i realize that i have been somewhat cryptic in my posts regarding life here lately with plenty of jargon about charts and upswings and curves and roller coasters but not much in the way of the daily happenings and gossip. so, in order to change things up a bit, i now present you with the raw details of my unfolding holiday season.
the past few days have seen me flung over my porcelain toilet hurling up everything i've eaten, ever... or so it feels. after spending a weekend bidding farewell to another volunteer, i returned to my little corner of the world feeling, er, well not so fabulous. i hit the sack early sunday, around 8, after having gotten 2 hours of sleep the previous evening and then surviving 2 long bus rides. it all went down hill from there and all i have to say is: rehydration salts are a godsend. thanks, dear nancy!
at any rate, i am feeling better. my curious stomach ailment sent me home after my first class yesterday which ostensibly reprieved me of my long tuesday afternoon session with the 9th grade monsters and for that, i am grateful. i slept. and drank tea. and then meandered to the store to buy 7up. and then i slept some more.
the weather here is still uncharacteristically beautiful and much "po-toplo" (warmer) than usual (which in other words translates to... why in the heck is it still 70 degrees? and furthermore, why are we even upset about it?!). i felt like my classroom needed a christmas holiday overhaul, so i splurged and bought decorations for my 10th graders to help me assemble around the room. their response was, "teacher, it isn't even snowing yet!"
da be, da. i know.
but we're doing christmas with or without snow because christmas lesson planning is oh-so-much-more enjoyable than teaching you past participles. and thus, we've begun christmas lessons, which are actually more complicated to facilitate than i really bargained for. in fact, that is true of most things here where the students still cannot correctly write "what is your name?" when prompted to.
other news... oh, yes. i have officially become a squash fan. this is odd because i'm not sure i had ever eaten squash (aside from jarred baby food) in the duration of my adult life until this point and i love it! butternut squash has taken over my kitchen, and my meals, and my culinary-inclined mind (for catharsis, you know). squash bread. squash soup. squash chocolate chip cookies. squash pie (masquerading, of course, as pumpkin pie), squash pancakes. the syrup, in case you're wondering, was my reward for winning a mean game of rock paper scissors this past weekend. apparently, departing volunteers divvy out superfluous items like delicious maple syrup just as you realize there is none to be found in the meager shops around your town. perfect!
i have less than two weeks of teaching left (well, before london) but i must honestly say that this week has felt a lot like crawling through warm, gooey molasses. i have thrown up all but my stomach, decorated for christmas, read hundreds of pages in my new book, been confronted by teachers (and students) about unsatisfactory grades (oh, but that's another story for a different day), attempted to lesson plan for christmas and made squash pancakes and it is STILL only wednesday.
sheesh.
that's it for the nitty gritty on life here. not too riveting, but there you have it! hope you're enjoying the snow for me!
OH! tis the season for devouring the lovely jars of pickles i made back in august. remember those? well, i can't...um... get the lids off of these jars. the super suckage from boiling them has fastened those suckers on so tightly that there is no hope...
so, anyone know of any tricks, gadgets, miraculous ideas on how to get inside of these jars and gobble up the pickles? let me know!
i'll leave you with a few pictures of my 10th grade students and some amazing leeks i found in the market last week.
december 2008
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