Happy November!

Although it feels like June here. Today is rainy and cool, which is a very nice change of pace. Of course if the sun comes out it will become sticky and steamy, but for now it feels great!

My students were so excited when we started calendar time, and they saw a blank calendar with a new month at the top (we add the days as we go). I do love the enthusiasm of kindergarteners. We're learning "to" and "the" as sight words, so now whenever I write one on the board they all yell "the!" or "to!!" and make me circle it. Ben, one of my only English speakers, told me today that he was "mostly six, and just a little bit five" (his birthday is coming up at the end of the month). Okay, I'll admit it...kinder is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact I really love every single one of my students. I'm not saying I ever want to teach kinder again, but I am enjoying it (for this year).

I don't know if I'm getting fewer bug bites, or just getting used to having them. They're so mysterious...I wake up with new ones all the time. They're mostly on my legs and ankles...a few on my arms. I don't think they are all mosquito bites, but I don't really want to think about what the alternative would be. It really does help them go away faster if you don't scratch, but sometimes I just can't help it! Depressingly, they also seem to be scarring too. My legs are such a mess. So much for vanity.

Tomorrow is Todos Santos (All Saint's Day) so we have a holiday from school. It's quite a party. A carnival is set up right outside the cemetery (we go by it on the way to school every morning) and all the micros change their routes to go by it. The idea is, I guess, to go and decorate the graves of all your ancestors, and then go to the carnival to celebrate. I'm not sure if they're celebrating the lives of their ancestors or what, but it seems like a lot of fun.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post...it hasn't been working, so I'm giving up for now. I'll try to post some more next week. Thanks to those who have emailed. I was pretty homesick last weekend, but am feeling much better this week (it helps to be busy).