First Day of School

Today was our first day of school.
School here starts at 7:00, so we had to be there at 6:30.  It is definitely something new to get used to!  We each had a homeroom, and then 8 periods on 40 minutes after that.  It seems like a lot, but we have SO many more prep periods that we are used to.  Today we each had 3 periods off!

I (Erica) have the grade 6 students.  They are so little!  It was their first day in the middle school today, so a lot of them were really nervous.  I have five different sections, and I got to meet all of them today.  There are a couple that will be a handful, but they all seem pretty sweet.  TJ has the grade 8s, and they are kind of a "notorious" group, but TJ says they are a good bunch too.  It was a pretty slow day for both of us, doing a lot of introduction stuff.

The kids all left at 2:00.  The early start is made up for by the early end, and the two 40 minute breaks!  When school was done we went to take our Spanish class to see what level we would be placed in.  We were feeling pretty good for the first couple questions, but when it got into reading comprehension and creative writing, we were both pretty stumped.  Should have done more Rosetta Stone before we left!  We are both really excited to start the Spanish classes this week, because it's been really hard to do simple things when you don't speak the language.  For example, we found it was near impossible to ask  "Do you have these soccer cleats in a size 7 and a half?"(Don't worry, after some frustration on both ends, we each got a pair.)

Aside from school starting today, the past couple days weren't too eventful.  We went to Guamilito market on Sunday, and got a hand made coffee table for 15$  (which we LOVE), we'll post a picture soon.  We also went to Club Arabe, which is pretty much a giant pool and nice restaurant (complete with a helicopter landing pad).  It's where a lot of the rich families here go to hang out on the weekends.  It was nice to hang out with all the teachers and relax before the first day of school.

All in all it was a great last weekend of summer, and a fantastic first day back at school.