today was cool...becky will be the aide once i leave and chuy will be the main teacher again, so she starting today she'll be shadowing/observing/picking up as much as she can to be able to make a smooth transition when i leave. she worked in a day care for awhile so she's great with the preschoolers, which is an area i've always felt like i could use help in. it's great to have her there too because she has the kids' best interests in mind and truly wants to help them, which is always a good thing.

i skyped with two college friends tonight that i haven't talked to in forever. they both are engaged - rachele's getting married in june, and katie in october. i am so so so excited for them! and the weddings are going to be so great with everyone there. gahh!!

the car people came! it was crazy. the whole cul de sac was full of old cars, and some of them were crazy. they bounced up and down, went up on 3 wheels...fun stuff. they were some pretty rough looking guys, and it was interesting to watch them as our kids came out. it was a beautiful picture after awhile though...everyone hanging out together, talking about cars!

teddy making the car go up and down...

we took marcos, ruben, pilar, nene, josue, and victor to the circus tonight. kind of glad to be done with that haha. they all loved it, minus a couple minutes at the beginning of every show. the people there were so nice and hospitable...tonight they just waved us in and let us do our thing, front and center. i'm happy we got to take so many kids, though...i feel like every kid should get to go to the circus at least once in their life.

miss nene! she would go from being scared and burying her face in my shoulder to making me clap with her and yelling 'BRAVO!' at the top of her lungs. it's never a dull moment with this girl!

we went to the circus tonight! alex, tonio, teddy, sergio, jaime, becky, and ted and renie's daughters were there. it was fun. becky and i tried to warn them that the music was really loud, and there were some scary parts. teddy and tonio got really serious and started asking questions like, but it's still safe, right? i'm still going. are you still going? i'm going. i'm not scared.
well the music started and tonio made a mad dash for the exit...alex jumped a foot out of his chair and teddy got this terrified look on his face. sergio just laughed hysterically, and jaime didn't understand what was going on. after a couple minutes outside tonio was fine and came back in. teddy loved it and laughed hysterically the whole time. alex and tonio weren't quite sure what to make of it, but by the end they decided they had a great time. a success!

take number 25 of the night...he never actually looks at the camera. but I LOVE THIS CHILD. sometimes it's hard for me to play with him because i have to realize that one day, very soon, i won't be able to walk out of my apartment and see his little fingers reach for the window as i walk by...or hear him say mama when he sees me...or watch him roll as fast as he can to get to me when i come into the room...ahhh.

amazed at something.

so excited!

front row seats!

tomorrow after church the classic car guy is (FINALLY) coming! then we're taking nene, pilar, josue, ruben, marcos, and jose to the circus. it will be another fun day!

a group from reality church that came awhile ago painted this sign...i don't think i've posted it yet. it's so springy!

today was the first day of school since friday...it was a little rough for marcos, but the rest of the kids did pretty well.
it looks like becky will be continuing with school once i leave, which will be awesome. she's going to start shadowing me on monday...i'm excited that someone who wants to help the kids will be around when i leave.
today for snack we had pretzels, which people don't eat here. i haven't seen them in any store, ever. the kids were asking what they were, and i explained that they don't have a spanish name because no one really eats them, so i just called them crackers. marcos looks at them for awhile, and very profoundly says, they're hearts. of salt. salt hearts. hahaha he cracks me up!

i just got really sad to leave this place.

i worked on lesson plans and did random things around the apartment all day. literally...i got up and got to work, stopping to eat and bake banana bread hahaa. i didn't see any of the kids all day, and after dinner i went down the street to buy newspapers for something we're doing in class tomorrow.
on my way back, i was walking down to my house when pilar yells my name and runs toward me, her arms wide open. i gave her a hug and then she ran back to keep playing. and then i passed the boys' room where jaime sleeps right next to the window. i said hi to him and he reached his hand out to touch mine through the window screen and started laughing. well of course i had to go in and play with him for a little bit, so i did, but it was so hard to not cry. daaang. i didn't think i would be like this. hopefully the month i have left will help me get more and more used to the idea...

eliseo and i went back to el mirador tonight...but this time with cameras. so pretty. this is level with the ocean, and then later we drove up...

...to see the city from above!

later at night. i had mole for the first time tonight at with eliseo's family...it's a sauce that goes over chicken that's sweet and spicy at the same time. not bad; it had a nice kick!

guess where we went tonight...THE CIRCUS! first time the sisters had ever been...it was so awesome.

we were the first ones in and got to watch them set up. they put us in the very front row! the guy in charge came by while we were waiting and goes, 'where are the rest of the kids?' i explained how they didn't fit in the van, but that we'd be back later in the week with more. he was so nice and hospitable...he said anytime, whenever, just come, and bring everyone!

ely laughed the whole time. no joke. here's a video. it was awesome...i think i watched her more than the circus!

he's from the dr!