Our Little Clown...

Hello All! We're having a great time in our new home (pictures to follow). I just had to zap these recent ones of Shalom. She is becoming quite the clown. The shirt on the head is her own doing, as are Diana's shoes and socks (OK, she had some help, but it was her idea). She has begun to play hide and seek and pretend tea time. We enjoy her so much every day. Just today, as Eduardo (the neighbor boy) was getting yelled at for dumping his bucket of dirt on Shalom's head, Shalom was laughing loudly like it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Needless to say, she helped Eduardo get out of trouble. That pensive look she was known for as a baby is being replaced with a very mischievous grin. We're getting worried, again...

Monterrico

Our first three day weekend. September 15 is Guatemalan Independence Day. Guate – Amala! We decided to check out Monterrico on the Pacific coast. On the way there, we had to take a ferry through the mangrove swamp. The ferry itself was nothing more than a wooden raft which barely fit two cars. It was a bit scary, but well worth the peaceful swamp tour. Upon getting into town, we took a wrong turn and ended up heading north along the coast. This was fine, as we passed through two different village parades and were able to see the loofa farms along the road. A loofa is a natural sponge that looks like a big zucchini when growing. We eventually found Pez d’Oro down a dirt road passed a couple of pigs. It is probably the nicest of the beach bungalow resorts in the village, which isn’t saying much. Commercial development has definitely not affected this place! We were lucky to make lots of friends at the Pez. I even ran into one of my students and her family staying at the same place. Shalom charmed everyone (as usual). More than once, she approached tables at the restaurant and was promptly scooped up and fed. We protested half-heartedly at first, then just ordered more drinks. The beach in Monterrico is black sand because of volcanic ash. It is not a good swimming beach, as the water is too rough and the undertow is very dangerous. We stayed out for the most part. Instead, we enjoyed the pool at the Pez. It was great to discover such a cool little beach town only a short drive away. We're thinking weekend getaway in January!

Shalom and Friends

Hola Maria! Every morning before 10 or so minutes before we leave for work, Shalom's niñera Maria (left) shows up. Although Shalom is not usually happy to see us leave, she gets to play with all the neighborhood kids and domesticas while we are at work. Sometimes she gets to play with their toys, too (picture at right). When Michael and I get home from work, we take Shalom to the park across from our house or to a park around the corner. Plus, we get to visit with all the neighborhood kids home from school, including Shalom's 6-year-old friend, Sophia, and my 7th-grade student living three doors down from us! What we DON'T do when we get home is clean our house and do the laundry, since in addition to feeding, bathing, and caring for our child during the day, Maria also does all the dishes, laundry, and housework. Gracias, Maria.

Diana climbs Volcan Pacaya

There's nothing quite like the feeling of choking on sulphuric gas while looking over a flimsy ledge into the hot magma of a volcano's core. It was certainly pay-off for having climbed two hours up a crumbly trail of lava rocks at a 45 degree angle. I was sorry to leave Michael and Shalom behind, but since the school sponsored a bus for the new teachers to visit the active Pacaya Volcano, I wanted to take advantage. Anyway, it's about time I got to see some hot magma and lava as this was my third volcano climb--Mt. St. Helens had some sweet little icebergs for sliding down and Ganung Agung in Bali provided panoramic ocean views--but no hot magma! From below, Pacaya looks like a picture-perfect, triangular, smoking mountain. The first part of the hike is up a wooded path. Then, I reached the bottom of the lava flow. It looks like a giant mudslide, only the rocks are dry and brittle. A little further up the lava flow, I saw where some magma is bubbling up red hot and turning into lava (Thanks Aaron for the geography lesson on magma vs. lava). Many visitors end their hike in a nice meadow near the bottom of the lava flow. I however, proceeded to hike up a steep, rocky path for another 45 minutes in order to reach one of the volcano's vents. If it is not scary enough to see the swirling gases flowing out of the earth's core, the noise of the volcano's pressure BOOM BOOMing against the earth is plenty frightening. I asked our guide a few times if the volcano was always like that...or if it was about to erupt! He said it was always like that. I climbed a bit further, past the gaseous vent and up to the top so I could peer down into the core and see the pool of magma. At this point, the sulphuric gas swirling about made it hard to breathe and see, so as soon as I looked over the edge, I turned and RAN OUT OF THERE! It is pretty cool looking into a volcano...but I'm not sure I'll do it again. -Diana P.S. The strangest part of my day was seeing one of the caballeros (local men offering horse-back rides up the volcano) wearing a "Willard School, Evanston, Illinois" sweatshirt. All you Salvation Army donors know that your old clothes are finding new wearers among the Guatemalan peasants!

CAG

CAG is Collegio Americano de Guatemala, or the American School of Guatemala. Ya'll can check out the link on the right to find out more. The majority of the students are Guatemalan and wealthy. A minority population of Korean students (families in clothing businesses) also attends. In the elementary school, classes are around 24 students per class. Every class has a full time English speaking teacher for language arts, math, science and social studies. Two classes share a Spanish speaking teacher for Spanish language and Guatemalan social studies. Each elementary grade also has a roving bilingual support teacher and an assistant to do photocopying, filing, etc. Every week, students enjoy classes in computers, art, music, P.E., swimming, and library. They get 30 minutes for lunch and 25 min for recess every day. What this means for me is an amazing amount of planning time. The school day lasts from 7:30 to 2:00. On my busiest day I have five 45 min periods (total of 3.75 hours) of actual teaching. I also have two light days of three 45 min periods (grand total of 2.25 hours of teaching). Built in to my "planning time," however, are required meetings with my fourth grade teaching team (including counselors, special education teachers, and tech coordinator), my fourth grade English teaching team, the social studies instruction committee (horizontal and vertical curricular mapping online!), and a block reserved for parent conferences. Whoa! It takes a lot to have all the pieces fit together. Though I don't believe all the face to face time is absolutely necessary, I am learning how a staff can and does work together to provide students with a comprehensive education. After teaching on an island for three years, the sense of being part of something larger is quite inspiring. The pics are of the "montenita" (the elementary playground), the library in the center of campus, and one of the machete wielding groundskeepers. So far so good. I am definitely growing as a teacher and seeing what it takes to run a school well. The unique situation CAG is in presents it with many challenges other schools do not face (K-12 vertical curriculum coordination, high teacher turnover). At the same time, other conditions such as cheap labor and private funding afford it luxuries not possible in the public schools. Much to be learned... - Michael

Eternal Spring

The whole family, including Minnie and Marley, are now here and we are busy making our house into a home. We've been here about three weeks, but just got our home Internet connection. Time to catch up on posts and pictures for all ya'll in Yankeelandia. We'll be updating with info about our school (check out the web link!), our home, Antigua, mountain biking, volcano climbing, shotguns, and the rainy season. We have to catch up, but will surely have much more to share. We are missing the States, but looking forward to spring tomorrow, the next day, and the next. - Michael

Yesterday, I was a few hours outside of the city when I saw a Guatemalan caballero (cowboy) wearing a "Willard School, Evanston, Illinois" sweatshirt. Whether it is a local wearing a hand-me-down sweatshirt, seeing Fradin books each time we pass by the CAG library, or watching our computer's screen saver scroll through pictures of friends and family, we are often thinking of you. We are, however, enjoying our new home. We'll send pictures soon of our house, the little park across the street, and Shalom's new friends from the neighborhood. At school, the kids are adorable and well-behaved while the school's staff of practically 100 gardeners and maintenance people keep the place looking spic and span. Plus, the pool is heavenly. Slowly, we are getting to know our way around Guatemala City and seeing some sights outside of the capital. We look forward to sharing it with you! -Diana

No Comprendo!

No comprendo! That was my master plan for avoiding jail. A better plan would have been not breaking the law, but that would mean actually going back to Chicago, which wasn't going to happen. The Mexican customs would not allow me to enter Mexico with the Honda (samurai or not) without first proving to them that the Dodge had left Mexico. My car permit, bought in Chicago, says that I had permission to bring the Dodge into Mexico on August 3. So on August 4th I had to prove to this bureaucrat in Matamoros that the Dodge had left Mexico. This was in spite of the fact that the Dodge had never entered Mexico. Option 1: scrap the whole driving plan, return the car to Louisiana, and get on a flight to Guatemala. Option 2: take my chances of driving on an illegal permit through the entire country. hoping that whatever difficulties I encountered could be escaped by pleading ignorance. Being a sort of outlaw is actually no fun. That feeling you get when you see the flashers in the rear-view mirror; I had that for three days straight. I actually only got pulled over once in Tampico by a pedestrian cop. I apparently ran a red light, which was easily taken care of for $80, what I had in my wallet. I spent the 5th night in a little town called Sayula, where the 180 meets the 185 in the skinny part. By the 6th night, I was in Tapachula, ready to cross into Guatemala. I was supposed to drive into Guatemala on the 6th, and so far was on schedule. I went to the border only to discover that (whoops) my Illinois registration was missing from the car. No problem! Diana faxed it to me that day. "What? You don't accept a fax? No comprendo!!!" A guy at the customs office convinced me to leave the car at the border crossing, putting me on a bus to Guatemala city. I arrived late and enjoyed a well deserved drink at the Hotel Biltmore. Diana and Shalom arrived two days later by plane. Diana also brought the registration. Next day I was back on a bus to Tapachula. Hmmm... would the car and my $2000 worth of bikes still be there when I arrived? Would we go from a two car family to a no-car family in only 6 days? Everything was just fine. We now have our car and are dreading having to pay our 20% import tax. I wonder if I could avoid that by claiming that yo no comprendo...

Intrepid Idiot and the Samurai

Guess I'll start with the road trip, since the adventure began only five hours out of Chicago. Yes, the Dodge died, leaving a pool of engine oil all over 55 South, side by side with my trail of tears. Yes, Diana and most everyone else who knew I wanted to take the Dodge were correct (for the record). I quickly signed away that disfunctional relationship and moved on to a rental, not losing a day of travel. I spent the night in Memphis and headed toward Louisiana. Luckily, we had parked our Honda at my mom's house, so I turned in the rental and transferred cargo again. The samurai came to the rescue and I was on my way. Day three was spent traveling from Louisiana to the border with Mexico. Unfortunately, it was also spent trying to pay off our Honda so I would be allowed to bring it across the border. The pics aren't in order, but you get the idea.