Chugga-Chugga

I wrote notes home to five parents today
I told 'em that their kids had done an excellent job
They're the kids that at the beginning of the year I wondered how in the world I would ever get to
Sit, pay attention, and obey
Let alone
Speak & Listen.  Read & Write....in English.
But today I was listening to these kids
Reading.
I sat back and tutored
While the other munchkins played with a train.
"Don't forget to say 'Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo"
(We learned about the "Ch" sound today)
And they Chugga-Chuggad
"Hugo, what time is it?"
"2-4-9"
"2:49.  Thanks Hugo.  It's time to clean up."
"Thiago, what's your mom's name?"
"Amanda"
"A-m-a-n-d-a?"
"Yes."
"I wrote a note to your mom to tell her that you did a good job.  Make sure to show her when you get home, ok?"
"Yes, Teacher Emily", his face beamed.
Every year, in the beginning,
I wonder how I will ever be successful with any given group.
I wonder if this teaching thing is really for me.
Talk to me about two months in, and I'm probably playing around with the idea of switching careers.
But the end.
The end is when I can see its worth.
All those hours of painstakingly taking the students through the rules, the procedures, the basics.
All those hours of laying a foundation,
Forming a classroom environment that leads to growth.
And then one day, at the end of the second semester, I look at them
And I realize how far they've come.
How they've changed.
Oh yeah, their English has developed.
But it's not just that.
They've developed as people.
I smile when I think of them,
I can't help but praying for them to become passionate followers of Jesus Christ
Because I love them.
And the truth is that I've changed because of them.
The difficulty I had in the beginning of the year
Was because these kids were little hoodlums.
But it was also because my actions weren't affected by the pull of love.
As we spent time listening and understanding each other,
We all changed.
We have been molded by each other.
And I thank my students for that.

Cooking Day

Have I ever told you how much I enjoy cooking?
I do.
As long as there isn't some deadline looming over my head.
Like the end of a grading period.
Or emails that need to be sent.
Or an apartment that needs to be cleaned by six o'clock, when it will be invaded by unusual, uncanny, and underhanded folks.
But, if those deadlines have passed,
If parent-teacher conferences were last week,
If the emails are answered,
And only usual, canny, sufficiently handed folks will be in my apartment,
I love it.
Sunday is my day off,
Which means it's often cooking day.
Modifying or rejecting recipes based on their ingredient list is the norm.
Marshmallows.
Peanut butter.
Cheddar cheese.
Hard/impossible to find and/or expensive.
Until today pumpkin was on that list too.
There's lots of pumpkin here,
But in my mind
Changing a big ol' pumpkin into the stuff you get out of a can
Was way too much work.
But there was this recipe.
I knew the moment I saw it.
I had to make it.
Pumpkin granola.
FYI:  making pumpkin puree is super easy.
Menu for the week:
Pumpkin Granola
Pumpkin Latte
Italian Chicken Soup

Cocoa Fruit

Did you know that Chocolate comes from a fruit?

It does.
Did you know that the outside is really hard?  Like, you have to saw through it?

It is.
A student brought me this fruit from a tree in his yard.  It was good!  There are a bunch of seeds inside.  The fruit is on the outside of the seeds.  You suck on the seeds and then spit it out once the fruit is removed.  Evidently making chocolate is a really intricate process.  First they dry the seeds.  Then roast them and grind them.  And add other stuff too.  That's what the kids tell me, at least.  I don't know who thought up the process.  But they were genius.  Genius, I say.