Little Girl, Big World

Hola mi amigos! Just finished my second week of school. The students are hysterical, and very bright. I'm happy to finally move past teaching procedures and routines, and actually start teaching content! We are all exhausted. Thankfully I have a couch in my room. 4th grade was especially tired one day after school. I started tutoring an 8th grader on Mondays and Wednesdays. I don't know why I haven't been a tutor before! She is super sweet, and her family is wonderful. So far, I have celebrated two of my students' birthdays. Birthdays here are a BIG DEAL. Parents come in with gourmet cakes (trust me I can live with that) for the class to share, juice, soda, and if they were allowed, they would bring pizza. Their "Happy Birthday" song is way more exciting than ours! I need to get permission first, but if my parents say it's okay to post pictures/videos of their children, I would love to show you what I'm talking about. A few days ago, during...

Monday, August 3. Day 1: Todd Zukewich starts off the year with a presentation! He and Ms. Gomez gave us a generous amount of time throughout the week to set up our classrooms. I learned that time is never enough! This anxiety driven folder had my schedule and class list inside of it. Teachers were in a sweat yearning for their them! What was only 3 days of waiting felt like much more. I knew I had nothing to worry about since I didn't know any students, but my reality of teaching at EBV truly came to life once I saw the list. q Wherever I go, my name is always spelled wrong! Of course I had it fixed though. It has been a chaotic week, but I have stopped many times to enjoy the things that are right in front of me. I love the way the sunshine comes in, in the morning. I bought this sunflower to brighten this place up, and it seems to be doing a wonderful job :) I can't wait to get more. You can never have too many pool days!! Kristin, Sa...

Hello World! I know there are so many people wondering what in the world I'm doing in South America. Well, I made a promise to myself after I studied abroad that, before I "settle down", I will teach abroad.  So... Because of my unbelievably supportive boyfriend Seth and my family who are worried every minute of the day--and I'm sure even in the middle of the night, I have taken a 5th grade teaching position at Escuela Bella Vista (EBV), an IB American school in Maracaibo, Venezuela. In the middle of my first year of teaching as an ESOL teacher, I applied to all of the international schools that offered positions through my account on ISS. I took this job because of two teachers who have been working at EBV for 5 years. They said three things that made my decision pretty clear:  " Here I actually get to teach , I feel supported in my decisions, and adore working with Ms. Gomez. She is very supportive of our decisions we make as teachers and always open to...