Living, Teaching, and Investing Internationally!: Everyday's an adventure!

This week has been really long and really quick all at once!

We continued our Visa process and had to go to a clinic/hospital/I can't really explain it. We spent almost our entire Monday in the medical place and were only originally supposed to be there for a few hours. I had to pee in a cup (afterwords some nice Bolivian men kindly let me know my zipper was undone :/) see a doctor, get my teeth checked by a dentist, and have an x-ray of my chest taken. I met all the standards of Bolivia and was checked off as a healthy lady! I also found out I have lost about 8 pounds since I have been here, the girls and I have labeled it as the missionary diet :)

This week at school went well. The students have now warmed up to me and the idea of being back at school, therefore their true behaviors have come out! I had to make some minor adjustments to the behavior plan I have in place, but they responded well and have definitely improved! I have been overwhelmed by differentiated instruction and after reviewing the levels of the kids they range from 2nd grade to about 5th. It is crazy the difference, not because they are not bright, but it all falls on the amount of English they speak. It is a crazy and overwhelming job to take on but I can already see the struggles and learnings making me into a better teacher! After talking to one of my students parents this weekend I learned I have my 4th graders stamp of approval and respect. I will take that as a great victory!

I am looking forward to really diving into our routines and curriculum this week! We are studying life science and I am chilling a jello mold for an animal cell this very moment! There are definitely days I wish I were back in college and just talking about the possibility of teaching, but when I look back at the week it is worth the struggles and tears!
Here are some pictures of my classroom! Its a little messy still, but things are really coming together!