Coral Shirts Woke Us Up

The air was cool as we stepped on the train. Everyone around us was staring at us. It must have been our fluorescent coral t-shirts that we were wearing. By the time we got off the train, we were joined by others in matching shirts. The spirit of the moment was growing. As we turned the corner, we were met by masses of bright coral.

Today was the Carrera de las Chicas 5K...a women only 5K run. About 5000 women participated in the run through Palermo, a beautiful barrio in Buenos Aires. I've never run a race like this before, it was a great experience.
The best part is that about 2 months ago I told my roommates that I wanted to run a 5K this semester, the catch was that I don't run. When we started "training" I could barely make it 10 minutes without feeling like my insides were going to come out. Now its become a routine part of my week and I'm happy to say, I can now run more than 10 minutes. =) The stretch between the 3 and 4K markers were the hardest, and I thought I would have to walk a little bit. I was so worth it when I crossed the finish line and kept telling myself "I did it! I DID IT!" I finished in 31:55. (Top 2000 out of 5000!) Next goal...7K?

I also want to thank all of you who purchased coffee during February at C&C Coffee. We raised $220 for the children's home here that I have been visiting. (That's almost 900 pesos). Thanks so much!

-kait

Baseball, S'mores and Apple pie

As I am sitting here in my garden on a cool Monday morning, enjoying the second half of our 4 day weekend, a hummingbird is flitting about from one flower to the next. The music in the air is not coming from my computer or ipod, but rather the many insects and birds in the surrounding trees. How often do I take the time to enjoy this chorus? It definitely sounds like summer, and that makes me smile.
We went camping this weekend...and we had to take a boat to get there. Once we arrived, it didn't feel like an island - it was more like a plot of land. There were no fire rings and people set up their tents wherever they wanted to or could find space. It was a fun time, my favorite part was when we made s'mores on the grill. Becky's mom sent stuff with Becky to make s'mores because you can't get graham crackers here, and Hershey's chocolate is non-existent...marshmallows are a maybe, but they certainly aren't the Jet Puffed ones. We were pretty happy campers once the s'mores came out. Donna had never had one before. A boy (about 9 years old) was standing and watching us intently as we made our delicious treats. We invited him over and showed him how to make a S'more. We think he liked it. I've decided that S'mores are the new trademark of the USA...forget baseball and apple pie... definitely S'mores.
I'm trying to teach my students how to write by showing and not just telling. This is a difficult concept, and well, they aren't getting it yet. I've started reading this book about writing by a man who taught 5th grade and was struggling to teach his students how to write and also enjoy it. David Somoza is very engaging and I'm loving his ideas. His book is called "Writing to Explore Discovering Adventure in the Research Paper, 3-8". I can't wait to start trying them out, but I feel like I need to finish the book first to get the big picture.
Along those lines, I am feeling more comfortable with teaching than I have since I started...I guess since I have 1 year under my belt now (which is really hard for me to believe). I'm now getting antsy to try new things, experiment with different ideas, make learning better. It's hard work, and it definitely takes a lot of brain power to think through and plan the new stuff that I want to try, and at the same time, not changing everything all at once, but slowly introducing new things in a more natural progression.
We read a story the other week about baseball. I taught my students how to play (they said I knew more than the coach in the book...haha!) Then we watched the Sandlot. It was a good week. =)

"You're killin me Smalls!"
-kait