Phi Sigma Pi, and I think the chairs are all on track, which makes my job so much easier. National Development Committee projects have not begun, so that gives me some extra time.

Working is a pain, but it makes me do my homework and keep up with everything. Today is retreat and I am very excited for that!

I just finished Temeraire and I am going to start reading A Million Little Pieces, so that is exciting for me!

Well, I only have an hour and a half left of work, so I am going to try to get some more stuff done for student teaching! Haven’t spent time with Samson in a while, so that’s my goal!

I am going to get used to this schedule so I am not quite as exhausted as I currently am.. right?

I am feeling overwhelmed. I don’t like this feeling.

I am tired. But I can’t sleep because I have to work on this case study. So I am not doing either. I am trying to figure out what I am feeling so my mind is clear and I can get some sleep tonight.

I think I need to be on a rewards system. Tomorrow I think I will go to Starbucks. Coffee is an acceptable reward, and I am going to need it tomorrow.

I miss my boyfriend.

I miss relaxing and having time to myself.

This weekend I have work/retreat/work/committee chair meeting/general meeting. It’s going to be busy. I need to work on Samson too.

I am going to work on my case study, chat with Michael for a bit, then get some sleep. 6am is going to come awfully early tomorrow!

Cookin' & Thinkin'

So I have come up with this genuis plan of cooking in bulk, then freezing the food so I can have yummy and healthy food throughout the week that does not cost as much and is easy. So far I have made a lentil-tomato curry stew, jambalaya, and tuna noodle casserole. So this weekend I wanted to make vegetable soup and cabbage rolls while I was at home. This took soooo much longer than I had anticipated. We started cooking at 6 pm last night, and we are still cooking. Well, the cabbage rolls are in the oven and the soup is all packaged up. After all is said and done, I look at the bagged up meals and think “holy crap, that was a lot of work and it doesn’t even look like there is that much food!!” That is sad. But hopefully it will save me some time and some energy.

The kids start on Tuesday. I am getting so nervous. I keep thinking of different things I can do with the kids. Brooke wants me to be in charge of art. I want to buy sponges and cut out shapes. That way the kids can dip the sponges in paint, and make a picture. I also want to buy sidewalk chalk, so they can draw on dark (black) paper- it turns out really cool. I’m thinking ice cube paints. I have to fund a good recipe for this, though.

With Lia takling about Bananagrams, I was thinking that maybe I should get those and put them in a bin- the kids could use the letter as minipulatives to make out their spelling words!!

So now I just need to go to the store and prepare the items. I don’t know if we have paint in the classroom, or if I need to buy it. I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of money on these kids this year. Anyway, I am really excited about the chalk. I think I will bring that out on Tuesday, if Brooke says it’s okay.

Splitin', Peelin' and Dumpin' Bananas!!

liateresa:

It rained all day today. Rain all day is never fun, but it did give us an excuse to play Bananagrams all evening long! It was a lot of fun and a very good time for some bonding with everyone here at the Casa- Ruth, Mimi, Julia, Andrea, Gretchen and Katie, a friend of Andrea’s that is visiting. A few of the rounds we also tried to do in Spanish and that made it an entirely different experience. Its very challenging to switch your brain from English to Spanish and back again. We are hoping that in a few months it will be equally challenging in either language. If you have never played the game, I HIGHLY reccomend it! It is fun for all ages(unless they cant read or write yet) and any reasonable number of people can play!

Although I didnt leave the Casa all day, there was a lot going on here and the day really flew by! The workshop today was with younger girls and we learned how to make a fruity dessert called Helado Falso, or “fake icecream.” It was delicious. At one point during the class, one of the girls came up to us “tias”- the word they use here to address authority or elders, which makes me Tia Lia- and gave us little pictures of a cartoon she had cut out of her notebook. It made me warm inside to think about how she had so little with her and yet she wanted to give us a little of what is important to her. The people here have a very giving spirit and it really can captivate you. Even though there is no religious teaching for the women here, God is very present and His presence is felt in the love and friendship shared by everyone.

This morning we had a house meeting, which consisted of reflection and discussion. The reflection centered around the quote, “Wander where there is no path.” When I hear that, I think about how we dont always know where the path of life will take us, but we must keep walking. It is about discovery and experiencing new things. I think its good to not always know exactly what tomorrow holds for us; we simply need to just trust our hearts and know God is with us. However, I really need to work on believing that, especially when I think about what I will do after I return to the States. I know I want to go on to more schooling, but after that its a big question mark (public health? international relations? medical school?) I am really trying hard to not think about it because I know everything will happen exactly how it is suppose to happen. Right now I am in Chile; my heart is in Chile; and I am working on keeping my mind in Chile as well. My path isnt set yet, and that is okay. I will just keep on walking.

Tomorrow will not be too eventful, but we do have a birthday party to go to for one of the girls at the Casa, so that should be fun. Also, Gretch and I will be attempting to go for a run at some point. I have been seriously needing to get some physical activity, I feel a bit blah. For now though, I am going to fall asleep to the sound of rain :-)

Tia Lia,

It sounds  like you are having such an amazing time!! I think you are so right about the path. I also think you need to focus on the time being, right now. Don’t worry about what will be in a year- you don’t have any control over it. But you do have control over what is going on in your life at this moment. You are so amazing and you are doing wonderful things. Keep working on that path, one step at a time! Love you!

P.S. Can you smell the rain there, too?

Student Teaching

So student teaching has not started… but orientation has. And boy am I overwhelmed already! I am working on this filing kit because everyone says not to wait until the last minute to do it. Therefore, I feel like I need it to be done tomorrow. However, filling up over 160 folders with information is not going to happen over night. On the plus size, I have a whole bunch of stuff to print off that will fill a couple folders, and I already have 4 filled! That’s progress! I’ve been highlighting my accomplishments in blue- it is bright and cheery :)

It is getting chilly outside. However, that does not stop me from craving doozies…

Alrighty, back to working on this “Box”… sigh.