Second Month Already!

I am done with my first month of teaching! My work schedule changes every month. Today I had work meetings and training. Tomorrow I start my second month as a TEFL teacher. This month I will be teaching Basic and High Basic English classes. I was assigned the lower level classes since I know how to speak Spanish. I enjoy them because I can see the students making progress with their English skills while using some of my Spanish skills!

The weather is starting to change here. Today it is raining and hailing. I have the rest of the day off. I am not sure what I will do! I will definitely be hanging out with my cats though. The picture above is of Blackie and Tito sitting with my roommate Amanda. Tito is the bigger one, yet they are brothers; the same age.

Extreme Ironing in Sacred Valley!

You might be wondering what the heck I am doing in this picture. Well let me tell you. I am EXTREME IRONING! What is extreme ironing? It is exactly what it sounds like: ironing in extreme places! What is the point? The point is to extreme iron and take pictures! My TEFL teacher Natalie introuced me to the sport. Last Sunday, we went to the Sacred Valley right outside of Cusco and took along an ironing board and an iron. We went to the town of Lucre. It is known for hunting duck. We were going to go duck hunting, but did not have any guns so we brought along the ironing board instead. It was a ridiculously fun day and I tried some duck for the first time: arroz con pato-duck with rice. I hope to take more trips for the Sacred Valley on the weekend. There are many more ruins to see and towns to visit. We passed the town that is known for ¨cuy¨ (guinea pig). I am hestiant to try it.

I also have a new addition to my apartment: another cat! His name is Blackie. He is Tito´s brother. So now we have two cute blacks. It is really nice because they keep eachother company during the day when my roommates and I are at work. I will post a pic of them soon!

First Week of Teaching

When nine óclock hits I will be officially done with my first week teaching. My days have been filled with classes, students, and lesson planning. I spend hours planning for my six classes. However, I am learning how to plan more efficiently so I think it will take less time in the future.

My roommates and I are still enjoying our cat. We kind of feel like we have a baby at times. He is really tiny and really cute. And ALWAYS wants our attention! He is getting better at using the kitty litter box. However, there have been some accidents on our beds. Gross! I can´t be mad at him for long because he looks so sweet and innocent.

Other exciting news, I started taking a Spanish class this week. It is awesome. My TEFL teacher Natalie told me about the class. It is just Natalie, me and our Peruvian teacher. It is bascially a conversation class. It is nice to be in the student role for part of the day and have practically one-on-one attention. Today my Spanish teacher and I discussed recent Peruvian history and politics. I learned about the horrific terrorism that existed in Peru during the 80´s and 90´s and what is going on today. For example, the current government wants to privatize water, but the farmers disagree.

This weekend I think I will be hiking some ruins around Cusco. I have spent way too much time here in a classroom. I cannot wait to get out and see this beautiful place!

Mi vida en Peru-My life in Peru

So some things have changed. I was offered a teaching job for August. So today was my first official day as a TEFL teacher. Actually my day is not over. I have one more class to teach from 8-9pm. I am exhausted. I taught my first class at 8am. The day went well, but I am tired now and want to go home and eat. I am teaching six one hour classes every day. Two Basic, Two High Basic, One Pre-Intermediate, and One Advanced English class. In my TEFL courses I was taught not to use any Spanish in the classroom. However, when teaching a basic level class sometimes it is necessary to use some Spanish (which I love!).

Other news, last Friday was my 24th birthday. My roommates and I got a cat! It has a few names...Emoticat, Moti, and Tito. It is an adorable two month old black cat. He is so cute (and hyper!). Then on the night of my birthday we had a get together with friends at our apartment and went out to dance. It was a great day/night!