There are many factors that are contributing to make this year better than last year. However, what is really important is that year number two in Guatemala is starting well.
First, it is always nice being settled. This year we had our house, our car (although not in perfect working condition), our dog and a network of friends already in place. Second, we know what to expect from our jobs and I have the added bonus of having the best group of kids I have ever taught. Finally, Sam is having a great beginning of the year. His spanish is fantastic and he is really enjoying school.
What more could we ask for?
By the way, we had a wonderful summer. We spent most of the time in the U.S with family in New Mexico, but we also enjoyed some time camping and seeing friends in Colorado. Our summer was so long, we even had several weeks back in Guatemala before school started. We managed to take a quick trip to El Salvador to check out their beaches. Sam lived his dream of staying in the water for practically four days and I finally got to try surfing.
By the time school began, we were ready to get back to work. I am teaching the same course as last year and Haviland managed to ditch language arts and is now teaching what she enjoys most...history. :) As I mentioned, my students are really nice this year and they are quite good students. It makes my job easier and much more fun.
Sam is enjoying first grade. His homework this year is, "So easy!" All he has to do so far is read and keep a reading log. Compared to last year, it is easier and we are thankful. In addition to regular school, first grade is cool for a couple of reasons: 1) He has swimming as part of his regular school day - once every other week. 2) He has clubs. Now he is a busy kid after school. One day a week he gets tutoring for spanish, one day he has a puppet making class and two days a week he plays sports. We get a tired kid at home, which is great.
Besides the regular routine, we are still trying to get out and about exploring. It seems our focus this year might be to see the other countries around Guatemala. We took a nice trip back to El Salvador in September. We heard about a national park called,"Impossible" and with a name like that we had to check it out. It is a stretch of preserved forest and mountains within view of the Pacific coast of El Salvador. Some of the mountain passes were so dangerous that coffee farmer often fell to their deaths - thus the name. For me, it was an amazing place because everything we saw on our hike was new -- dozens of butterfly species I had never seen, new birds and trees and spiders. Some of the species were truly unique to just this area - including some trees and a carnivorous flower. After exploring a small part of this park, we drove a short distance to the pacific coast, where we got to enjoy the nicest stretch of beach we have found here in Central America.
I hope everyone is also doing well. Please feel free to check out some pictures at:
