I Am...

I saw this on Lisa's blog this morning and decided to follow suit. :) I promise a more detailed update on NYC soon!! :) (As in maybe tonight??)

I am:

Reading… Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. Loving it so far because she is hilarious! Hopefully I can finish it soon and then go see the movie!

Keeping… my sanity while trying to inspire 8th graders to learn Algebra.

Baking… maybe cookies this weekend? We have another Tribes training (the program we are learning about community based classrooms...) on Monday so we will be at school until 6. I think cookies will be essential to everyone's survival.

Watching…all the shows I missed last week. I just started watching The Big Bang Theory because it's on every night here at 5:30. I love this show because the four guys are so incredibly nerdy and lots of their jokes relate to math. :)

Trying… to dance salsa! Kelsi and I started salsa dance lessons Wednesday night and plan on going frequently to improve our skills! Every weekend we conclude Sunday night by saying MUST. LEARN. SALSA. Therefore, we are making it happen. $100.000 pesos ($50 USD) for 36 lessons...hopefully we will be able to hold our own on the dance floor soon!

Making… time for myself. I have had a busy couple of weeks...this weekend I plan on devoting some serious time to my book and the hammock.

Congratulating… Barack Obama on one year in. I cannot believe that one year ago I was voting for the first time in such an incredible election for my country.

Happy Friday friends!

Surprise!!

Finally I can discuss this on my blog!!! :) Haha! So for the past two months I have been planning a trip to NYC to surprise my mom! After lots of planning, I traveled there this past weekend to surprise her!

I had never visited New York City before and my aunt Susie ran in the NYC marathon this weekend, so I really want to go and support her and also see my mom. I ended up flying overnight flights from Cali to Bogota then Bogota to NYC and everything worked out so well! We had an amazing weekend! There are so many more photos and details to come, but for now here is a video of me surprising my mom on Saturday morning at our hotel!

Enjoy!

Trick or Treat

The past few years I have really enjoyed dressing up for Halloween, and this year was no different! :) Here is a little bit from my celebration(s)! Last weekend the teachers at school got together for a Halloween party and I went as a bag of jelly beans! I wanted a creative, fun costume that I could make from things available in Colombia, and this worked out great! I would definitely recommend it for people looking for a fun, simply costume. HOWEVER, I did not realize until I was in the costume that I would not be able to go to the bathroom...so be careful! :)

Jelly beans!

To help people understand my costume...although Jelly Beans does not really translate in Spanish.

Hana (grapes) & me

Kelsi (America (team in Cali) soccer player) & Steph (butterfly)

I am starting to really enjoy the rooftop party here in Colombia. :)

Then on Friday at school we celebrated Halloween at school with a costume context and assembly. All the 8th grade teachers dressed up as Snow White and the 7 dwarves (even though we really only had 6 dwarves!). I loved it and our students thought it was pretty funny too!

Snow White & 7 dwarves

More!

I was Doc...thus the glasses.

Students on stage during assembly to vote for best costume.

Lots of costumes!

One of my students dressed as a "nerd".
7th grade math teacher Rob..actual nerd. :) Actually I loved this costume & was super jealous of his calculator costume making skills!

I hope your Halloween was filled with delicious treats, fun costumes and friends!