Here I am, sitting here in my apartment, ready to crawl into sleepy-land, and we have internet!!  I just finished watching Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention, on CNN.  I’d just gotten back from our first group salsa lessons, and was grabbing a few things for tomorrow, when I remembered.  I flipped through our channels, and was able to catch just the last part of the autobiographical video, before his speech.  If I’ve ever talked politics with you, I think you’ll know how I felt about his speech, and how I feel about Obama.

Now that we are, at long last, connected wirelessly at home, I am ready to skype!!  It will also be much easier to stay in touch when I prefer.  My skype name is linnea-christine, and I am ready to rock and roll and talk with everyone!  I’ll even give you a tour of my awesome apartment, featuring stunning views and breathtaking sunsets!

It is past my bedtime, and I can already feel my head drifting toward the pillow, so I am out for now.  Pictures and such coming soon.  I’ll see ya on skype!

Linnea

Today was a really good day.  I was very pleased with how things went.  We spent a little more time today on Morning Meeting, as the beginning blockof our day is “Values”.  We spent this time talking about being polite, behavior in the class, not asking me to use the bathroom is somewhere is already there, and playing coseeki (aka follow the leader) a game that approximately 50% of my second grade student teaching class felt was the most memorable part of my teaching.  Things went well.  I was mean, and pretty strict today.  There were a number of kids who did not do well, and a few who moved up and down all day.  I’ve realized that morning meeting is really valuable to me as a part of our day.  On two days a week, they have another class right away at 7:15 (after our 7:00 starting time), so I need to make sure that we have enough time for the morning meeting in our day. 

I had a good weekend, and I can’t believe how quickly this week is going already!  Howard Gardner was pretty cool, despite the 6 AM departure.  He didn’t say a whole lot of new things that I was unaware of, and his talk focused on the five minds.  He was cool.  His speech was pretty effecient and jam-packed with information. 

Saturday night, I went out to Havana, a Cuban salsa bar, then to another salsa bar nearby, both in Centro, the historic district.  One of my personal goals this year is to learn to dance salsa.  It’s amazing to see the really good salsa dancers tearing it up and dancing up a storm.  On Sunday, I went out to Crepes and Waffles with some friends for breakfast in Centro, and then we went to Exito (the Colombian Target) and Homecenter (yes- that’s the actual name, it’s basically the Colombian Home Depot).  It was a pretty productive day, and I came into school to get a few more things finished before my week. 

Yesterday, we had a comedy of errors trying to get the internet.  Me and my roomie missed the internet installation guys by mere minutes (who claimed the came early- I don’t believe that for a second, nothing in Colombian happens “early”), and our fingers are crossed that they will keep their promise for today. 

Hope everyone is doing well!  If you haven’t lately, you should tell me what is going on in your life!

Take care, Linnea

This week went well.  Things at school are still busy, and overwhelming at times, and I feel as if I am still finding my feet as a teacher, but overall, I was happy with the progression of the week.  The week has seemed to fly by.  Wednesday morning, I woke up a little bit earlier than usual, started coffee, and did some yoga on the balcony.  The whole day I felt more energized than usual, and it was a day at school that I was really pleased with.  Thus, I have decided to add that to my day, as much as possible.  Yes, I will be that crazy who arises just around 6 AM, does a sun salutation and tree pose on her balcony looking over the sea, and then gulps down some caffeine. 

Tomorrow morning (very early), I am going to hop on a bus (okay, at 6 AM, I don’t think I’m hopping on anything, perhaps I shall schlump toward the bus) with a bunch of my fellow teachers, to go up yo Barranquilla.  Barranquila is another major city in Colombia, about an hour (by bus, I think) up the coast to the northwest.  We will be going to see Howard Gardner speak.  If you just said to yourself, “Wait- THAT Howard Gardner?” I am guessing that you are probably a teacher, or just like education stuff.  If you have ever taken an inventory that has shown you your strengths and “intelligence” in categories such as linguistic, logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, or a few other qualities (I don’t have time to look it up at the moment), then you have been exposed to Howard Gardner’s work in multiple intelligences.  It should be interesting, and I’ve never been to Barranquilla, so I am looking forward to that. 

Well, I am tired and I am going to get going.  Hope everyone has been doing well.  Sorry again that I haven’t been in contact too often, or replying to comments and things ( I do read them, though!), but internet is still limited (grumble, grumble) and usually when I get a chance, I want to get on going home soon.  Take care and have an awesome weekend!

Linnea

Dear everyone,

I had a truly stellar weekend, which included botanical gardens, eventful bus rides, a trip to a beautiful beach by boat, and a holiday on Monday.  And things are going okay here at school.  Today went very well, and my class was able to respond to me more and to quiet down (not an easy feat) for a decent period of time. 

But now I am pooped and I want to take a nap or go for a swim.  I should be able to access the internet from our apartment soon, but for the moment, I pretty much just have it at school.  And thus…yes, pictures exist, yes, I have more to say, but the sun is sparkling (for now) and the beach beckons.  So I shall catch you later. 

Take care,

Linnea

Well, the first week (of three days) is finished, and I have survived. 

It has been going okay, there have been some good and bad parts.  These kids are VERY talkative.  They are chatty nearly all the time.  This is mostly a cultural thing, and it is pretty well known that they will be extremely talkative.  Also, in the first grade, most of the kids English capabilities are fairly low, lower than I had expected.  I have a few “embassy kids” in my class, who are American and speak English pretty well, and as far as I can tell, are on a pretty normal first grade level.  These kids all had some English instruction in Kindergarten, along with Spanish, but most of them have lost much of this during the summer.  This has been ovbserved in all three of the first grade classes, by the other two teachers I am teaming with.  So…I am not sure where I should pick up.  I guess mostly, I am not sure how to respond, and how exactly I should approach this.  Teaching second language learners will be difficult, and I am sure I am going to have to use lots of different resources to try to adapt to this. 

I feel I have a lot to learn.  I think I will be able to learn alot from the other two first grade teachers, both of who have taught first grade for a few years. 

We are STILL working on getting the internet in the apartment.  However, on the bright side, we do now have a washer!  Hopefully I will be more able to talk soon.  I think I am going to go home and take a nap, as I am exhausted.  I think I will probably go for a swim in the sea later, as that is pretty soothing.  An ocean swim was very calming after my first day of school.  A bunch of other teachers are going salsa dancing tonight, so I may get in on that too. 

Love and miss you all!  Hope everybody is doing well!  More soon! 

Linnea

Well, the moment of truth is nearly here!  My journey to be teacher of my own classroom is almost done.  I am really pleased with my room, it looks awesome.  Apparently I am still missing some supplies that were ordered for me, but I won’t need them right away anyway, so they will go into places when I get them.  My room is very colorful, bright, and organized.  Yes, you read that right.  Organized.  Don’t everyone gasp at once, but other teachers have actually complimented me on my organization.  Most things are labeled- I went a little bit sentence strip happy.  Things are ready to go!

I am a mix of trepidation and excitement about tomorrow.  I just want things to go smoothly tomorrow.  I will actually only have half my class here tomorrow, 10 kids, as the first grade classes split, half of my class coming Wednesday, and the other half Thursday.  So that is less overwhelming, and will allow me to get a sense of these kids.  I feel mostly prepared, just a little bit worried that things won’t go well.  I am fearing a classroom with chaos broken loose, children jumping on desks and tossing scissors and sharpened pencils at the neighbors, hollering obscentities in English and Spanish at the top of their lungs.  Hopefully this will not happen, though apparently the kids here are quite talkative.  We will start the day in our “Listening Circle” (which, yes, got it’s own sentence strip) and hopefully I will be able to train these kids at least a bit. 

Oh, and about the internet in our apartment, it will be coming soon.  The pace of life here is slow, but so is getting things finished.  So hopefully I will have that soon and I will have a little bit more time to talk and such.  Thanks for all the comments!  I appreciate them all, but I haven’t had too much time for personal things while I am in my classroom.  But I am glad to feel a bit more connected to friends and family at home. 

Hope everyone is doing well!  Pray that the first graders don’t eat me alive!

Love, Linnea

I am in my classroom now!  I first walked in yesterday, once I had finally gotten my key.  I walked in, looked around, and started to feel overwhelmed.  It is difficult to know where to begin, where I should start.  So, I started moving around desks to an arrangement I like, and I rearranged things to create a meeting space.  I have a full time aide (which I know is an incredible luxury), and she is doing many, many things to help me set things up. 

Right now, I am taking advantage of COJOWA’s internet connection in order to check some things.  We WILL be able to get the internet in our apartment.  It originally did not have a landline, which we did not find out until we inspected it for the inventory.  My awesomely bilingual roommate told the owner that we would not sign any contract without the internet, as it is something extremely important for us both to have, mainly for keeping in contact with folks at home.  In any case, people from the school were very helpful, and something is supposed to be done with that on Monday.  We are, however, on Colombian time, so it may take longer than that. 

I am going to finish things up in here for today soon, and head back to my apartment.  I can see the outside of my classroom from our apartment balcony!  In the apartment, I am putting things on the walls, unpacking things, and I am starting to feel more at home. 

More soon!  Thanks for all the comments/emails/good vibes/etc!  Hope everybody is doing well! 

Linnea

I should be moving into our apartment today.  We found it yesterday, and both me and my roommate love it.  We had originally been interested in another apartment in the same building, but we took a look at this other one yesterday, and it will be perfect.

It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a balcony, and enough living space for the two of us.  It is on the 17th floor, so we get spectacular views!  Every room has a window, and every window has a view of the water.  We will have plenty of room for guests!  The ocean is right across from the apartment building, and the school is next door.  It should be amazing, pictures coming soon!

We won’t have the internet when I first move in, but we shall try to get that soon.  Also, I purchased a webcam, so everyone who does not have Skype yet should get that immediately.  You will be able to see me through skype, and I can give you a tour of my spectacular apartment!  I am going to go get my things together, and then picked up to move in!

Peace and love,

Linnea

PS- I miss everyone!

It has been a whirlwind of a day.  Things have been incredibly busy, and we have always been moving.  Today we toured the school and met some more of the staff.  I got to see my classroom!!  That was very exciting.  I am also looking for an apartment, to share with the other new first grade teacher.  We’re going to talk to someone tomorrow morning, so hopefully that will go well.  For the time being I am still in the hotel, which is so still stunning.

Since I posted yesterday, I have, in no particular order:

• had my hand touched by the nose of a teeny-tiny deer that lives on the hotel grounds (I think it was a chevrotain)
• tried two kinds of juice that I had never heard of before and don’t quite remember the names of
• listened to the band play while I swam in the pool at the hotel
• eaten a neaopolitan pizza with cracker-thin crust
• tried Colombian beer
• visited the super market (twice- for lunch and then a big bottle of water after dinner)
• eaten at Crepes and Waffles (which I will definitely visit again and again)
• wiped out by tripping over my own feet and an unexpected step
• looked at 3 apartamentos
• realized that I have a lot of work to do on my Spanish skills
• watched dancers and listened to musicians as they performed in the square we were eating in
• peered into the doors of my first ever classroom.

I will have much more later, but Hotel Caribe only allows one hour of free wireless.  I will have more later!  I miss you all and hope everyone is doing well!

Linnea

I have made it!!  The trip was relatively uneventful, and went smoothly.  I was able to check my luggage in and all that jazz, and that worked just fine.  I met up with some of the other new teachers in Miami, introduced myself, and chatted. There were supposed to be seven us coming today, so most of us were hanging out there in Miami.

I’m at the Hotel Caribe here in Cartagena right now.  It is unbelievably gorgeous.  We went through customs, and ALL of my luggage made it too!  We were greeted warmly at the airport by other staff from the school.  They had a bus provided for us, which our luggage was all loaded onto.  We drove through most of Cartagena to Hotel caribe, which is on the far end of town.  There is so much history in this city, I can’t wait to explore it!  The city looks beautiful.

I am off for dinner soon, but I shall check in when I get a chance.  I’m all safe and sound.  Hope everyone else had a good Sunday!

Linnea