More Orientation and Settling-in

During that first week, the orientation team (administrators, mostly) really did a great job of helping us settle in and getting us acquainted with the school and our little area of Caracas. They kept us well-fed and on the go for the first week and a half. Mariolga took us to a department store to shop for home stuff. We bought a few more towels, a toaster, a microwave, a coffee pot, and some trash cans...and that pretty much wiped out our settling-in allowance! Electronic things are very expensive here. I was glad that I'd bought my $16 hairdryer at Big Lots before we came, because a similar one was $60 at the store here. We went on a drive up into the Avila mountains (windier and steeper than any roads I've driven in Colorado) and had lunch at a posada there. They served the most delicious Mexican food, the view was spectacular, and the weather was perfect.

We got keys to our classrooms that first week, and many people got started working in their rooms that first weekend. I was not one of those people. I knew I couldn't get settled in at school before settling in at home. So I invited our new friends Sergio and Kathryn over to hang out one night in order to get motivated to clean up enough for things to be presentable. (Also because they're really fun... but I was entirely upfront about using them to motivate myself!) By the end of the weekend, home was mostly squared away and work on my classroom began. The room had so much extra junk in it that I had to clean out stuff before being able to hang bulletin boards and arrange desks. I worked all weekend to get ready for the first day of school (which was the 17th) but by that day things were ready to go!

We met our buddies, a couple who lives in our building who also have a little girl Luke's age. They took us out to eat and to a park a few weekends ago. They also arranged for a nanny to take care of the kids the first two weeks of school. Their Pre-K program is full day, but they started with half-days these first two weeks. Our buddies have also driven us to and from school each day, since we haven't bought a car yet.

My students are delightful. They are the sweetest little people. They LOVE to read, BEG for DEAR time, and love read aloud. I could not have asked for a better fit for me! I have one or two social skills challenges in my room...but hopefully we can work with those kiddos and help them grow in those areas.

The schedule at school is rather hectic. We have 40-minute specials in the elementary, and we walk our children to and from specials each time, so our team rarely gets to sit down and meet to plan or discuss things for more than half an hour at a time. Spanish classes take place in our classrooms, too, so that is somewhat limiting, as well. We meet with the science, computer, and library teachers in order to make sure our units of study are integrated in those classes. We dismiss our students at 2:00 on Wednesday afternoons and then have an hour and a half of staff development (called Teacher Action and Growth) until 4:00. It's really a neat idea, and we've packed a lot of stuff into those meetings these first two weeks. It's not a time for grade level teams to meet together, though. We've done training for guided reading, how to incorporate Discovery Streaming videos into lessons, how to assess writing, and how to use the math program in our 3 hours of TAG time. Also, my team is using a wiki for writing and as a central place for information about our units. I'm learning how to add and change stuff on there and trying to understand how we're going to use this with our kids. It's technology integration on a level I've never done. Fortunately, my team leader is WONDERFUL and is patiently helping us learn how to use the wikis with our classes. Overall, there's a LOT of information to take in. All in all, the pace of the school is difficult to keep up with right now. There is little time to stop and breathe, to grade anything, or to think in an organized way about anything. I am really hoping that my feeling about the pace will change as I get into a routine both at school and at home. I really love the school, love my team, and love my students. They are precious and enthusiastic about school. The other day I thought, "I feel like a first year teacher again." If you've never been a first-year teacher, I can assure you that it is NOT a fun feeling!! It feels like trying to keep your head above water! However, I have told several of my friends who WERE first year teachers that your goal for the first year should be survival and learning. I'm trying to take that approach here. There is NO way I can be as on-the-ball and amazing as I think I should be this first year, but maybe next year I can! So for this year I am just doing the best I can do.

Jason teaches five sections of math and really enjoys the people he works with, too. They are really sharp and on-the-ball. We both think the school is wonderful and that it's a good place for us and for Luke.

Luke loves his pre-K class. His teacher is a beautiful young Venezuelan lady who greets him each day with a hug and a kiss and a cheerful, "Hello, my Prince!" There is a teacher's assistant in each classroom (nursery through first grade), and his TA is wonderful. She makes Luke laugh each day, and he comes home with stories about her every day. The kids in his class are very chatty, and he's come home with a few stories about how his teacher was sad at circle time because the OTHER kids were not listening, but he ALWAYS listens... how the OTHER kids in the class knocked over a bookshelf, etc. He apparently is a model student (I should hope so!) and is very helpful in the classroom. He has picked up some Spanish from his afternoons with Sabina and her nanny. He ate something the other day and then said "que rico!" When I asked him what it meant, he said, "It means yummy in Spanish." I double checked the next day with Laura to see what he was saying -- thinking that maybe we had another "It means cow in Arabic" incident on our hands. But he was right! We're really proud of how he's adjusting to Venezuela, making new friends, and enjoying ECA.

Our house is up a big winding hill from school. It takes 15-20 minutes to walk down the road to school, and we don't do it much with Luke because there are some dangerous curves with no sidewalks. Our apartment is on the 13th floor and overlooks Caracas. We have a 270 degree view from our windows. We see the Avila mountains to the north, Caracas to the west, and the hill and other apartments out the south windows. We live in a beautiful place, and I doubt we'll move from our apartment while we're here. Our one challenge right now is not having a car. Cars are so expensive, and the paperwork is often a hassle. We had saved some money over the summer for our cars, but were strongly encouraged to go ahead and buy our tickets for travel in October and December as soon as possible so that the flights didn't get booked up. There went a lot of our car money! Trips for 3 to the US are not cheap, but we are so thankful that they are MUCH cheaper (and the flights much shorter) than trips home from Egypt! Anyway, we are praying for the perfect car for us, and hoping to have one soon.

This afternoon I'm hoping to catch a ride to the grocery store to shop for the week. Grocery stores here are well-stocked compared to those in Egypt, but certain things are scarce. Right now there is no sugar. There is sugar substitute aplenty, but no real sugar. We bought a bag when we first got here, but I haven't seen it at the store since. Toilet paper is also frequently sold-out or nearly, so I've been stashing packages of that away, too. Rumor has it that the next thing that will be scarce is coffee... Gotta love it!

There are always things I think about writing about, but I'm sure I've forgotten a lot. Ask questions, and I'll be glad to answer!

I'll end by saying that back in January, when we were listing things we hoped for in our next location, we listed first and foremost a place where Luke could play outside with other children his own age. We also prayed for a place with clean air and green plants, a school we'd feel good about for Luke and for us, a school with other families with kids Luke's age, and a church we'd feel a part of. Pictures are coming in a separate post. See how God answers prayer. :)