Orange juice and the oncoming cold

I'm waiting for my egg to boil so I can make freshly squeezed orange juice to accompany it for breakfast. I just started making fresh orange juice this week and I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back. I make tiny glasses of it (comprised of three oranges) but hey, you can't win em all. During tutoring this week, I prepared a Scattergories game from scratch and "Breakfast food" was on it. Neither of them got anything for S, and when I offered "sandwich?" they looked at me strangely. I proceeded to explain a breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, bread) and they thought it was really strange. When I asked what these teens ate for breakfast, their answer was the same as my six year olds. Chocolate milk (colacao- kind of like nesquick) with cookies. Hmm. I think I'll stick to what I know.

Buenos días

Let me begin by saying that yesterday was a lot of fun at school. Half of the teachers went on strike (huelga) about the economic crisis and how it's affecting teachers' pay. Their Holiday bonus seems to be in peril, more hours are being added, and there's just an all-over disarray over here. The teachers at instituto (high school) had already been striking the week or two before, and now I guess it was primary's turn. Since I'm on a scholarship, obviously I had to go to school. When I arrived, I found out that instead of being in my scheduled second grade class, I was going to help out with the four year olds. I wasn't too phased because I know the four year olds (although I'm only with them once a week) and I know their routine. Since some of the parents had decided to keep their kids home that day, we merged the four and five year olds (oh no) and I sort of took it from there.

Of course, when I'm doing the routine the Spanish teacher is usually there to put the CDs on and get everything in order/ They're four, so basically everything has to include singing. Good thing I can carry a note (not that they'd notice if I couldn't). Anyway, none of the CDs are properly labeled and the only song I could find was "I like to go to school". Needless to say we sang that twice and then I led some of the other songs a cappella (shocker) which was okay. Then, some godly woman brought a Disney movie and I didn't have to do much else after that. I put Pinocchio on the smart board (being the youngest, most tech savvy of them all- even though I admittedly even had an issue). Here, Pinocchio is pronounced Pee-no-CH-o. So that's weird. One kid knew which movie it is the millisecond that the opening credits started to play. I clearly know what his favorite movie is. We played it in English and I didn't think they'd understand a thing, but cartoons are so emotive that they did. They commented in Spanish all the way through. If I were to give advice, it's never try to enjoy a movie with 30 four/five year olds because you won't be able to. I had like a perma shh attached to my face.

Yesterday I also found a perfect area to eat lunch in. It's both calm and boasting a huge range of people getting lunch in the area. The little place where we decided to eat had olive trees (I think?) and rocky sand and benches and shade. Need I say more? Plus, after we ate we were offered a sampling of champagne from one of the restaurants nearby. Score.

Besides all that, the weekend is here again, and I am in awe at how it arrived so quickly. Having Fridays off are nice after a long week of running around (with children, to top it off). I started private tutoring this week (more children, oh no), but one of them was so much of a commute from my school that I'll have to end it. Maybe, just maybe, I should think about tutoring someone who is not a child. It would be nice to spend some time working with an adult. A girl can dream, can't she?

Happy about the fresh air

Speaking of fresh air, it's getting chilly. Although today will be a high of 70 (perfect?) the morning started off at 40ish and it'll dip back down to 40 tonight. I think this signals the beginnings of winter, and I'm a bit nerviosa, but ready for the challenge. It's been unseasonably hot, so I guess I've been spoiled. I've probably been weather-spoiled all my life. Here we go!

A