A Typical Day

I thought I would start with a typical day, and then anything outside of that can be BIG news and get it's own post.

A typical day starts at 5:20 when the alarm clock goes off. Now comes the difficult process of getting out of bed. Rafa does not have to leave the house until 8:00 and being the first one out of bed is difficult. At some point in the next thirty minutes I will finally leave the bed and head for the bathroom. What follows is all the normal bathroom stuff, then breakfast, etc. At 6:30 I am heading down stairs to the basement to fire up my motorcycle (or the lawn mower with two wheels as my brother calls it). She (the motorcycle) and I will travel though the streets to school. This ride is relaxing and pleasant before 6:15 and stressful after 6:30 when the rest of the city is trying to get their children to school on time: running late is a constant state of affairs here in Barranquilla.

School begins with turning on the computer and getting organized. I am struck lately with how much time I actually spend everyday sitting in front of the computer. It seems to have become an integral part of nearly all parts of my life. The first bell rings at 7:30 and in comes 8A for homeroom. They are a lively bunch but respectful when reminded and generally very pleasant and fun. We have been talking about drug use lately in homeroom and we are both learning lots of things. I teach 90 minute blocks, between two and three per day. Classes are lively and the time passes quickly. During planning periods I try to be productive and grade papers but it is often difficult with the lure of fun computer projects like video editing, updating web-site and setting up new and exciting Blogs.

When the bell rings at 2:30 I sit down at my desk and begin to clear away the random piles of paperwork which have accumulated throughout the day. On Mondays and Fridays a student comes for tutoring and from Tuesday to Thursday I grade and catch-up before leaving for my ESL classes. I am working with a great group of adults who all work for Children International. We are working on conversation and I am able to use my training from last years on-line course (ESL Specialty Part I). ESL classes finish at 5:30 and then it's to the house briefly to say hello to Rafa who is even more briefly in the house. We catch up on the day, he goes out the door to the park and I (on a good day) go out the door to the gym.

At around 8:30 it's home again and to sleep almost immediately. It's not the most exciting life but I have come to enjoy it. It's become home.

to see more about what's happening at school check out my new toy: www.msjuliasenglish.com