inch by inch life's a sinch.

I feel like I constantly have nursery rhymes, silly songs, or “finger plays” stuck in my head. Life of a preschool teacher?

Anyway…this past week has been both great and sad. As many of you know, my grandmother Audrey passed away. Of course we have been “preparing” (if there is such a thing) for this to happen….but it has been difficult to deal with being so removed and far away from my family. My close friend (from AK), Kime, was here and that was really helpful to have someone close to me here. My mom called with the news while we were sitting at the Mediterranean and of course this was a perfect spot to have a moment for Grandma considering how much she loved the water and especially the Mediterranean. I am very sad for my dad and his family. but I suppose we can also be relieved that Grandma is in a more comfortable place. I am going to miss her and her quirkiness so much.

On to a more positive note… as I mentioned, Kime was here and also her family friend Zack. It was really good to have them here and to show someone my life here. Kime was so excited to see that I knew people walking around town, to find me drinking coffee in the teachers lounge, and to see me really living life in Spain. She and Zack made me feel good about being here and assured me that Motril is not quite as ugly as I think it is. We didn’t get to do a whole lot because unfortunately it was our FIRST two days of cloudy/rainy weather but I showed them the beach, the town (not much to see), my school and some good tapas places. Then we were off to Granada for a couple of days, which of course is always great!

This past weekend was my roommate Meg’s birthday so we had a reunion here in Motril with some other teachers; we had a nice birthday dinner and then went out to celebrate. It was really fun. The rest of the weekend we laid low because we have all been sick with colds (are teachers EVER 100% healthy? This worries me….)

Last week and this week have been much better at school. This week I am doing Halloween activities (see pictures above – soo cute!!) which has been really fun. Most of the kids know about Halloween in the US from movies and apparently they also celebrate a bit here in Motril. We have been making haunted houses and masks, which they all love. With the little little ones I taught them a “pumpkin pumpkin on the ground” song… but I was happy to know that they all LOVED my “wheels on the bus go round and round” song and game last week! (I had them all put their chairs as if we were in a bus, I was the driver of course, and “only English” was allowed on the bus. They loved it -- I felt good about doing something right – for once.)

I am off to Barcelona tomorrow for the long weekend!! (Monday is some random holiday…) Since I bought a Eurail pass to get to Madrid from Paris I got my ticket for 10 euro and it usually costs about 100. I’m taking the night train so I will have four full days there! I am staying with a friend from Clark, Cassie, who is teaching there so I am really excited to see her and her life in Barcelona!

Love to everyone. I miss all of you muchisimo!