My buddy Ike.....

I'm sure at this point, all of us remember that wonderful little Hurricane named Ike that hit Texas last weekend. Well, luckily the remnants of him came through up and through Louisville on Sunday, which was.....well, interesting. I went for a run that morning and noticed that it was a bit more windy than normal.....and then it picked up more.

It was kind of crazy at one point: I saw clouds moving both East and North at the same time. I know, some of you will say, "Yeah, that's called Northeast." But it wasn't!! Some clouds were actually heading straight East, while others were headed due North. It was odd, to say the least.

As the wind picked up throughout the day and the dark clouds came, lots and lots of trees were came crashing down. Power-lines quickly followed and the next thing we knew, 300,000 people were without power. I can remember going out to see if anything was open and three of the major streets around me were all cut off at some point either due to a fallen tree (over a four-lane road!!) or due to power-lines down. A house near me had it's patio crushed by a huge tree in their front yard and sadly, just two houses down, another house had a giant tree simply resting on the roof. Ironic.

Well, it's now four days later and I am still without power. I am still without power and we haven't had school all week! We'll see if that changes tomorrow. Even though we don't have power, we still have a literacy conference today at 1 pm....in the dark. Awesome.

I hope you're enjoying the electricity wherever you are.....

God Bless

My New Home.....

And so, a month later, I finally blog about this new place. I have to admit, I'm really starting to enjoy Louisville! I've officially been here around four weeks and it's really starting to grow on me. There are some beautiful parks and two of them are near-by, giving me some nice places to run. I also like Bardstown Road, which has a bunch of restaurants. I've even found a pub to watch footy matches at on the weekends!!

To add to this fun, I've started school and we just made it through our first full week, which was a bit crazy, but luckily it's over (and followed by a three day weekend: awesome)....but I will post more on that later.

I'm also a soccer coach. But again, more on that later.

Today I actually volunteered at the Ironman Triathlon here in The Ville. It was a lot of fun!! Roughly 2,500 people decided to try and swim 2.4 miles, bicycle 112 miles and then run 26 miles. While this doesn't exactly sound like the way I'd like to spend a Sunday, I have to admit I was pretty impressed with some of the folks I saw. There were people of all shapes, sizes and age ranges (I saw from 18 to 63).

My job consisted of standing in front of a bump on the course (near where they get off their bikes and then change into running clothes before running the marathon). For 3.5 hrs I said, "Be careful! Watch the bump! Watch the lip!!! and just for fun, when a Spanish speaking participant rode by, "Cuidado!". They'd smile.

There was also a dude with an Iowa Hawkeye jersey on and I cheered for him as he went by. My friend said that he smiled and actually looked back (were we going to have a conversation during the race? I mean, I'm all for chatting about the Hawks, but he still has a ways to go).

Anywho, needless to say, I'm enjoying The Ville.

God Bless

My New Job.....

Well, I know it's been a while and I haven't told you yet (here at least), but it's official....I finally got a job!!!

Okay, truth be told, I've had the job for two weeks now, but I wanted to finish the Road Trip series before posting it (and I was struggling to finish that.....so that's the delay).

I will be teaching 4th Grade at The Louisville Collegiate School in Louisville, KY. Yes, that's right, I'm staying in the States! I know, I know, some folks are going to be really excited (mom, dad) and others might be a bit disappointed (you know who you are), but I'm excited about this opportunity.

The school is a beautiful little private school in a nice neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. There are only three classes in the entire Fourth Grade, each having around 15 students. I will be responsible for teaching Math, Language Arts and Social Studies, which is an exciting prospect (considering Science is my weakest area).

School starts on August 21 and I have so much to do!! If you'd like to check out my new school, the website is now a link on the side. Check it out!

Dios te bendiga

My Springs of Colorado (Final installment of My Road Trip 2008)

After leaving Albuquerque, I ventured up to Colorado Springs to hang out with my buddy Shaun, who I worked with in Venezuela. He had been hired to work at a new school up there and it was close to his family, so he pounced on the opportunity. Shaun was hanging out while his wife Susan was visiting her family and friends in California and Nevada, so I went to keep him company for a few days.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park, home of the Rapids

I arrived on a Saturday and was really, really excited because Shaun and I were going up to Denver to catch a MLS game, the Rapids vs Houston. I absolutely loved the stadium and the surrounding area was really nice, however our game ended in the infamous 0-0 draw that all soccer fans dread.

Coors Park

Then on Sunday I asked if we could go catch a Rockies game. They were in town playing the Mets and I know that Shaun loves baseball, so I thought it would be fun. It had been years since I attended a MLB game (I think the last one was an Oakland A's game that my dad and I went to 14 years ago), but I was excited. Again, the stadium was stunning and we had great seats, but sadly, the Rockies lost to the Mets and I was officially banned from Rockies games for the rest of my life.

It was then Monday and Shaun asked me what I wanted to do. I had been seeing the stunning views of the Rockies for the past couple of days, so I asked Shaun if he would take me up to the top of Pike's Peak. Shaun obliged and he drove me up to the top of the mountain, passing through many beautiful scenes and some pretty sweet views.

Myself atop Pike's Peak

Sadly though, on Tuesday I decided to head back to Iowa. I had been away for a while and still needed to find a job, so I ventured back. I took the long route, driving through eastern Colorado (kind of flat, not really exciting), Kansas (which was much more beautiful than I was expecting) and Missouri, where I hit a nasty thunderstorm (I honestly couldn't see 5 feet in front of me, but I still didn't pull over!) and finally into Iowa.

Overall, I had an amazing road trip! I went through 11 different states and was able to visit some places for the first time. I hope that I have a chance to do something similar next year, but time I need a co-pilot and I need to venture off to another part of the States!

My Week with Pops (Part IV of My Road Trip 2008)

So I left Austin very early on a Friday morning and started the 12+ hour journey to Albuquerque to spend some time with my dad. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to make it in one day, but I left around 6 am and crossed my fingers.

Now I'm notorious for making many, many stops when driving, especially if I have a beverage with me. Luckily though, I made it four hours without stopping! I almost shocked myself really.

Secondly, I don't know how many of you have ever driven through Western Texas before, but if you have a long way to go, I don't recommend it. At first, it was great, different scenery, desert everywhere, rolling hills and some plateaus. But after about two hours......it gets really, really, really painful and boring. It got sooooo bad, that I actually changed my route! I decided to come up through Carlsbad, Artesia and Roswell, NM....places that my dad and I went to many, many times as a kid. For instance, once Dad and I spent an entire day (maybe two, I'm not sure, I think I've blocked out part of this memory) in SW New Mexico, searching for the grave of Billy the Kid....which is the source of a legend in itself.

Luckily (and probably with a little divine intervention) I made it to Albuquerque in a day. Awesome. The next day, dad decided he wanted to try and kill me, so we went on a "short" hike up the mountain to search for a plane that crashed 50 years ago. We had tried this same trip 15 years ago, with no luck (I think the end result was me crying in a fit because I was standing and thought I was lost in the woods....again, another memory I've blocked out). He said that he had been there at least 3 or 4 times since that experience.....and that he now knew the way.

Well.....three hours later, many lost calories and lots of rest breaks, we finally found the plane. Score!!!

Sunday was Father's Day and I told Dad that I would go anywhere he wanted....anywhere. Just think of a place he wanted to go and check out and we would do it. At first, we were heading to Taos to check out a museum, but then, he changed his mind and went into classic Larry & Bill mode:

"Bill, have you ever heard of the VLA?"

my response: "The VL-what?"

"It's a bunch of radio-telescopes out in the desert on the Plains of San Jacinto west of Socorro. I've wanted to go for a while, but no one is willing to go."

That said--I'm in. We ventured to the VLA or Very Large Array, located about 40 miles west of Socorro, NM. It was about a two hour drive south of Albuquerque and into the desert. And again, it will go down in the lore that is the Larry & Bill New Mexico trips. Right up there with the search for the tomb, The Lava Tubes, Climbing Sandias, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde and my personal favorite, the giant rock that lots of people wrote there names on....including Spaniards when they came up from Mexico (I think it's called El Morro, but I'm not sure).

The VLA wasn't too bad. It was a bunch of giant radio telescopes, which look like satellite dishes) in the middle of the desert. They are shaped in a "Y" so that they can provide a better resolution. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside one of the telescopes, but we did get to stand pretty close. Good times.

The VLA

After that, we headed back to Albuquerque. To be honest, it was a lot of fun. We spent the rest of the week hanging out, watching movies and playing golf. It was a ton of fun and I really enjoyed it. It was also great to go back to the city that I used to live in and to relive some of the fond memories I have of there.

However, by Saturday it was time to run, with Colorado Springs the next destination.

Dios te bendiga

My Austin City Limits (Part III of My Road Trip 2008)

As I awoke in my sweet, sweet bed at the Tex Inn, I knew that I had plenty of time on my hands. My friend didn't get off work until 5:00 pm and it would only take me six hours to drive to Austin, so I took my time and cruised through eastern Texas and into the southern part of the giant.

One thing that shocked/disappointed me: it seems as though Dallas and the areas around it are just one giant strip mall. Am I alone in this thought? Am I alone in being disappointed by this? It's almost as if Dallas has opted not to clean-up/develop the inner parts of the city, but instead have allowed it to spread uncontrollably across the landscape, ruining what could be some nice scenery?

Well, luckily I escaped Dallas and made my way to Austin. On the way, I passed probably the town with the worst reputation in the state, if not the US in general: Waco, TX. Is there a town with a worse reputation? I mean, think about it: If you're a random cult or a little odd in the religious department, what better location than Waco!

Okay, enough Texas bashing (for now). I got to Austin with plenty of time and then walked around downtown a bit. I really enjoyed being in the city and being able to wander a bit. We had dinner that night and then walked around a bit.

Me and a sweet statue

The next night we went kayaking on the river with some International students, which was a lot of fun. The last time I was kayaking was in Egypt, so I enjoyed being out on the water again. We saw some sweet turtles and were yelled at by some serious crew teams (rowers). One woman even screamed, "You just lost me 40 seconds!!!" Hilarious.

The International crew

On Thursday night, we had a sweet game of footy with the Internationals. Now if I've every spoken to you about footy with Internationals before, you'll know where I'm going. Unfortunately, everyone wants to be a forward or to try and score goals, which can be very, very frustrating. That leaves myself and anyone else I can convince to play defense, which drives me nuts (because it turns out to be four of them vs. two of us....every time!).

Friday was to be my last day. I got up early and began my 13.5 hour trek to Albuquerque. A long, long road ahead.

Good-bye to the Capital of Texas.

My Journey through the South (Part II of My Road Trip 2008)

I got up very early after the wedding, had some breakfast with friends and then made my way to Lexington, KY to hang out with my buddy Mike and his wife Lianne for a day. Unfortunately, they had some plans that day, but luckily I was able to tag along to the BBQ. I was exhausted, but I had a good time at the party and enjoyed spending some time with them.

The next day I rolled out of bed and drove to Louisville, where I met a new friend for lunch. I enjoyed a tasty lunch at Panera, was given a couple of sweet CDs and then began my journey south to Texas. Now I knew that I wouldn’t get to Austin in one day, but I wanted to get as far as I could.

As with any road trip, loud music and windows down are a must. I cruised through the rest of Kentucky and then flew through Tennessee as well. I loved driving through these states! The trees and the rolling hills were absolutely beautiful and it would have been nice to be able to go to a park and enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery. But alas…..I had driving to do.

All was going well…..until I hit Arkansas. Now this was the first time I had been to Arkansas and to be honest, it will probably be my last! After cruising through the hills/forest of Tennessee….I crossed the bridge in Memphis and in front of me was nothing but flat farmland. I honestly thought I was going to fall asleep due to sheer boredom…..but luckily I stayed awake.

And then…..I hit Little Rock…..which is when the rain came. I could see the storm clouds building on the horizon and I knew something was up. I thought I had moved past the worst…..but it just kept raining and raining and raining. Finally, when I thought that it was about to stop….it rained some more! For the next four hours it rained on me and at times I couldn’t see anything more than the lines on the road and the tail lights in front of me.

When I started the day, I wanted to make it to Texarkana, TX by the end of the day and luckily, around 9 pm, I made it to Texarkana. However, when I made it there, due to the pounding rain and apparently the college orientation day, all the hotels were full…even the Super 8 and Motel 6! So I called my friend Andrea and I continued on. As we were chatting, I keep driving and driving and after 10 minutes, made it to New Boston, TX and I stopped at the lovely Big Tex Inn, which was just as amazing as it sounds (including a hobbit-like shower-where the shower head hit me in the chest). Good times.

My Buddy's Kentucky Wedding (Part I from My Road Trip 2008)

I arrived back in the States almost two weeks ago…..and I have yet to really post anything on here. Well, now that’s about to change with a lot of posts…..all in a span of a couple of days. Currently I am on my Road Trip for 2008….which, to be honest, is a really, really long one! Here goes:

Last Friday (June 6th), I took off very early in the morning to head for Louisville, KY for my buddy Richard’s wedding. Richard and I worked together at Blank Park Zoo and we have been friends since high school. He and his amazing wife, Sarah got married last Saturday (June 7th) at a beautiful Methodist Church in Louisville, where they live.

The service was great and it was really nice in the church. The touching moment came during the vows….as Richard was saying his vows, he had to take a moment to compose himself, as he was about to cry. To be honest, that was one of the more touching things I had ever seen at a wedding and it was one of those moments where you can just tell how much they care about each other.

After the wedding, the scene shifted from the church to the official Kentucky Derby Museum, which was pretty sweet. We got to learn about the Derby and then we were seated in the room where they show a short movie and our tables were named after previous Triple Crown winners, which was a sweet touch.

Dustin and I racing horses at the Museum

As we looked around our table, Lianne & Mike Farley, Sara and Dustin Miller, Brad’s fiancée Tiffany and myself were all seated at the same table and there were four vacant seats. After some discussion, we were wondering who on Earth Richard would set next to us, knowing that we were going to be a bit wild (we hoped Brad was going to sit with us, but he was the Best Man, so we weren’t sure).

Sara, Lianne and Mike

Then, after we had some snacks, the wedding party arrived! After a nice intro, we then got to see who was going to sit near us…..Brad and then Richard and Sarah joined us as well! To be honest, we felt pretty special to be sitting with the Bride and Groom.

After some incredible food, we had the usual wedding fun, the bouquet toss and the garter throw. Then….the dancing began. I’m not going to lie, things got crazy. Eventually we were all out there, dancing and having a good time. At one point Dustin was dancing to Thriller, then my leg was used as a guitar, Brad was dancing with his suspenders……I can’t relay all the fun that we had (and some things happened that can’t be spoken of).

Preparing for the "garter toss"

Dustin and Brad are dancing, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing

It had been a long, long time since I’ve had that much fun and it was great to be back with all the guys. It was also a great start to Road Trip 2008! I also made some new friends, one of which I met for lunch on Monday on Day 1 of my drive to Austin, but that’s another story all together…..

Dios les bendiga

Uh-oh.....

oh….by the way….yes, I caught the garter—but I was set up! All the other “single” guys were about 5 years younger than me and then there was Richard’s brother Ryan, who is two years younger. As Richard shot the garter, all the young guys in front of me ducked and low & behold, it landed right in my hand. Thanks Richard.

My slacking ways.....

Wow...I am such a slacker....again!

So the good news: I'm back in the States.

The bad news: I still don't have a job. : (

Awesome

I've been applying at Districts all over, so hopefully something will come about. At this point, it looks as though I'm going to be in the States next year, but don't worry, we'll still continue the blog....US style.

Currently I'm on my Road Trip, 2008 style. When I have a free moment (and find a coffee shop with Internet) I'll post on the trip so far......

Dios les bendiga!

My Day of Days......

ah May 21st.....this truly is one of my favorite days of the year!

I'm in a great mood and very excited for today. Very, Very early this morning, the State of Origin Series kicked off in Sydney with the cursed Blues defeating Queensland 18-4. Luckily there will be two more matches, so hopefully Queensland will pull it out.

Then.....there's the big one:

Live from Moscow, the biggest event of the football season kicks off this afternoon (roughly 2:30 pm EST--on ESPN in the States!).

If the European Championships weren't this summer, this would easily be the biggest sporting even in Europe this year. EASILY. Hundreds of millions of people watch this game and not because of the commercials (which are very few), but because they either actually like the teams or because it is to crown the champion of club football in Europe.

I'm psyched for the game, although sadly I have to give a presentation on the Inkas at kickoff (but I'll have it on the bottom of my screen--thanks to Soccernet.com).

To be honest, I highly suggest you check it out....even if you're not a footy fan. The atmosphere should be amazing and to even hear the fans singing and chanting at the stadium should be a site to see. If you want to follow it at work (like me!) you can do one of two things:

http://www.soccernet.com/ They will have a little match center that will allow you to track the game as it goes.

http://www.espn.go.com/ ESPN is showing the game live on ESPN360-where they often show different games throughout the year and they showed a lot of World Cup games here back in 2006 and it worked very well.

As for my prediction, I'm a Red Devil, so I'm looking for Man U to win, 2-1. Chelsea is a good team though, so don't be surprised if they win it.

Before I go, I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures from last year's final when AC Milan defeated Liverpool:

This is Kaka, the 2007 World Player of the Year and the stud for AC Milan. After his team won the title last year, he took off his shirt, dropped to his knees and gave thanks.

My Goal and my Birthday wishes.....

I just looked at my blog count and realized that I only posted 64 times last year! What a slacker!!! (especially in comparison to the 111 times the previous year)......

So my goal is to beat 111 this year, no matter where I end up!

and while I'm at it:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Hope you have a good day! Love ya and miss ya and I'll see you two weeks from today!!

(on a side note...if today isn't the day....I'm going to be a bit embarrassed)

My Open Doors......

Again, it's been a while and again, I thank you for your patience.

Things have been moving along rapidly here and now I find myself with less than three weeks till I return to the place I call home. I must admit that I'm very excited to get back to the States, to see some friends, take another road trip, go to a wedding and maybe even bale some hay.

But....onto the latest happenings.....We had an elementary softball tournament here at EA. It was a hot, hot day (my peeling scalp can attest). I was on-hand to help out, especially since the tournament was here. Suddenly, I was asked if I would be a base coach for the EA team.

Now for those of you that don't know, I'm a soccer guy. I never played baseball and I don't entirely understand the game (Dustin and Brad can back me up on that). I informed our coaching staff that adding me to the staff may in fact harm our chances of winning....but I was told to suck it up and go stand at 3rd Base (which I did).

Ultimately, my lack of knowledge didn't harm us, as the EA squad won the tournament by going 3-0 against the competition. It was our first championship of the year and the kids were very excited. They defeated their opponents by scores of 18-3, 13-1 and 21-2 (yeah, it wasn't even close). So congrats to the EA team on that.

Other than that, we have really been starting to bring the year to an end and with that, I've continued to search for a new job. After sending out what seemed like a ton of resumes (and getting no love in response.....kind of like last year!) the doors are finally starting to open. I actually have a couple of phone interviews in the next couple of days and hopefully something will come out of one.

I'll keep you up-to-date.

As for the location of the schools.....I'm going to keep that secret for the time being. I will say that they are in the Northern & Western Hemishperes, which is definitely a plus.....and people speak English in both of the countries/territories/provinces.

Well, that's all I've got for now. This weekend I have a wedding rehearsal and Mr. Fitz and I are going to try and go to the Pirate Bar (how could we not?!?!?!).

Dios te bendiga

Mis Heroes de Hugo......

A few weeks back we had an amazing field trip for the elementary students....bowling!!!

I know, what do you learn through bowling? How about a short field trip for P.E.? Does that justify it?

No?

Okay...um....what about a Math lesson? We were taking a field trip to work on our Math facts and different types of Math problems. Does that justify it?

No again? Man...tough crowd today.....

Okay, fine. We've worked hard all year and we wanted a break. There, I said it.

So we journeyed up to Ten Pin, a nice bowling alley up in Puerto La Cruz for an afternoon of bowling....Venezuelan style. In signing up, every class had to pick a color for their shirts and I decided to give us a team name, Hugo's Heroes. Our colors: RED (the color of Chavez's supporters).

So los Heroes de Hugo took the lane. It was my 5th graders and myself, bowling for a good time. Actually, the entire K-5 school went and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Sadly, even with bumpers....Isaac was the winner (oddly enough it was his birthday too).

Our winner

My 16 Days later......

Well, it's been about 16 days since my last post and I've been a bit busy, although it's no excuse to share with you the good times of 'Zuela.

The past two weeks have been pretty busy down here. After the secondary soccer tournament (which I'm still refusing to admit happened, in fact, I'm just going to pretend I never went to Maturin....ever) I got back into the swing at school. For the first time since January, I don't have ANY after school activities!

I've also been searching for jobs over the past few weeks. I've applied in Poland, Italy, Ireland, four schools in the DC area and Pierre, SD....but sadly, no love yet. Hopefully something will come some time soon. It's a funny situation, but everyone says they want a teacher with experience and teaching abroad is always a bonus....but when the time & that option comes along....they aren't willing to take a chance. It's kind of ironic really....

But on to other things.....

I just got to do/experience something new today: a purchase order for my school for next year....and to be honest...it was weird. I thought it odd to be buying the things that I actually thought my school needed. So with the $$ I was allotted, I went for new 5th grade Science textbooks and 6th & 7th grade Social Studies textbooks (which we didn't actually have). I thought it was interesting to have a certain amount of $$ at my disposal and to actually be thought of as responsible enough to take care of these things......

....whoa.....I'm getting old!

As for other things. We have our last break quickly approaching and to be honest, I have no idea what to do. I really don't. I just want to get back to the States, honestly...but I have a little longer to wait for that.

Tomorrow should be a fun day and I'll try to take and share some pics with you...we're having a Bowling Field Trip (to those of you that snicker, it could be justified to work on PE-fine motor skills and some Math skills as well). Good times ahead.

AND before I go...I just discovered something....well....LEGENDARY on itunes. How I Met Your Mother, one of my favorite shows, is now on there. Suit up! (and watch)

-Dios te bendiga

My Dad's Bday......

Happy Birthday Pops!!!!

I'm so glad that you came down to visit. I hope you have an amazing day and I'll try and call you tonight!!

Love ya

My Machu......PI-CHU! (Bless you)

So I know that I've been back for a week and have yet to actually post anything from the trip, especially photos, so here you are....some fun pics from a beautiful country: a view of the scenic countryside

Dad and I in the mountains

One of the cathedrals in central Cuzco
The walls at Sacsayhuaman
The Fitzpatricks and myself at Ollataytambo

The classic view of Machu Pichu

Dad and I at Machu Pichu

(big thanks to Fitz for taking this one for me)

As I've said before, Peru is amazing. If you ever get the opportunity, take the chance and go! It's incredible!

Dios te bendiga!!

My Viktor Navorski......

Well, well, well, we meet again! This familiar feeling that I´ve had before.....not so long ago in fact!

To tell you the truth, over the last 24 hours I felt a lot like Viktor Navorski, the character played by Tom Hanks in the movie, The Terminal. I suppose I´m a bit better off though....I have money....and I had a hotel room....food.....but the feeling of being stuck....in the airport, that´s what I have.

The back story is quite funny really.

As Dad and I were attempting to get onto our flight to Caracas yesterday, we were told we had to have our Yellow Fever Vaccination cards out and ready to be checked before we could board the plan (or else we´d be stuck in the airport in Caracas). Well.....I forgot mine and was slightly expecting this might happen (Susan had mentioned it to me earlier in the trip), but I looked at dad and he said...."What? Yellow Fever? What´s that?"

uh-oh.

So we were pulled off the plane and told we had to stay in Lima. To be honest, this wasn´t a bad thing, as I would much, much rather be stuck here in Peru, as opposed to being stuck at the airport in Caracas.

Well, after an hour of confusion and attempts to book 5 of us on the same flight the next day, we were taken to the Health Center here at the hospital and we each had to pay $22 for the shot and the little card that comes with it (which is now a sweet souvenir). Then I went to see if I could get dad to the States without coming through Venezuela. He didn´t like his 36 hours there anyways and I figured it would be a heck of a lot easier to do this from here (where due to the high tourism, folks actually speak English), as opposed to Caracas. I had to run back and forth from the nice hotel they set us up in because I had to get some info from my gmail account (all of dad´s paperwork was in his bag....which was heading to Caracas).

Well....with the help of some prayers from a friend and I think maybe God himself stepped in to help us out....because the friendly folks at LAN were able to rerout dad through Houston on Continental Airlines and they even redid his connecting flight to Albuquerque for him. In all, he will end up being home 12 hours earlier than planned (although with no bag). To be honest....I was so happy that this was resolved that I almost wept. It was a stressful situation and I was worried that he would have to go to Caracas and then wait a day.....which neither one of us really wanted to do. It made everything soooo much easier.

For me....I´m on the same flight, just the next day. Then after explaining my poor Spanish abilities, I found the number for Aserca Airlines in Caracas and the folks at LAN called them for me, explained my situation and helped me rebook my flight for tonight at 9:30 pm. SCORE!!!

So now I sit here.....at the Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru (btw...fun fact....apparently Jorge was the first to fly over the Andes, at least that´s what one of the LAN folks told me).

My friends Shaun & Susan (who remembered their Yellow Fever Cards) helped us out tremendously by grabbing our bags in Caracas and putting them with the LAN lost baggage folks in Caracas. Hopefully they haven´t been broken into over night and will be waiting for me today. I´m hoping to be able to send my dad´s bag to Albuquerque, but if not I´ll try to ship it from Anaco (my fingers are crossed).

I guess one of the lessons that I´ve learned and picked up through this is that patience gets you through a situation. I tried not to get upset with the LAN folks (they were just doing their jobs and it was my fault for not having the card). Thanks to that, I think they were more ready to help me out, just by keeping cool and keeping a smile on my face (or at least trying too).

Another lesson is how...even through the most stressful situations....God provides. He gets you through it and takes care of you...even when you can´t see what´s coming around the bend in the road.

This whole thing worked out soooo much better than I could have imagined. Dad is in the States, I got to spend another day in Peru (at a sweet hotel mind you) and I get to just sit and relax for a few more hours, before hitting the hustle and stress of Venezuela.

On a side note.....I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and if you read this today or celebrate today....just remember that this day isn´t about little white rabbits dropping eggs for everyone. Although I suppose it is about one Man, giving everyone the greatest gift we could ever ask for.

-Dios te bendiga

My Ollantaytambo.....

Well, well, I didn´t think it would happen....then bam! I found a decent Internet connection in the lovely little village of Ollantaytambo, Peru. It´s the site of an Inka temple, which is pretty stinkin´cool and I´ll try to post some pics when I get back to VZ....assuming my Internet is working. Odd side note....Shaun and I were talking yesterday and isn´t it weird that they can get a better Internet connection in the middle of no where, Peru (in the Andes Mountains of all places) and yet in Anaco, we´ve got nothing. Weird.

Well, we´ve been in Peru for three days now and I must say...I´m loving it! The people are friendly, the food is great (choices....actual choices!!!) and the views are simply stunning. We went rafting today and it was amazing to just look up for a minute and really take in what was surrounding us. Then on our 2 hour taxi ride back to Ollantaytambo, I was napping and I just suddenly woke up to this amazing view of the mountains. The sun was hitting it just right to alight the base and then the top was covered in dark clouds....it was such an amazing contrast and words don´t really do it justice. Neither would a picture, if I took one. I just looked up, thanked God for the view and stared at it until we were off the mountain. Simply stunning.

Things have gone great so far and we´re really having a lot of fun. We saw some pretty cool ruins the first two days, although one of our tour guides was terrible. He spent three hours telling us about how the walls were made/shaped/formed. I mean, after a short explanation, I´m good, but to continually talk about it.....and talk about it....and talk about it. AHHHH!!!! It reminded me of when I worked at the Wildlife Camps one summer and I would take kids on a walk through the woods, attempting to point out mushrooms and insects along the way.....they would ask me a question about something and I would reply.....um.....well I can tell you about this thing here instead, although it has nothing to do with your original question. The wall was his fallback.

Tomorrow though is the big day...Machu Pichu. God willing, we´ll be taking a train up to Aqua Caliente (yes...the town is named "Hot Water", only because there are hot springs nearby) and then we´ll head to Machu Pichu. I´m pretty psyched, as this is one of the places on my list of things to see (maybe I´ll share the list on a later post).

To be honest, this trip has been such a blessing. I haven´t seen my dad since August, so it´s a blast reconnecting with him....even though his Spanish is terrible!!! It´s also been fun to see all these amazing landscapes the God created here. It´s simply stunning to see these high plateaus amongst the stunning mountain back-drops. Hopefully some of the pics I bring back can do it even a bit of justice.

Well....the cafe is closing and the dude behind the counter is staring at me.....so I better run. I´ll see if I can find a café again before we head back to VZ on Saturday.

Dios te benidga!!!

My Whoa! Moment.....

I only have a whopping 5 minutes of time left at this Internet cafe, so this one will be quick. Sorry for the delay in posting, our Internet at school has been sporadic at best and that mixed with our water problems is making the 2nd semester an interesting one.

The soccer tourney went well. We took 2nd out of 7 teams. My elementary kids were excited and now I´m focusing with the high school kids.

My Dad is here!!! We´re in Caracas today and tomorrow we meet up with some friends of mine and head for Peru. We´ll be back in Venezuela next Saturday.

Okay, times running out......I hope things are going well wherever you are!!!

Dios te bendiga!

My Mis-Match.....

We are having a "Spirit Week" this week during our Read-a-thon. Each day the students get to dress up or dress differently. Yesterday was hat day, and a majority of the students came wearing hats or crazy wigs.

Today is Mis-Match Day and to be honest, I couldn't be happier. Many of the students look hilarious in their outfits (except for the ones that are, "too cool" to participte....they still have to come in their uniforms).

To go along with the fun, I have dressed up as well. I tried to dress like a famous picture that is on Dustin and Sara's fridge.....hopefully I'm close!

Dios te bendiga!

My Busy Upcoming Two Weeks......

Wow....I can't believe it's been two weeks....I was doing so well too!

So today was the start of a two week run that is going to really take it's tool on me, both physically, mentally and maybe even a bit emotionally (although I'm not really that emo....I have no heart after working with kids for so long.....).

Today was the first day of High School soccer practice. Believe it or not, I was extremely nervous last night and this morning. In fact, I've been thinking of this day for the past two weeks....trying to get prepared, mentally more than anything else.

See, we have some issues with our Secondary students and without going into any details, there have been some problems with respect, which is a big problem for me. This is one of the qualities that Larry and Agnes instilled in me at a young age and one that I continue to try and pass on to my students, daily.

I was nervous because I didn't know if there would be problems with this during practice. However, I told them first thing, "It's either my way, or the door is right there. All I ask is that you try hard, respect myself and your teammates and we'll get along just fine."

Turns out, it went over pretty well. The few that showed up (another problem) were great and we ran....a lot (I'm sore!). But I think we had a good time and I'm excited for Wednesday.

One of the other things I had/have to address is a lack of commitment. We've had problems with kids showing up for practices and thinking that it's just okay to show up at the tourneys. To me, that's unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I told them today and will repeat it on Wednesday, "If we don't practice or show up for practice.....we will not have a team. Period." Hopefully I don't have to follow-through on that, but I'm willing if things take a wrong turn.

On top of this I have been preparing the Elementary Football team for their tournament on March 8th (although we're still not exactly sure where it is yet!). This has been a bit more difficult because while the tournament is for Grades 3-6, I've allowed the 1st and 2nd Graders to come out and kick the ball around with us a bit.....just for fun and to work on their basic skills.

I'm having a tougher time with the youngsters, only because I find that I'm asking them to do to much, or think outside the box if you will. Some are still at the age of "Bumblebee Soccer", where you chase the ball around and completely ignore things like positioning and space. Hopefully in the next two weeks, we can figure that out!

Other than that, things continue to go well. I'm still searching for a job for the fall and I hope some things will develop soon. I'm also continuing to battle the mosquitoes in my house (one day I actually killed 10 in the bathroom, at one time.....wow).

Dios te bendiga

My Lost in Translation.....

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie, Lost in Translation, but I had a similar experience just last night. In the movie, Bill Murray is an older actor that goes to Japan to do a commercial for some big bucks. However, he does not speak any Japanese and therefore is utterly lost in many of the conversations......while yes, there is more to it than this (and a good performance by Scarlett Johanson), I recommend checking it out if you're really curious.

Anyways....I had a similar experience at Subway, just last night. I told the gentleman behind the counter the type of sub I wanted, and what type of cheese (which isn't really an option here, even if you don't want the cheese, they throw it on anyways).

He then asked me, "Salsa?" (sauce? meaning Mayo or any other sauce they had)

I replied, "Mayonesa, porfa" (mayo please).

The man then picked up a yellow bottle and I thought to myself, "hmmm....must be doing things a bit differently, or the bottles are all dirty."

No.

He then shoots mustard all over my club sandwich. For those of you unaware, I really, really dislike mustartd.

So I started saying in a raised voice....."NO, NO! Mayonesa! Mayonesa!"

He says, "Oh," and then points to the white bottle. "Si" I respond.

Then he grabs the red bottle and shoots ketchup all over my sandwich!

NO, NO, NO, NO!! NO MAS!! MAYONESA!

He stops and looks at me quizically. "Huh?"

"No mas salsa," I respond. I think looked at the gentleman to my right in line and he was laughing....so I know I said it right.

Luckily the rest of the sandwich was without any problems, but I was not pleased. I ate the sandwich because, to be honest, I don't know what he would have done! He may have given me crab or something!

(sigh)

Dios te bendiga

My Sudden Surprise....

So I know that I'm supposed to blog about some pups....but as I'm sitting in my class, talking to my kids about weather.....I heard this noise from the ceiling....like something was walking above us.

I looked up and saw what looked like something putting pressure down upon our tiles. Then suddenly:

CRASH!

THUMP!!

MEOW!!!

Turns out a cat was walking across our ceiling tiles, fell through one of the tiles and slammed its head on the desk, then hit the floor. It was amazing! (although I was worried that with the force of the blow to the head, I was going to have a dead cat on my hands).

Suddenly the cat jumped up and ran to the corner...attempted to jump onto our bookcase (failed attempt and fell to the floor again). Then it ran to another corner and sat on top of our shelf, attmepting to figure out how to make the 7 foot jump back up to the ceiling tiles.

Shocked (and giggling on the inside while my students lauged hysterically), I opened the classroom door and used a meter stick to guide the startled cat out of our room and it then sprinted back outside.

Only in Venezuela.

(seriously....this just happened 10 minutes ago)

(seriously)

My Long Weekend at Home.....

This is Carnaval, a Latin American tradition that celebrates.....well, I'm not quite certain what! From what I can tell, there are parades, drinking and dancing....but everyone seems to enjoy themselves!

I had wanted to travel over this long weekend, but to be honest, I was a bit late in trying to plan it out and having just returned from Valencia last weekend (a 9.5 hour bus ride there and 7 hours returning), I was a bit tired and could use a break. I was really looking forward to a weekend here in Anaco (did I really just say that??) and possibly getting a chance to do some grading, work on my resume and maybe start applying for a job in the Fall.

Well, then the water problems started. We have essentially been on water-rations over the past five days, including today. Guys were supposed to come and fix it yesterday, but it's Carnaval and obviously, no one was going to come (I mean seriously, working on a holiday? Did we really expect that?). Luckily they are here today and I managed to get a shower in this morning during one of our "on" periods.

I was really hoping to do a lot of sleeping and resting over this break, but to be honest, it hasn't quite worked out that way. Don't get me wrong, I've been staying up late, it's just that I can't sleep in.....at all. I volunteered to take care of our campus puppies (don't worry, pics and another post to follow soon) and their mom, Asabatchi, has a feeding schedule that starts at around 7:30 am (though I usually made it by 8). I know, I know, this doesn't seem to early, but when their last feeding time is 5 pm at night....you start to feel bad around 7 am and it weighs on the mind and doesn't allow me to sleep any later.

Aside from this, we have also had some electricity problems, because the city is working on the power lines on this side of town. On Saturday we had no electricity for most of the day. Luckily things were okay on Sunday and Monday, but again, it's a Sunday AND Carnaval, who's really going to work?

So today I'm crunching in everything that I meant to do over the past four days. I've just graded some tests and now I have to do some research on renewable energy sources for some reports that we are writing this week.

Good Times.

Dios te bendiga

My Rough Thursday.....

Basically put, yesterday was a difficult day. It was a tough day. It was a rough day.

I should have known that something was up when I awoke and found that I didn't have any water in my shower. I thought maybe it was just here, but I tried the sink in the bathroom--no love. I tried the kitchen sink and the other bathroom....no love there either. No worries, I figured. I took a washcloth style shower with the drinking water I had and called it good. A little extra deodorant, little cologne and I'll be good to go.

All was well until first period ended. I started creating a math test when suddenly....the power goes out. Now I'm sitting in the dark, creating a test. This happens quite frequently, so I didn't think much of it. I figured that in a couple of minutes, the power would be back on....no worries.

By the time 3rd Period started....no power. Now I'm teaching out in the cafeteria because my room doesn't have any direct sunlight (lots of trees outside the window and a gym as well).

So for the rest of the day, I taught my classes outside in the cafeteria. No power also means no A/C and no fans....so by the end of the day I was sweating like crazy (in my dress shirt, dress pants and shoes).

At the end of the day we had soccer practice, which isn't too bad, but our field is basically dirt and a few weeds....which gets one extremely dirty. I figured I was in for another wonderful wash-cloth shower....but I waited and waited.

I was talking with Susan and Shaun when suddenly...the lights came back on! Score! Now I can sit in the A/C and at least I'll be comfortable while I'm dirty. We had ordered pizza, so I was able to sit and eat my pizza with the A/C and the TV....excellent.....then I had a knock at my door. To my surprise it was my boss....who had yet to visit me since I arrived in August. After commenting on my amazing interior design (think bachelor-pad), he told me that we had purchased a tank of water and that I should get a shower in while I could. SWEET!!!!

The shower was nice and I finally felt clean (after a sweaty and gross soccer practice). However the bad news came today.....the pump on our well can't be fixed until Monday at the earliest. This means that we have to continue to purchase tanks of water until then. Luckily most of the school is leaving for Carnaval this weekend, so it will only be myself and a few other teachers here.....hopefully we can make it last!

Dios te bendiga

My Jinx.....

Okay....so I don't know if I'm jinxing myself or not but I just got back from Valencia yesterday and.......I found milk again!!!!

(it makes my Oreos taste soooo much better)

I suppose it's the little things that keep us happy isn't?

Hopefully there's milk wherever you are.....

Dios te bendiga

My First Student Departure....

Sadly last week we had to say good-bye to one of our students, Mark, who moved to another city in Venezuela. While normally this isn't a big deal, as many students across the world switch schools everyday and people are constantly moving from one place to another. But for us, it's a bit different.

With only nine students in the entire class and barely 70 making up our school, the loss of one student has a huge impact. For me, it wasn't the first student I've had move part-way through a year, but I was a little sad with this one. Mark was one of my four 5th Graders and with a class that size, we really have a chance to bond and get to know one another.....seeing him go was like losing one of us.

We have a tradition at the school, a Despedida for anyone that is departing. They show some photos and then a teacher speaks about the leaving student and subsequently anyone in the school can come up and talk about that student as well. This is followed by everyone, literally EVERYONE having the chance to either shake hands, hug and say good-bye personally with the student.

I spoke and almost got a bit choked up....but I survived. Then however, one of my other students, a 6th grader, stood up and said some great things about Mark. This is what really got me. I could see Mark, who is normally a quiet kid that keeps to himself, starting to tear up, but fighting it and....I don't know, it was just tough to handle.....difficult to watch.

After the Despedida, everyone went home. On Saturday, Mark came back to school and met up with nine other students and myself. We had a good-bye football match (soccer). It was a last chance to see him, talk and wish him well for the future.

Mark, if you get a chance to read this, good luck buddy. We miss ya.

Dios te bendiga

My Missing Class....

So I've been back for a little over a week and oddly enough, I had a really quiet week last week....none of my 5th Graders were here! I expected two of them to be gone (they were out of the country), but then I found out that one of them was moving and another was missing in action! I was a bit surprised to come back and not have any 5th Graders, although I'm not going to lie....it was pretty nice to have one or two extra planning periods each day!


Things aren't as giving this week. Three of my 5th Graders showed up, with only one still in the States (and he returns on Saturday, although to be fair, he is doing his homework via the Internet). My student that is moving is here until Friday, when we will have a Despedida for him (a good-bye or going away ceremony) and then we'll hang out in class a bit too.

It's sad to see Mark go, but this is also the way it is at International Schools. Often kids come and go and they also have a tendency to either return a bit later from a break, or sometimes they leave early too. Sadly, there isn't too much we can do about it, but shake our heads, and keep moving along with the curriculum.

My Mozzies....

So aside from the wonderful assortment of tasty goods at the grocery store, I had another amazing surprise in store for me when I arrived at my house. I had pretty well been bug free for the last couple of months, except for the occasional cricket or spider that crept in from under the door.....ah but now.....the mozzies have returned.

Just to give you an idea of how many mosquitoes there are, I killed four last night before I even got into the shower. AND this is supposed to be the dry season, when there are less of them.

The good times just keep on coming!

Dios te bendiga

My Milk.....

Wow....has it really been that long? I suppose after a while you really lose track of time right?

Well.....let's see, where to start! The end of the first semester came rather quickly, especially preparing for Christmas break and getting ready to head home. I managed to make it back to the States for a little while, although the trip to Iowa consisted of 3 delayed flights, 1 missed flight, a night in Caracas-including 7 hours in a hotel that was more like a hostel, one canceled flight because it was "too cold" to land in Des Moines, and ultimately I flew into Cedar Rapids, met mom and drove home. Incredible really....and that was just getting back into the States.

My break went well. I spent a lot of time in Des Moines, visiting family and hanging out with my friends. I was only in Iowa City for a night, so I apologize to all of you I didn't get to see. Hopefully we can reconnect this summer.

The trip back here was less eventful. 3 flights, only one delay (of course in Venezuela....these people can't depart on time, it's just not possible) and another 12 blissful hours spent trying to sleep overnight in the airport in Caracas.

Eventually I made it back to Anaco and got a chance to go to the grocery store, where I was greeted with the usual lack of supplies: No milk (it's been hard to find since September and I had yet to find any since then), no flour, no sugar, no yogurt and no bread. What a welcome back!!

Luckily I went to Farmatodo (think Walgreen's) across the street and found some yogurt and the last loaf of bread. Then as I was walking home yesterday, I stumbled upon a grocery store that....dare I say it....had milk!! So now milk is sitting in my fridge for the first time in months. I'm so excited to actually open it up and take a sip!

Other than that, I'm busy getting back into the swing of things. I'm trying to plan our MUN trip to Germany for April, plan two vacations and finish my report cards. Ah, and I'm helping the boys bball team practice and get ready for their tourney in February (which I have to if we are going to have 10 players and actually scrimmage).

In short, sorry for the delay and I'm going to try to get better with my writing this semester.

Dios te bendiga,