5-23

we are in loret de mar on the costa brava in spain. we arrived in barcelona 7am about 1/2 hr early. we flew delta and for the first time ever there were no problems. we rented the car and of course we have too much luggage to fit in the trunk...so off we go. there are round abouts everywhere and they can be exilerating! i´ve only taken one picture so that will wait.

the first thing we did after stopping at 2 hotels to find ours was have a massage and a pedicure. the gal working on my feed spoke french and spanish but no english...my feet havent seen tender care for years. she gets out these toenail clippers that looked like giant needle nose pliers. affter a few passes she gets out this dremmel tool and gets a look in her eyes like a deranged dentist. i get the giggles and try not to fart on her (it was a long trip).

after a relaxing massage drenched with aromatic oils we got in the car and began looking for an internet cafe. so here we are 30 hours after we left kansas and still awake and dying. dinner and sleep should put us to rights.

this is a very good sized tourist town. lots of young people who speak french, englisn, german spanish and tons more. i know nothing about the town except the phonecians and others after set up trading forts along the coast. it is like driving from santa monica to san diego in june.

we go to cadaques tomorrow the home of salvatore dali i think. it is a rustic fishing village with a national park around it. don´t know when i´ll get back to you. xxxooo

5-23

so i'm trying to load some pics. cousin barb saved the day. these are the living room - green and the dining room blue

5/22/09

today is the last day of school!!!!! the kids were here for 1/2 day and we had a great lunch and closing ceremony. this is the greatest building to teach in. it is always alot of fun and the kids are always entertaining. we are losing 2 great teachers this year. one, jenny vanderpool, is retiring after 25+ years in math. they had a great buy out package and she took it before they started a new book and math curriculium...smart girl. she is a true christian woman. the other one leaving molly preuss is taking time off to raise her girls. what a fun thing to do. they will be missed.

i am spending my last day cleaning up my room. it looks so lifeless. no kids or fun things on the walls. that's kids in the class and stuff on the walls! we have summer school here and you never know what will sill be here when you return. it was rather anticlimatic to see the 7th and 8th graders off on the busses today. 2 months and they'll be roaring to go again.

i leave for france in 5 days! i still haven't found out how to import a picture. i have 4 days to figure it out. i have the last things to do here then it's home to get the trip ready!

5-2-09

wow it's been a long time...i started the blog but i got stuck in Hindi and had to help my way out. the living room is now a bit of limish green. i cleaned the carpet and had some girlfriends over to help me rearrange the furniture. i moved some of the art around and the furniture. the dining room is done too. now i have to get all the extra crap out and clean up before i leave for france.

we have only 3 weeks of school left. there is alot to do. the jr hi track meet was last week but we got lighteninged out just at the start of the last event - the men's 4x400 relay. i got to supervise the stands. it was fun to watch. these kids are about 12-15 yrs old and can be amazing athletes. i have one week to teach and i'm going to do chinese history. then the following week they start their final. it is a game they design. it must include all the units we studied and be knowledge based. i've had some amazing games over the years.

the last friday of the year there is a big party for the freshmen as a send off to high school. the parents fund and organize it. i'm the liaison for the school. there are inflatable games, food, poker and guitar hero type games. only a few kids aren't able to come. so there will be about 290 there for 4 hours. the dance is a alot of fun. the next week they have 3 1/2 days to finish the year. the last 1/2 day is fun too.

the next wed regina and i leave for france. we have all our accommodations set out, passports and driver licenses. we still need to pack and buy some euros here.

i'll try to post some pics and blog from there. i'm going to try and take some pics of the living room and dining room so i can practice! more later!