Although the initial return to Mexico was a challenge to say the least, everything seems to have worked itself out. I am now a water-using, key-having, bed-bug free gringa. The past couple of weeks have been non-stop, which to be quite honest, I wasn't expecting. We had orientation for 4 days after my return from Playa del Carmen. I was a "specialist" on ESL instruction which meant that I had to give a workshop on it for all of the foreign staff. UGH. Luckily, my grad school classes were fresh in my mind and I was able to design a very informative and entertaining power point presentation. Things took a turn, however, when the school's power went out approximately 3 minutes before my presentation was set to begin. Really? Baaah. I pulled it together and gave the presentation sans ppt until it turned on 15 minutes later. Perfect timing, Mexico.
After the first week of orientation, I was asked to teach a pre-class for brand spanking new students who may or may not have much English background. 9 students in grades 4-6 came to my class to get familiar with school, school procedures, and basic English. It was a bit of a challenge, especially having it thrown at me the day before, but the kids were fun and it was a good warm-up for the real thing next week. I spent all day yesterday and will be spending the rest of today setting up my classroom, lesson planning for next week, and getting general procedure stuff done. Bring out the coca lights, it's gonna be a loooong weekend...
