Rocking that *International* Paradise

It’s getting to be that time!  The seniors graduated last Friday, the 8 th graders will graduate this coming Friday, and I’ve been busy at school packing up the classroom.  But outside of school, my time in PR is coming to an end too, and last weekend was one of doing things “one last time.”  Friday night after the graduation ceremony, we girls threw Sonja a little bachelorette party.  Nothing major or crazy—just a crown and a wand, a game of Cranium, and a night out on the town.  We had a great time.  And though it was not really Sonja’s “one last fling before the ring,” as we all know she and Robert have many, many great nights out ahead of them, it was probably my last night out in Guayama, and my last time at the places we stopped at.  The bachelorette!  Sunday, because we had a day off on Monday for Memorial Day, Kelsey and Kezia and I traveled north to spend one last night at Da House in Old San Juan.  We spent ...

There is something inherently sad (in my opinion) about taking posters down off the walls.  This week marked the last days of class at school.  Students took their last final exams yesterday.  There will be two graduation ceremonies, and time in our classrooms to make ready for the summer, and then we’ll be done.  And we’ll go.  I’m sitting in my classroom, staring at empty, bare walls.  The room looks shabbier without the student work and the posters and the quotes brightening up the space.  And emptier.  It feels empty in here, and I don’t like it.  After several long weeks of students bouncing off the walls (sometimes literally) and me leaving school exhausted after the effort of keeping them on task, today, I miss them already.  I would like, right now, to hear shouts of “Valla pupii!” (whatever that means) and “u mad bro?” and “Qué ready!”  I wouldn’t even mind supervising a rambunctious play fight or two.  I al...

Your last official day of English class is this week.  I hope by the time you´re reading this, we haven’t seen each other for the last time, but for some of us, maybe we have.  For a lot of you, you’ll probably see me out running once or twice more.  Or maybe you’ll be at one of the graduation ceremonies coming up, and I’ll see you there.  I hope you haven’t already made me laugh for the last time.  Thank you all, for making my time at your school exciting, entertaining, wonderful.  All of you were the reason I looked forward to coming to work every day.  And all of you are the reason I’m so sad to be leaving. We shared countless games of silent ball.  You earned tons of tallies, and the phrase, “Callense!  It’s TOOTSA!” was common some days.  If you were in my homeroom, you humored me by speaking to me in Spanish in the morning and deciphering what I was trying to say when I responded in Spanish.  During class, you strugg...

Our trip to Culebra last weekend was great because of the people who were there.  I look back on my pictures from the weekend (and I took a lot of them), and although there are some that really showcase how beautiful the beaches were, most of them are of people.  People laughing, talking, making funny faces.  My friends and I having a truly good time.  We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the little island of Culebra because we had a 3 day weekend (so why not?).  Robert and Sonja flew over with the cooler, and the other four of us took the early ferry and met them by 11:00am on Friday.  We had one hotel room that slept six and one Jeep (which seated 5, but one person sat in the back on a beach chair).  Our days consisted of a grocery stop, the afternoon on a breathtaking beach, showers and relaxing at the hotel before dinner, dinner and drinks and laughter until nightfall.  Repeat.  But of course there were stories.  Here...