yes latin pop.
and we´re back. i´m not sure why all of the sudden this font is large. i wonder if it will publish this way too. likely it´s because, again, i haven´t written in ages. i am now unfamiliar with how blogger works. uysh.
last night i went to a real live pop concert. well maybe it was rock. but really it was spanish heartbreak songs, lots of yelling and singing, dancing, and sneaking in boxes of rum. right. anyway the artista was ricardo arjona, a guatemalan superstar who was touring his new album ¿quien dijo?. it was awesome. picture the stage as a subway station and the beginning of the show as a screeching subway train on the video screens, and arjona entering on a walking sidewalk, evidently, running the opposite way so he walked a long time before he got off it. hA!
great show.
i have had a quiet start to the school year. i think definitely necessary after such an intense summer, but it´s an interesting feeling being back for another year. this morning i was thinking about how i felt at this time last year... and how that honeymoon phase really does fade out into something more realistic. i mean, i love manizales.. but it is now so comfortable and normal. it´s interesting to feel that way about something that seems so exotic to most people.
it has been nice to see everyone again, but the changeover has definitely got to me. we have a small staff, and a lot of them left last year so we have maybe 8 new int´l staff. and they are lovely, but it´s just so wierd that they aren´t who they were last year. in HS we have so many new staff that it´s a totally new environment. i can´t believe that the more consistent colombian staff get used to this much change all the time. i feel affected by it and i´ve only been here a year!
it is great to teach the 10s again - they have a lot of energy and they are smarter than last year! haha. they now know what i expect and are used to me as a teacher so hopefully we´ll be able to do some really cool stuff. the only problem so far is that so many of them think they are still on vacation, and that i teach them usually one of the last 2 periods of the day. ie, party time. it can be frustrating.
the 9s are really lovely. they have lots of catching up to do, and there are a LOT of them (ie, too many for my room... we can´t really move around which blows) but they have a great attitude. gorgona has been postponed until the end of october, but i am really looking forward to getting back to the island. it´s so beautiful.
i am planning an activity for peace one day with a group of students... i think we will end up doing an awareness white-ribbon campaign. i am also hoping to get in touch with and anti-minas (anti-landmines) organization in caldas to see if they can come in and speak. there are high hopes.
also! the musical! for those of you that know any HS or MS kid - you will likely know about the disney hit "high school musical". 100% hilarity - you should check it out and then imagine a bunch of colombian kids putting it on. i am really really excited about it. and about being a hip-hoppy basketball player.
ok off to teach - 2 more classes and i´m living for the weeeeeeeekend.
" 18 motivos pa dejarte, 14 consejos pa olvidar , 500 razones pa odiarte, saco la cuenta ya sumar
... cuándo fue que se fue tu amor ? cómo fue que se fue sin mi?
quíen te besó, lejos de aqui, mientras te invetaba en la cama? quíen te rozó, lejos de mi? quíen te acompaña hasta mañana? cuánto perdí? quíen te ganó? qué hago con este miedo al futuro? saco la cuenta ya restar... hE! " - ricardo arjona - quien.