Rocking that *International* Paradise

About two months ago, I decided to sign up to run the San Blas Half Marathon in Coamo, PR on Feb. 5 th .   Since then, I’ve gotten back on a running schedule—running 3-4 (okay sometimes 2-3) times per week, with one “long” run of 6 miles per week. Today, though, the REAL training begins.   I am back on a schedule, my long runs are about to start increasing in distance each week (7 successful miles tonight), and I’m even going to start some speedwork once a week. It feels good to know I need to hold myself accountable again.   My goal for this half marathon is 2 hours or under.   It’s ambitious, seeing as that would mean besting my time from my first (and only) half by almost 8 minutes.   But I’m told it’s possible, if I work at it.   So…now’s the time I need to be held accountable. Starting today, the diet is changing (okay, maybe after today…I may have dug into the Halloween candy that no trick or treaters came to take off my hands), the workout regimen is changing, and my outlook

As students started to trickle into my room this morning, and I fought to keep my composure and an appearance of a sunny disposition, I caught the lyrics “All is not lost” drift out of my speakers.  I paused to listen to the song.  Had I really just heard correctly?  I had to smile at the irony, because at that moment, it truly seemed that all WAS lost…all of my school files, anyway. Let me go back about half an hour, to when I arrived at school.  As I attempted to open my USB drive to pull up the morning’s vocabulary words and quizzes, the usual error message popped up: “There might be a problem with some files on this disc.  This can happen if you remove the device or disc before all files have been written to it.  Scan and fix?”  (I never bother to properly eject my USB disc; therefore this message comes up every time I plug it back in).  This morning, I decided to be extra careful.  I checked the 2 nd box in the error message  which said something about fixing corrupt files afte

I don't have any very exciting stories to tell about last Saturday when I made yet another visit to Old San Juan; it was a pleasant afternoon and evening sightseeing.  But I wanted to share some of my pictures.  Enjoy! Castillo San Cristobal--the second fort in Old San Juan (All of the following pictures are of the same place) Wind blowing in the wrong direction... Flags of the US, Puerto Rico, and Spain of old

Weekends in San Juan tend to be good, despite mishaps.   I’m sensing a pattern here.   Nothing goes completely according to plan with us, but we end up having the time of our lives anyway. Last weekend, the PLAN was this: -Leave Guayama at 10am.   -Spend 2 hours tops at Plaza las Americas (the gigantor mall in San Juan) -Spend the afternoon lounging by the pool or on the beach at the El San Juan Resort and Casino -Dress nicely and eat a quality dinner -Dress to impress and go to Brava (free entrance and short lines since we were staying at the resort where the club is housed) -Sleep until check-out time -Sunday afternoon: undecided.   Pool, beach, or sightseeing. -Run/walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K at 5pm. -Return to Guayama. Nothing goes completely according to plan. First, as we pulled out of Guayama at 10:30am (our usual half hour behind schedule), it began to rain.   The rain continued all afternoon…giving us an excuse to spend not 2, but 4-5 hours at the mall.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The first marking period is complete.   I have officially survived the first 25% of my first year as a teacher.   My students have as well, though some of them not with the grades they were maybe hoping for.   There have been rocks and hard patches—hard weeks.   But I’ve also had good moments and memories that make it worth it.   Here are some of those good moments: -My 8 th grade students made visual aids to go along with their autobiographical speeches.   Some of them turned out really well!   And now my room has some life to it.   -I got a projector, and have been making GOOD use of it daily! -When I passed out the last book orders, many of my 7 th graders ordered the 2 nd and 3 rd books in The Hunger Games trilogy, since we won’t be reading them in class.   I’m so glad I’ve got them hooked on the series !   -Last Friday, my eighth graders scored their first 46/50 on their self-evaluation of how timely, orderly, focused, on-task, and accurate th

Yesterday was my 24th birthday!  The day passed nicely; each class sang to me (both in English and in Spanish) at the beginning of every class period, which generally made me blush.  I told most classes that the perfect birthday present would be for them to be quiet and attentive all hour.  I'm not sure how much effect this really had.  Oh well. In the evening, Kelsey and I took leftover cake and ice cream over to Rachel's to watch a movie and grade papers (oh, the lives of teachers).  (Sunday was Kelsey's birthday, and therefore the day of our big celebration for both of us--we made a castle-shaped cake decorated with candy, ordered pizza, and watched the Raiders play the Patriots on TV; hence the leftover cake and ice cream).  It was a peaceful (and moderately productive!) way to pass the evening. Too many parentheses in that last paragraph.  Apologies. Last summer, before I left for Puerto Rico, several people asked about care packages/sending school supplies.  As