waldo's mart is where its at!!!

hey there friends and fam! sooo wednesday was a rather busy day. we got our class lists and had to start decorating our rooms and figuring out our plans for the upcoming week. you would never imagine how arduous of a job it is to come by bulletin board paper at a school in mexico!!! it took at least an hour to find the person who cuts the paper, tell her our order, write it down, and get it cut. and in mexico a "decoration kit" for the classroom is bulletin board paper haha... soooo after finding that out i settled down to plan a few things and figure out what i would need and how to make some classroom items that i wouldn't be able to find. i had passed a bunch of the spanish classrooms whose rooms were decorated so nicely, so i decided to inquire as to where one might acquire said decorations. so i introduced myself to a few mexican teachers and they told me of a place in the mall. after school i was sooo excited a few of us got a taxi and went on a search for the store.

they had some good things, but anything that was in english was extremely expsensive as it is sent from the States. we all picked out a few items went to the cash register. even though we were the only customers, paying for everything (and by that i mean maximum of 2 things each) took a while. it seems everything in mexico takes patience and a long time.... we left a tad dissappointed and decided to grab some grub at the food court. we found a taco stand with a 2 for 1 deal so we all opted to get food there. i ordered "tacos de chicarron", which in el salvador and costa rica was pulled pork.... not so in mexico. by the time i finally got my tacos, everyone else was almost done. i didn't mind the wait, i thought it would be worthwhile. i was all excited because i loved pupusas de chicarron in el sal.... when i got them i was a touch concerned because they didn't look like what i was used to. after one bite i was certain they weren't what i was used to. it was at that point that someone reminded me of an email we had recieved from a previous teacher warning us that "chicarron" is fried pig fat.... needless to say i couldn't eat. "lost in trnaslation" strikes again.... eh, i chucked it and got an ice cream which was tasty. can't go wrong with vanilla ice cream and M&Ms.

after the mall we went to Soriana again to get some school supplies. it was another long stay at the store, but well worth it. actually, maybe all that happened on tuesday - who can keep track of time in mexico anyway???? even though things take a really long time, i feel like the time just flies right by here.

thursday came and we went to school, a lot of time i felt like i was spinning my wheels, because things move so slowly and simple supplies are not so easy to come by, but i did what i could with what i had. thursday evening was yet another trip to the store. we walked to Waldo's Mart, which is a dollar store a few minutes down the road. we found a bunch of things for really cheap so that was good. then we had to go food shopping for the house. so we made the trek to Soriana again, in the rain.... who knew it rained in the desert??? it was no big deal actually - just a point of interest. when we got home i decided to make a nice dinner. i put together some penne vodka spaghetti with chicken and a nice salad and we had a really nice dinner. i live with 3 other girls, breanna and jenna who are friends from home, which to them is Minnesota. the third girl malita is from chicago and she is half mexican, she actually has family that live like 20 minutes from where we are staying. she found the job through her family, her mom was a student at our school for one year when she was a kid. and malita is engaged to charlie who is another teacher here. so even though it is the four of us, we have an honorary 5th housemate since he is here most of the time. so we all had a nice dinner together last night.

today was a FULL day, i finally finished most of my things in my classroom. it was properly cleaned this morning and i had my lesson plans checked over by my supervisor so that is done. i feel really good about monday morning, aside from a few minor details i will be attending to tomorrow (because the school is open on the weekends) i feel very prepared. so i have 2 groups of first graders, 19 kids in each group. i put the desks in 4 groups of 5 and i have a calender bulletin board, and a round table for math and science lessons as well as read alouds. i found some really cute english puzzles and memory games so i made afew centers out of them. Waldo's Mart came through for me, i found some really great things for the class there :)

so after work we all came home and relaxed for a bit then went for ice cream down the road. when we got home i napped for a bit and jenna and breanna made the most delicious chicago style pizza.... mmmmm mmm good!!! now here we all are, sitting on our couch - watching sound of music and hanging.... well i will keep you posted on my first week of classes, wish me luck :) and i will be putting up pix soon.