Photos highlighting Ghent

Here are a few more photos that I've taken on my stay so far.  There are many, many more that I will post on Facebook after my vacation!  :)  Enjoy!

The view of Ghent from the top of the Castle of the Counts

Again, at the top of the Castle of the Counts.  You can see the cathedral tower and the Belfry in the background.

Heads are gonna roll!  HaHa!  Nice bag for catching the heads, huh?  :)  Kinda cool sidenote: The blade is authentic...

La Reina! (The Queen!)

Part of the Castle of the Count... You can see on the right side is a portion of the old castle that hasn't yet been restored.

This cafe is where the waffle was invented.  These waffle irons are the actual waffle irons used in the invention of the waffle.  This place was legit.  They were delicious!  And this nice man let me come into the kitchen and take a picture of this delicious little piece of history!

The Castle of the Count at night from the outside

Downtown Ghent.  It was misting quite a bit, so that's why it looks a bit like it's snowing.  That tower in the background is the Belfry.

Sneak Peak from Belgium

Hello from Belgium!

Leah & Cristophe are at a brunch, so I thought I'd take a little time to write a blog entry before I get ready for the day.  I thought I'd share a few pictures with you of what I've seen so far.  You will have to wait until the journey is complete before I post the whole lot of them on Facebook.  :)  Here's just the sneak peak for my faithful readers.  :)

I got to Belgium Friday evening.  I arrived in Brussels and Ghent is about an hour away (in traffic).  We went to an Irish pub called 'The Cellar' on Friday evening for a couple of Leah's friends birthdays.  Here, I tried Duvel (a beer) and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Then, I had a Snake Bite.  I love them when we make them at the Rail, so I thought I'd try it.  We make them wrong, apparently, haha.  There was half cider, half pilsner... and then the bartender added Creme de Cassis, a dark liquer, to it.  It was quite pleasant.  Not what I was expecting, but quite pleasant.



Here is a picture of Ghent at night.  Isn't it gorgeous with the canals?

 Yesterday, we went to Dinant. It's in the southern part of Belgium, the french speaking part. I have learned since arriving that there are 3 national languages for Belgium; Dutch, French, & German. In Dinant, there was an old fortress and cathedral. It is very interesting to see structures such as this still standing and then learning about its history. The architecture was amazing to see.  I will go into further detail at a later date, I just wanted to highlight the trip so far.  We're going to the place where waffles were invented today.  I think we're also going to the Gravensteen castle.  I'll write more about all of this later.  I just thought you should get a little taste of my adventure thusfar.  :)

This is a picture from the street.  The cathedral is right in front and the fortress is high above it on the cliff.  The rest of my photos in this entry are from the top.

Looking down on the cathedral

This is what you see in one direction from the top.  I believe it is called the Meuse River.  I'll let you know if that's incorrect.

And this is what you see in the other direction from the top

This is inside the cathedral.  Very pretty, huh?

Well, I'm going to go get ready for the day.  I just wanted to say hello from Belgium and give you a sampling of some photos.  More to come, I promise!

In Memory of My Angel

I’ve opened my heart to you about many things in my life and my world, so I figure why hold back now? J Some of you know that this time of year is my absolute least favorite time of the year. I tend to be quite grumpy and want to be alone. This year isn’t any different, really. Except this year, I can use my blog as therapy. I’ve had some rough patches through this month and whenever I do, I come here to work on a blog entry. It helps me vent frustrations and talk about things, so this entry has been completed over the span of a few weeks…

I dedicate this entry to the woman that gave me life and the woman who I never got to know… My mother. Happy Birthday.

I’ve been finding it very beneficial to be open about my feelings. In many ways, it has really helped me as a person to talk about things. I’ve made very public statements about or to my family and I’ve shown a side of me that many people don’t know about, including some of my family. It’s proved to be positive results, so I’m going to continue on with that pattern.

My mom passed away when I was one. That’s no secret. Her birthday is the end of this month followed closely by the day she passed away. As hard as I try to not let it affect me, it does. One might think it would become easier to cope with over time, but I can’t say that that’s true. Not for me, anyway. If possible, it’s become more difficult. There are things that happen every day of my life that I want to talk to her about or advice that I’d like to get from her from a mother’s perspective. It hurts every day knowing that I didn’t know her. There are many members of the family and some of mom’s friends that have opened up about her and have attempted to show me sides of her that I will obviously never know. To all of those people, I am eternally grateful. It makes me feel good, but at the same time, makes me feel sadness and even a bit of jealousy toward those that did get to know her.

Throughout my life, I’ve had motherly figures outside the family unit that have been a very positive and helpful influence on my life. I feel like they deserve a little recognition and public gratitude, so I’m going to name a few names. Kathy Neu (Petermann), Annie Bergmann, and Jill Blurton, to name a few, are three people that have been as close to a mother figure that I could have had. A couple of them knew Mom personally. All of them have been super supportive through some rough situations in my life. I am forever grateful to them all.

Don’t think that I am forgetting to mention the other, most obvious, mother figure in my life. I’m not forgetting about her, I’m just going to give her more than a sentence or two. Janet Cook. Our relationship hasn’t always been the easiest and I‘m not going to pretend that everything has been perfect. Far from it. Both of us have had situations in life that have affected us. And that’s not something I intend to go into here and now. What I am going to go into, though, is the day that we made a change. March 1, 2010. I remember specifically the day because it was the anniversary of Mom’s passing and I had went home to visit her grave. Anyway, that evening marked the beginning of a new friendship and understanding between us that has yet to falter, in my opinion. We both moved forward cautiously, but have never looked back. We opened up a line of communication that, had it been there our whole lives, might have made us the best of friends from the beginning. Better late than never, so the saying goes. It’s proven true. I have found a friend in Janet that I never would have thought possible. I think she’d say the same thing about me, too. I hope, haha. We are improving our relationship on a steady basis and I couldn’t be happier to have a constant motherly figure in my life. I don’t want to go into details that dive too deeply into what our relationship was, is, or will become. Quite frankly, that’s between the family and Janet and I. I’ve gone this deep simply because I want to take an opportunity to publicly give Janet the praise that she deserves. Janet, I’m extremely grateful that you are a more significant part of my life. I’m glad we haven’t looked back and I look forward to the future. Thank you for becoming my friend. That’s what it boils down to. Friendship. Thank you for being my friend.

That said, I will briefly go back to the focus of my entry. Mom. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and miss her. The terrible circumstances surrounding her passing has been a very difficult thing for me to attempt to grasp and overcome. I’m not sure I’ll ever be fully successful in overcoming it, to be honest. I can accept it and move forward in my life, of course, but there will always be situations that arise that will affect me because of my mothers history. I know that my mom is with me every day. I know she is here and I know she looks after me always. I feel her presence and I speak to her on a daily basis. I just wish she could talk back. J I only had 484 days on this planet with her, but I guess that’s better than no time at all. Everyone tries to tell me that “everything happens for a reason.” While I get the idea behind that, I still have a very hard time accepting it. There will never be a day that goes by that I don’t wish for time with my mom and the opportunity to get to know her. Never. However, I am also very aware that if she were here, then I would be without some very important people in my life. I would never have known Trent, Garrett, Janet or any extension of her family. There wouldn’t be a Reese, Aidan, or Lynnon in my life. And quite simply, I cannot imagine my life without any of that. I don’t want to. I know Mom looks after me and I hope that I make her proud. I am never alone in Spain because she is right here with me. She’s my Guardian Angel and you all should be jealous that she’s pretty BA. J

Rest in Peace, mom… I love you…

Mary had a Little Lamb...

Hello, world... Just checking in...

I'm getting ready to leave Spain and head to Belgium for a week and I am very excited! I will be in Ghent for about a week if you'd like to Google the area. From my understanding, it's about 30 minutes from Brussels. I'm very excited!! I'll be sure to take notes so it feels like you're there, too! :)

I had to go talk to the headmaster today. His name is Juan. I wasn't sure if I would include this part in my entry, but it only seems fair to maintain honesty with everyone. I was as nervous as if I were a little kid getting sent to the principals office, which is exactly the case except the 'little kid' part. Isabel told me he wanted to talk to me about reapplying for a second year. I cannot help but be nervous about these kinds of things, haha. Eventually, I was able to catch him alone in his office. He closed the door and had me sit down (so 'official' and nerve-racking!). One of my first concerns was the language barrier. I hoped that I'd be ok in understanding what he wanted to discuss. I understood. And what I heard wasn't exactly what I was expecting. He proceeded to tell me that he was the one that made the final decision about whether or not the school would accept me for a second year and he wanted to discuss things with me. Then, he told me that, in the beginning, some of the teachers didn't think I was doing a good job. He said that they were concerned with my participation, etc. (Heart continuing to pound...) He continued by telling me that he's spoken with everyone since then and recently and that I have improved and that there is not any problems and he will sign off on a positive review. I confessed my lack of confidence when it comes to speaking Spanish and that I needed to practice more. I did a lot of listening. There wasn't much conversation to be had. I understand way more Spanish that I am confident in speaking. I walked out thanking him and a bit relieved to have that over with. They will now give me the recommendation letter that I need for my application process. I'm not going to go into some big defense of the beginning of this adventure, but I will say that it hurt quite a bit to hear that, by their definition, I wasn't doing a good job. I don't like to fail at things. I know teaching is not on my resume and it probably isn't going to be something I do for the long-haul. It was a whole new venture in my life and I genuinely felt like I was doing a good job. And a big issue with me is that if I need to be doing something to improve myself, I would like to be told about it at the time so I can make changes. If I don't know I'm doing something wrong, I can't fix it. To be honest, I feel like I do less now than I did in the beginning. Regardless, there isn't anything I can do about the past, I just have to work on the future and improve myself from here. It's good to know that I have improved and that I am liked enough to be welcomed back for a second year (IF the application stuff goes through and goes well). Like I said, it hurt to hear something like that, but I suppose I have to take criticism and use it to become better. Anyway, I vowed to be honest about this experience and I'm not going to break that promise.

Moving on... HaHa... I was out on my patio taking the laundry off the line on Sunday and I heard one of the most awful sounds I have ever heard! This paragraph my not be for the faint of heart (this would include me if it didn't happen to me). I heard the slaughterring of a sheep. Very, very vividly. It was unbelievably awful. I could hear the pounding of whatever it was the butcher (not an officially licensed butcher, of course) was using to beat the hell out of the sheep. And with every stroke of the beating, I could hear the sheep screaming. I kind of stood frozen for a moment, but then immediately went inside because I couldn't bear to hear it. I could still hear the sheep screaming from inside my house, so I put a movie on... loudly. The awful sound is still very vivid in my mind and I hate it! I'm not dumb, I know slaughterring exists and I eat meat, but I did not appreciate the obviously inhumane ways of handling the slaughter. I'm sure there could have been a quicker way to put that sheep out of its misery. I'm quite sure there are similar places in the states and everywhere, but I don't have to hear it. Now, I have this nervous fear to go outside to do my laundry. I will, most likely, have the iPod in my ears on on loud anytime I go outside now, haha. Sorry if that was too much for some readers. I tried to warn you, but I bet you read it anyway, didn't you? Sorry. I needed to vent.

I've picked up a class at the school on Wednesdays. I have started going to the 6^th grade English class. I asked to pick it up primarily because I wanted to be a little more prepared for our English clubs on Mondays and Wednesdays. Speaking of the 6^th grade club, it's been interesting. They are a rowdy bunch of kids and it's very difficult to reel them in. They don't listen well... at all. I really like the older kids just because they are able to have more of a conversation with us and understand more. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the little ones, too. They are an open book and just soak up everything. They, too, can get a bit rowdy, of course, but they are easier to manage. Anyway, I really like the older kids, I just wish the class went much smoother than it does. We've introduced a point system and have set a goal for each person to reach. If they reach (individually) a certain number of points, then Joanne and I have promised to give them a party at the end of May. I suppose it's a form of bribery, haha, but it seems to be working in the sense that they are doing their work in class with at least a little bit of effort, haha. It's frustrating as hell sometimes, but I'm glad we took it on. It's definitely made them more comfortable with us and I do appreciate that.

Well, I'm going to close this entry. You'll hear from me one more time before I leave. I'm working on another entry that's dear to my heart. I hope this finds you all well!!

Ba-Humbug

I am absolutely anti-Valentine's Day.  I don't get excited about it except for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup shaped hearts.  I don't know if it's because I haven't found 'the one' (or even a Mr. Right now) or if it's because it's February and I've already got a massive grudge against the month as it is, but I have never been a big fan of the over-hyped day of pink and red and hearts and flowers.  Maybe someday I'll sing a different tune... but the person that finally gets me to change my mind will have to be someone very special, haha. 

This year is no different in my feelings of the day.  However, I obviously have to get in the spirit to do activities with the children.  Stuff like that, I don't mind at all.  They are happy, so that makes me happy.  I put aside my distaste for pink and become the master of all things Valentine's.  HaHa--KIDDING.  I did make some small cards for all the teachers that I work with and even made brownies to take to the school (which were a hit, by the way).  I think they liked them.  Hope so anyway.  :)  We helped our little ones make Valentine's cards in our English Club last week and we'll finish them today.  Had to let the glue dry.  We took care of the things the students couldn't do, like cutting and folding and whatnot, but we let them pick out the hearts and do the gluing.  With close supervision, we even let them put glitter on their cards.  They got pretty excited about that.  :)  I'll take a picture of them this afternoon at class with their cards and post it at a later time.  :)  However, there is one set of pictures I would like to share with you that is one reason that I cannot completely detest Valentine's Day this year.  One of the 6th grade students made me a card and it is quite cute.  I can't really hate the day when I receive little things like this...

Clearly, we need to continue working on their English, but the message is pretty clear.  :)  It made me smile!  They have a hard enough time saying my name, so spelling it is probably as tough, haha... I'm impressed and love the gesture!

So, with only a minimal amount of disgust in my voice, I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.  There.  I said it.  You won't hear it again.  HaHa!

Colors of the Wind

I am continuing my battle with technology.  I've taken a couple videos here and there and am trying to figure out how to post them, haha.  So, I hope this works.  Above is hopefully a video of my 4 year old class.  They are singing the color song that I brought.  It's kinda cute, haha.

I don't have much more to write, but I will tell you about my first experience at a Spanish doctor's office... I pulled a muscle in my neck.  You know, that muscle that doesn't allow you to move your head one way or another without moving your whole body?  That's what I had.  And it was painful.  I wasn't able to sleep, it was just pretty rough.  Anyway, this happened Sunday night.  I went to school Monday and told Isabel about it was questioning what it was like to go to the doctor in Spain.  She basically just made an appointment for me for the next morning.  I went in at 9:00.  And around 9:30, she told me that I needed to come back at 12:05 for my appointment.  So, basically, 9:00 is when I had an appointment to make an appointment.  Make sense?  HaHa  Anyway, I went to school for my 2nd class of the day.  Isabel, in her own nice words, haha, basically said that I looked like hell.  She did not come out and say it rudely in any way, haha, I just said that I hadn't slept and she said, "I can tell."  HaHa... She sent me home to rest for the rest of Tuesday and I went to my appointment at noon.  Stef came with me to be a translator, haha, just in case they asked questions I didn't know how to answer.  Thank heavens she was there!!  I barely said two words, to be honest.  I could understand the doctor decently when he spoke, but I wouldn't have been able to answer him very well.  Anyway, he said he preferred to give me suppositories because they'd work quicker, haha.  I chose to go with oral capsules, haha.  So, he prescribed me some pain medicine and a muscle relaxer that is supposed to help me sleep.  My health insurance doesn't cover prescriptions.  I was concerned about the cost of them when Stef and I went to the pharmacy (chemist, here).  He gave me 40 pain pills and 30 muscle relaxers.  Guess what I paid?  2.50 euros!  That's roughly $3.50.  For ALL of it!  And let me mention that my actual appointment cost me nothing.  It's free here.  SO STRANGE!  But, you will not catch me complaining.  I'm feeling quite a bit better.  My neck is still rather sore, but I can tell the improvement. 

There's my story for this short entry.  I have some things I need to get to, so I'll leave you be!  I hope the video works 'cause it's pretty cute.  If not, I'll try another way at another time.  :) 

BTW, they are saying "Hola/Hello" to all of you at the end of the video.  :)

~Fun in February~

Hola, readers!

It has been super cold lately!! I won't complain because we've had a run of warm weather and I'm hoping it returns! The wind this weekend reminded me of Kansas. It was a bit intense on a few occassions. :) As you know, my source of heat is gas cans. To get a full gas can, I have to sit the empty can outside my door and a man drives around and delivers new ones. He won't stop unless there are cans outside your door waiting for him. I've had a gas can outside my door for a few days now and no one has stopped by. The one in my room just ran out, too, so I'm getting a little bit concerned. I'm surviving right now, but let's hope he shows up soon!

Last Thursday, Joanne and I were told there was a ceremony in the plaza--Candelaria. We were told 8:00, so we met a bit before and waited... and waited... but we weren't really sure what we were waiting for exactly. We met up with friends who explained we were waiting for hot chocolate and cake. We stood outside in the FREEZING cold waiting for a cup of hot chocolate. Had we known, we would've delayed coming out, haha. Well, when it finally came time for the hot chocolate and cake, they opened up the doors to the city hall. There was a MOB of people at those doors. Joanne and I stood in the mob for a few minutes before it became quite overwhelming for me. I had to get out, haha. Without hot chocolate and cake. :) After the hot chocolate and cake, there was a bonfire a few blocks away. We walked to that and enjoyed the heat from the flames. They served free drinks (wine or soda) and popcorn. We arrived after the fire had clearly been burning for a decent amount of time. I'm not sure if we missed something prior to it being lit. While we were there, it just seemed as if the people of the village were surrounding a bonfire with some drinks. I was told it was a religious celebration, but I don't fully understand what exactly. It's an annual thing on the 2^nd of February. And it was quite cozy when we were close to the fire! :) Here are a couple pictures (for those of you who don't have FB):

I'm going to close this brief entry with a music video that I shared on Facebook, but thought I'd share it on here, too. If it doesn't make you smile, then you have no sense of humor. It's a fun video that just makes you wanna dance crazy and have a good time! :) You know you like to sing or dance when you know no one is watching!! This is a good song to do that to. HaHa—I do. :)  Here is the video of Lonely Boy. 

A Month into the 'New Me'--Cheers!

Hello, friends!

I am coming to you from my newly fixed computer! It's a huge relief to have it finally fixed. Now, I can take it to the library and be much more connected to the outside world. :) Here come the blog entries... HaHa, I hope!

I genuinely can't believe it's already February. Time is flying by. I can't decide if it's a good or a bad thing. It's good because the quicker time goes by, the quicker my visitors get here and the quicker I can get to traveling. It's bad because I don't feel like I've done nearly as much as I wanted to by this particular point. Granted, I've had a few financial situations come up that needed tending to, so up to this point, I really couldn't be the world traveler I wanted to be. Now, I'm a little more settled and barring any future falls down the stairs or spills of coffee, I should be pretty set to make a few weekend trips, at least.

As February arrives, I wanted to do an entry updating my progress on my resolutions/confessions. I suppose it's a way to keep myself on the ball and hold myself accountable. 

I'm no closer to finding Mr. Ashley Cook, but that's neither a big deal or of great importance to me at this particular moment. I'm too focused on myself right now that I'm sure if I did see Mr. Right, I would walk right past him. I've done decently at making 2012 about myself.  :) How? Good question. I'm hoping I have a solid answer with credible backing. Firstly, I have booked travel plans. While my move to Spain brought out my desire to travel to places I never would have originally thought possible, I also had to do a little digging internally to make my desires a reality. Making the decision to move overseas was a huge internal battle for me as many of my close friends and family are well aware of. Now that I'm here, you'd think the hard part was over. And for the most part, it is. However, I still have nerves when it comes to traveling to new places, especially when those new places don't speak the same language as I do. So, it's been another personal battle that I have overcome by actually booking the trip(s). That may not sound like much, I suppose, but it's enough for me. It's a rather big step that I am quite proud of.

The toughest resolution that I've had to face is the whole positive thinking, worry less, relax more thing. My computer experience challenged my positivity. Forgetting all the proper documentation for getting my NIE card the first time challenged my positivity. Not getting paid for the first 3 months of working the English clubs challenged my positivity. However, each situation eventually worked itself out and have all been resolved and reinforced that positivity does eventually work out, haha. Although, at the time, I would definitely not be saying the same thing. :)

I have decided that I am going to reapply for a second year. I was always fairly certain I'd reapply just in case. I knew I'd have the opportunity to decline the offer if I figured out this wasn't for me. However, I am reapplying with the idea that I will accept the offer for a second year if they give me the opportunity. There's still paperwork and things that need to be completed and even the possibility that they won't give me a second term, but I'm fairly confident I would get an offer. I don't know all the details and what I would have to do in order to complete the application process again. I believe it's a different process than what I did last year. It's a bit more simple, I think, but I'm not certain. I'm getting in contact with someone who has done this program and even in my village for advice in this area. We'll see what she has to say. :) Second year renewal applicants get first priorty over first year applicants in our particular program. And technically, I could choose to go to another area of Spain. I've thought about that and have decided I am quite content in this little village that I would probably elect to stay here. Nothing is set in stone, of course. I could always change my mind or things just may not work out and that, too, would be fine. Personally, I just feel like I have a lot more to learn. I am not where I thought I'd be in speaking the language and I feel like another year would be vital to my learning. I'd be lying if I didn't say that there were more places I wanted to visit, as well, but that's not the most important thing. I'm much more comfortable that I thought I'd be. I mean, I'll be honest, I had no idea how I was going to react being so far away from everyone and everything I know, but I've done really well. It hasn't been that difficult at all thanks to Skype, honestly. Skype has allowed me to maintain a fairly consisent communication level with my family and that has made being so far away not feel like such a big deal. Now, Dad may not agree with me when I say it's been easier than expected, but he might. He's kind of embraced the Skype thing and I think he really likes it. :) I don't FEEL like I'm thousands of miles away. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that this blog may be my connection to most for the next 18 months instead of 6. We'll see! I'll keep you posted as news comes up in that area.

Some of my extra time has been spent working on things for Clint and I's summer trip. We're trying to work on some of the details that need to be taken care of in advance. We've booked all our flights. We'll only have 6 weeks to travel Europe so we've had to narrow down our list of countries. We've chosen Ireland, Greece, Netherlands (Amsterdam), Italy, and Spain. The bulk of our trip will be in Greece and Spain. Part of our journey in Spain is to experience San Fermin (aka The Running of the Bulls) in Pamplona. Well, hostels and hotels are outrageously expensive for that week in or near Pamplona, so we looked for alternative options. I found an option that we decided to go with. We'll be camping as part of an all-inclusive package in San Sebastian. It's a little over an hour from Pamplona, but the package offers us rides to and from Pamplona daily to participate in all the activities. Our campsite is a 15 minute walk to a fantastic beach on the northern coast of Spain and there is a vinyard on the other side. It comes with tons of amenities... DJ on site, all you can drink for 5 euros/day, warm showers, luggage storage areas (since we'll be traveling, this is a huge deal), among other things... Not to mention, the variety of people we are going to meet at an experience like this... it's going to be so fun! Another highlight of our trip, in Amsterdam, we'll be going to see Pearl Jam. Clint is doing his best in educating me as much as possible via the world wide web. :) I'm not an idiot, but I definitely don't know nearly as much about them as I do about, say, Eminem? :) If any of my readers would like to suggest places to see or things to do in the countries we are visiting, I am open for any suggestions. You can make comments here or e-mail me. We'd love and appreciate any advice, especially if it comes from personal experience. Thanks in advance!!

I've mentioned our English clubs many times. We have one that is a group of 3-5 years olds. We have 9-12 students every day. We've primarily been focusing on introductions (My name is...), colors (I brought in a simple little tune that they love to help them practice their colors), and shapes. Joanne has some fantastic flashcards that combine colors and shapes that have been really helpful. We've also came up with simple little games that we can play outside that seems to really excite them. This week, we are going to start introducing fruits. There are a couple kids that get the rest of the class a little rowdy at times, but for the most part, they are a very good group of kids that are eager to learn. And they get excited about the simplest of things, like stickers. They love getting stickers at the end of the class. Here are a couple pictures from the little ones class:

The other English club that we just started doing is the 6^th grade class. We are supposed to reinforce what they are learning in their English language classes. Currently, we're working on adjectives. This class tends to be a bit rambunctious (is that how you spell that word?). They're really good kids, quite funny. They are the type of students, like most students, that rush through their assignments and hope that they have free time, so we've had to do our best to have activity after activity for them to work on just to keep them semi-quiet. :) When we have class contests, it is nearly impossible to get them to settle down, haha. It's pretty obvious that they are much smarter than they let on sometimes, too. They act as if they don't understand some of the words, but when you ask them a question using that word, they answer properly. They know more than they let on. :) Both clubs have their drawbacks and both have their positive qualities. For the most part, I'm happy we've chosen to take on the 2^nd one. In a few weeks, I'm sure all the kinks will be worked out completely and we'll have established a consistent routine.   A little update in this area... On Monday, the lady that cleans the school checked in on our class when she heard how loud it was.  She went and told some of the other teacher who asked us about it on Tuesday.  I don't want to be the teacher that tattles, but I'm also not going to lie when asked about the situation and I was honest in letting them know that it wasn't the most pleasant of times simply because it's hard to get them to quiet down.  Anyway, we had the class again today and one of the directors of the after school programs came in and gave them a very good talking to.  They now have one more opportunity before it goes to the headmaster.  They were really well behaved today, haha!  :)  It's good to know that we have people to go to if things aren't going well and that it will produce results.  I hope the students don't hate us for too long, haha! 

Alright, I think I've given you a bit of reading material to end the first month of 2012. While time has flown, I am overall quite satisfied with the results of this month and look forward to the next one. I'll speak with you all soon!! ¡BeSoS!