Rocking that *International* Paradise

Sometimes, entertaining things happen in my classroom.  Usually the stories are not long enough to merit an entire blog post, so I’m going to group a few of them together here to share them. I've started something new before homeroom every morning.  I’m using my resources (in this case, a classroom full of native Spanish speakers) wisely.  The kids are allowed in my room at 7:45, but homeroom doesn't technically start until 8:05am.  So I've told them that from 7:45-8:00, my room is now a Spanish-only zone.  It’s great.  I get to practice Spanish.  My students get to teach me something.  AND they get to laugh at my accent, pronunciation, and grammar mistakes.   The kids love it.  The second morning I did this, my homeroom increased in size by a third…all of my other students heard about the new experiment and came in to marvel at the “amazing Spanish-speaking English teacher.”  Now, one of my homeroom k...

I need to have more days like today.  Our excursion to the Toro Negro Forest today was the perfect mix of activity, adventure, natural beauty, and tranquility.  Robert and Sonja picked me up just after 8am today, and by 9:30am, we were parked at the Toro Negro Forest and ready to embark on our hike up El Bolo Trail to the watchtower.  (Quite a different travel time than when we went to Toro Negro the first time, which you can read about in this post !)   Traveling with Robert and Sonja, in some ways, feels to me like going on a family vacation when I was a child.  Now, before anyone misinterprets what I mean to imply about my relationship with the two of them, let me explain.  When I was a little girl, sitting in the back seat and ready for a car trip, I always knew that Mom and Dad knew exactly where we were going, that we’d see everything worth seeing along the way, and that it’d be a great time, because they had a plan and knew what they...

I love the San Blas Half Marathon in Coamo, PR.  LOVE it.  If I had the resources to make an annual trip to PR in February each year after this one, I probably would, just for this race.  The crowd and festive atmosphere in Coamo make running the race so enjoyable and worth it. Let’s backtrack a bit, before I get into my experience yesterday.  Last year, I went into the medio maratón unprepared for what I was about to face.  This year, I was determined to train hard and intelligently and come out with a better time.  I resolved to follow an actual training program (rather than running 3-4 days a week with one long run, as I did last year), and I made sure my long rungs included as big a hill as I could manage in Guayama.  At the end of November, training was going great .  In the two races I ran in the fall (a 5K and a 5 mile), I set personal records.  I was on top of the world, sure that not only would I beat last year’s time, maybe ...

The day finally arrived.  I’d read great reviews of the caving adventure offered by Aventuras Tierra Adentro, and I’d stalked their website, and paged through tons of photos, and I was PUMPED to go on the tour.  And last Saturday was the day.  And it lived up to expectations. From the moment our bus pulled up at the meeting spot in San Juan at 5:45am (yes, that meant leaving Guayama at 4:30 in the morning on a Saturday), I sort of felt like I’d been transported out of Puerto Rico.  Simply put, this company has their sh** together.  It’s not that most tourism companies in PR don’t …but I had never experienced the level of professionalism, organization, and technology that this company uses.  The guides, Hannibal and Rossano, hopped out of the bus (literally—bounded with high energy) and greeted all of us.  After we’d checked that everyone was present, Rossano rolled out the red carpet to the bus (I’m not kidding), and we boarded to the...