Christmas in TX

I have decided to come home for Christmas break, so recently I have been looking at flights from GUA to DFW. Today, however, the principal at IAS told me that it is cheaper to fly from GUA to Washington D.C. Curious if this was true, I compared the flights. Get this...it is OVER $200 CHEAPER to fly from GUA to DFW to IAD than it is to fly from GUA to DFW! However, they are the exact same flights! The only difference is that those continuing to D.C. have to make the connecting flight. Where is the logic in this? You would think that it would be cheaper to fly from GUA to DFW! Instead, it's cheaper to take another flight...this so weird to me!

Tomorrow is "Friday"

This is a short week! Tomorrow the students leave early at 11:30, but the teachers have to stay for a three-hour workshop on bullying...wah, wah, wah. I can't imagine what we will talk about for three whole hours! The eighth graders today told me I wouldn't have to stay for the workshop if I wasn't such a bully...haha! But, yay for short weeks! Friday I am going to Pana with some other teachers on a chicken bus. There's two types of buses here...microbuses and chicken buses. The chicken buses are definitely a grade or two below the microbuses. I have only ridden on one chicken bus since I've been here. They tend to be very crowded and jerky. So it should be an interesting one to two hour ride! I think I am going to take some Dramamine before I leave! But, it should be fun to leave Xela and go on a "mini vacation". The hotel that we are staying in Friday night only costs Q10, which is such a deal! Actually, the owner of the hotel used to teach at the school, which is cool. The librarian was telling me about a good Italian restaurant to try while we are there. I've also heard that Pana has really good shopping!

Also, in case you were wondering...I kept the Q500!

Suerte

Tonight I found Q500 in the street, which is about $70!! I didn't see anyone nearby, so I picked up the money and kept it. On the way home, I almost put the money back in the street, since it belongs to someone, and Q500 is a lot of money here. Some tiendas don't even take Q100 bills. A lot of teachers live near the spot where I found the money, so maybe one of them dropped it. Tomorrow at school I am going to ask if anyone lost some money recently. If no one claims it, I'm not sure what to do with it! Betty said I should just keep it and consider myself very lucky!

Commonplace

Some spots in Xela that have become commonplace...

Bus stop

Prepaid cell phone company I use

Rotunda in Parque Central

Mi banco

McDonald's (no dollar menu here...it's expensive!)

Popular panaderia

In Parque Central (a few blocks from where I live)

Street I live on

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's raining right now, which is pretty typical in the afternoon during the rainy season. I just finished eating a delicious Sunday lunch complete with tortillas, guacamole, rice, black beans, and steak. It was quite a feast! I have some school work that I could work on right now, but I think I will save it for later tonight. Once it stops raining, I think I will walk around for a little bit and hopefully take some pictures. Until then, I should probably do my tarea de espanol. I have to write a personal description of Obama and someone else of my choice.

Ch. 1 Test

It worked out so that every math class took the Ch. 1 Test on Wednesday. I graded the tests Thursday night, and about 5 students in each class failed. The same student who told me I looked strange also failed the Ch. 1 Test. I passed back the tests on Friday, and he told me he failed, because I was coughing too much! I can kind of see where he's coming from, because I think he has ADD, but I told him that next time something is distracting him, he needs to let me know so that we can move his desk into the hall. This kid...haha! He's also the student that had to fill out a Student Plan of Action (which is Level 2 in the behavior plan) the second day of school!

"Miss, you look strange today!"

This is what a sixth grade boy told me this morning. 
I said, "Do you mean I look different?" 
Then he said, "You look weird."
Then I said, "Do you mean I look different, because I am wearing my glasses?"
With a little mischievous smile on his face he said, "Ahhh, yes Miss."

I then told him that telling someone they look strange or weird is not very nice. At first I thought it might be a Spanish/English translation issue, but by the end of the conversation, I was pretty sure he knew what he was saying the whole time! Oh, middle school boys! 

Estoy enferma y la elección

Yo fui a la doctora (ella es la hermana de la secretaria de la escuela) ayer y ella dijo que yo tengo bronquitis. I paid almost Q400 for three different medicines, so I should be getting better very soon! I am thankful that I went to the doctor, because it probably would have gotten worse! I'm planning on taking it easy this weekend. 

On another note, Guatemala has their elections in 10 days. All of the political parties (unlike the U.S., Guatemala has about 6, maybe more, different parties) have been campaigning a lot lately...blasting music in the park, driving their party trucks down the streets, having parades, etc. Betty's brother works for one of the parties, and the mom of one of my students is running for a spot in the same party. It should be interesting to see who wins. I'll have to keep you updated!