Off to the Art Museum with Second Graders!

Yes, it was a trip to the Art Museum in La Candelaria for the second graders of CNG. And I was happy to go along. We saw beautiful paintings and sculptures. And even though it was a little tiring, we all had a great time!


Lucas, Yaritna, Juan Sebastian, and Me!


Juan Sebastian.


Learning with Jose Luis.


Lucas.


So much to think about!!!!!!


Nicolas, Patrick, and Juan Sebastian.


Alberto and Gabriel getting into the modern art.


Gabriel.


Michael and Yaritna with Ms. Serna.


Ms. Serna in front of a painting by her favorite Colombian artist.


And Nicolas likes him too!


Dahlia in front of a favorite exhibit.


And what will we leave behind when we are all gone?


Alberto has no concerns about his legacy!


Catalina telling all.


Samuel looking sharp.


Blake and Yaritna.


Alexandra and Daniella


Patrick near the beautiful waterfall in the atrium.

A New Kitty!!!

Oh, my Max has a new 'sister' and she is adorable!! Jennifer and Matt picked out another little kitty to keep their Max company, and boy did they pick out a cutie pie!!

Here she is: Luna (at least for now)




And here is Max: (not the happiest about the new guest yet)



Max is very curious, and wants to see what this little one is all about. As long as she doesn't move too quickly, Max is fine.




Of course........ she is just a kitten!!

CNG: the Musical

For Dahlia's birthday, the two of us headed over to Zhang's for some great Chinese cuisine. It was a fantastic dinner and we got a chance to relax from the week and just chat. Afterwards, Julie joined us and we all headed up to CNG to watch some of our colleagues in a musical production.

While not the most professional show I've ever seen a school put on, it was a good time. In pursuit of adult help to put on a musical at their school, the seniors in the play found that CNG is a musical already! What fun to see the book store, complete with it's glamorous mom putting in her volunteer hours on campus,



the confusion that is Map Testing,



and the "hard-knock life" of the teachers who are all buried under heaps of scoring!





I must say, my fellow math teachers really rocked it during the "Ji Ho" number! Way to go ladies!!!




There was a very, very cool "Stomp" number with children playing hockey, double-Dutch, and basket ball. Best number!!!!!!





And of course, it was beautiful the way they brought our CNG elephant back in ~ even though we are the Condors, the elephant is a mascot of the school. Sweet.



Thanks for a fun show everyone!!!!

A Girl's Night

I have to say thank you to Charlotte for giving some of us a wonderful treat. A girl's night with manicures and facials. Then, over some delicious food, we just talk.



Thank you, thank you :-)

A Night Out With the Girls ~ en Español!!!

Vanessa, one of my terrific second grade teachers, was sweet enough to invite several of us on the second grade team over to her gorgeous apartment. I had such a good time. We nibbled on chips and dip, drank, talked, and laughed. But for me the highlight of the evening was the game we played.

The twelve of us, giggling and goofy, played Taboo ...........




..............in SPANISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Although it was hard for me to guess ~ man, does the Spanish flow quickly when there is a timer! ~ I did okay on the giving clues part. It was an absolute blast!

One of those days....

So, you know how we teachers feel like we are making a difference in the lives of our students? How we feel that all that hard work, those extra hours are all worth it because you know that the children in your room are all the better for it? Yeah, well....

So today I knelt down next to a little boy who was struggling with a story problem about how many hands would be in a group of 8 children. He had written 40 and despite my inspiring questioning, was still not sure how to proceed. So I decided to start small: "How many hands do you have JM?" He looked up at me confidently and responded, "five."

Deciding to tread softly, in case this kiddo was suffering from some psychosis, I asked, "can you show me your five hands?" Again, confidently, he held up one of his hands.

.....

See, the thing is, you are probably thinking, 'how cute! He is thinking about his fingers, not his hands!' Except that if that were the case, this poor kid has forgotten that he has another five... hands.

But it's all okay. As I turned around to leave his desk, I noticed my little E. intently cutting something out of a piece of paper. When I asked him what he was doing he announced, holding up his paper, "I cut out a space ship from.... oh!" Yeah, it was his test.

*sigh*

Arepa de huevo

Did I ever mention what a great cook my friend, Juliana, is? Well, she is a GREAT cook!! Juliana is a wonderful woman from Barranquilla (where all the fun people are from!) who has shared some culinary delights with me. My all time favorite though, is the arepa de huevo.

Arepas are a very common bread-like/tortilla-like food here in Colombia, and depending on the region you are visiting they are very different. For example, in Medellin they are very thin, and white, and not very flavorful needing lots of butter and salt to make them palatable. ON the coast, where Barranquilla is, they are a little thicker, more yellow, and delicious! But, the best part is that they fill them! Juliana had me come over for Aprepas filled with egg.

First you flatten the dough and fry it til it sort of puffs up (very beignet- like). Then you slit it on one side,



drop in an egg and spices, and then fry it again. It's sort of like watching magic because the egg stays inside.

They are best hot and steamy! And they are especially delicious when served with rum and lime. Yum!!!! Thank you, Juli, for the yummy treat and the best company!