First day of school

I still get the nervous jitters every first day of school, but it's by far my favorite day of the school year. I've met most of my students now and my first impressions are that they are very sweet.  I gave a writing assessment my first day and as I walked around, I was amazed at the skill level and command of English my students have.  They are stronger writers than any students I've worked with so far.   This combined with the fact that my biggest class is 15 students makes me really excited to see what  the rest of the year holds! 

Here's a video of my classroom if you want to see it! 

Korean food in Paraguay

After two weeks of living in a hotel and eating continental breakfast and eating unfamiliar (mostly unhealthy) food, we ate at a fantastic Korean place this evening.  It's called Chez Bong.  We were the only people there, as most Paraguayans eat out around 8-10 PM.  I am thinking this will be a theme of our stay here, but it means we get great service!

Asuncion Week One

This week has been an orientation week for all the new teachers.  We've had tours, presentations from the US embassy, set up bank accounts, phones, eaten A LOT, and looked for housing.

We found an apartment on Tuesday, which is a huge relief.  Our apartment is two bedrooms and is about a 1/2 mile walk from the school.  It's in a complex of about 30 apartments and has a small pool, which will be a nice refuge in the hot summers.  It even has a room and bathroom for the empleada (maid)!  We will be using that space for a closet, but it is quite common for affluent people here to have a live-in maid. It can be expensive to live in this neighborhood, so we were lucky to find something within our housing budget so close to school.  We won't be able to move in until the end of next week.  Things move very slowly in Paraguay, something we are learning during the process of getting settled in.

In our free time, we've been looking for items for our house for when we are ready to move it.  We visited a used furniture store today and are visiting an open air market called Mercado Quatro tomorrow.  The school has been treating us very well and has been really supportive so far.  Several returning teachers have volunteered their time to show us around, take us to look at houses, take us shopping, and answer our endless questions.  Today, all the new teachers and any returning staff that is around went out to lunch at a "churrascaria" or a Brazillian grill.  The waiters come around with various meat on a long skewer and slice off whatever you want directly onto your plate.  I had some amazingly delicious food today, half of which I had no idea what it was.  It's an all you can eat situation and we certainly ate.
 E
all beer is served on ice here!

Asuncion Arrival

After spending 3 days in LA, attending a conference on media literacy, fishing at the beach, and taking a whirlwind tour of Venice Beach and Hollywood Blvd,  we embarked on our thirty plus hour journey to Asuncion.

Within an hour of our arrival we were at the school and had set up a cell phone plan and bank account.  Today, we found what we are hoping with be our new apartment.   Right now it feels like we are at some kind of teaching themed summer camp. We have done almost everything as a large group and we stick out when we're walking around the city.  We've listened to cultural advice, had a Q and A panel, and taken a walk around the neighborhood. The other new teachers seem like great colleagues and potential friends, however.  There are people here from all over the US, some having taught internationally before, and some brand new like us.  Things at the school have been chaotic, but everyone is helpful and friendly.

We're looking forward to settling in to our own place and getting to know the city. We'll post some pictures of our apartment and the school when we get settled.

Redondo Beach



Corvina !!!

ASA - Apparently home of the Gators (Alligators do not live in South America). 

                                             Kristi: excited to be in her new classroom.
                                      

Terere:  a cold brewed mate that people drink thought the day.

Northwest Summer Adventures

Red Lodge, MT

Matt fishing with Emily

 

Hiking in the Beartooth-Absaroka Wilderness



Fishing on the Big Horn river near Forth Smith, MT





 

 

 

 

Trinity Alps and Humboldt County, CA

Bear Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness (near Weaverville, CA)







 

Mt. Shasta from our hike into the Trinity Alps Wilderness 

Wild Roosevelt Elk herd on the beach in Northern Humboldt County

 

Surfing!

I just came back from my first surfing adventure in Neah Bay, WA.  I rented a cabin with a group of women from work, all of us novice surfers.  We spent the day trying playing in the water and the evening around the campfire with plenty of wine. I stood up on one of my final waves, while whooping triumphantly.  I can't wait to get out there again!

Quincy Lakes Wildlife Refuge-Central Washington

The journey is the destination...or something like that

We arrived in Playa Montezuma from Samara Wednesday after a long, dusty drive down some of the worst roads I´ve ever seen.  (really on the major highways here and some roads in towns are paved) Arriving in this beautful place made it worth the times we had to stop and ask for directions (with plenty of confused stares from the locals) and the multiple river fordings (in our rental car!!).  We´ve been exploring the beaches all around, finding some deserted ones nearby that are perfect for lounging and fishing.  The town is mostly full of Ticos on vacation, with a few travelers tossed in. The town here has a very unique hippie vibe that reminds me a bit of Humboldt in the summer. There seem to be a lot of people who came for the surf and just never left!


Last night, we at a jack that Matt caugh for dinner, then we sat on the beach under a full moon and drank wine until we were sleepy. Today, Matt is out fishing with a guy we met at the fish market near Cabo Blanco and that he talked into taking him out in his panga for a couple of hours. 
Tomorrow, we´re taking the ferry back to the main land for a stay in Monteverde, the cloud forest and animal preserve.  It will be a refreshing trip after the baking sun of the beach which has turned us both into very bright pink lobsters.




Playas del Coco, Samara, y otros-Christmas at the beach

Cano Negro National Wildlife Refuge

Squirrel Monkey

Jabiru Stork-about the size of an ostrich!

 

We decided to check out this wildlife refuge in the far north, as it is famous for tarpon fishing.  We went out with a guide for a day and saw some amazing wildlife.  Matt caught one tarpon, about 10 lbs.  (Pequeno, according to our guide, Napolean)  I caught a lot of mosquito bites.