Teradactyls

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Hey yall...so I took down my address because I forgot that ANYONE can read my blog and I don't want anyone in the world coming to see me...so if you want my address, then look in my IM profile or email me! 😊 I still wouldn't mind getting surprises in the mail!

Today was a much better, rather easier/less emotional day than yesterday. I felt a little bit more "on" it with my Spanish. I think that I cannot go a whole weekend without speaking Spanish because that is what I did this past weekend, and I think that that is part of the stress that I had yesterday morning...it was difficult for me to switch automatically back into Spanish to teach a class. The kids that I was with today were great. I was in 3rd grade for three of the periods and they were asking me question after question...they had just finished learning about animals (I'm assuming) because I got questions like, "Do you like...frogs, spiders, rats, fish, birds, dogs, cats, turtles?" I also had a kid ask me "Do you vant a omster?" (Do you want a hamster). I laughed and asked him if he had one. He said no, and I said, no, I do not want a hamster, but I do like them. I feel so funny when I talk to them in English because I have to talk so slow and make every little sound correct. I'm sure its how they feel when they talk to me!

Whenever I am walking in the hallway in the mornings or when during each class period, the students, mainly the younger ones literally scream "A-my! A-my! Ello! Ello!" It's hilarious...I don't know waaaay over half of these kids' names, but they all know that "Esta es Amy. Eres Americana." (This is Amy. She is American.) They are sweet kids...they all grab for my hands in the hallway or run up and cling to me. Haha, I love it!

Rachel, Emily, Ryann, and I took a little adventure to Carrefour today. It's a shopping center that my teacher and the kids had told me about, so I was expecting this huge shopping center. It was about 1/3 of what the Bloomington mall is. Haha. I was able to find some good, cheap items though (earrings, scarf). There was also a "Walmart" type store there that we wandered through. Seeing certain candy, chips, etc made me start to crave American food. I'd love to have a cheeseburger right now, or a chicken wrap with good stuff in it with dressing...mmm...or a pbj sandwich...or Pasta Bowl..the Farfale Pollo...ahh. But, I quickly stopped craving anything when Emily and I walked through the meat/dead animal aisle and saw and SMELLED pig legs/thighs/hooves. It was absolutely disgusting and I was trying to hold back gags and my eyes were watering. It was one of the worst smells...

Speaking of America....I'm excited to get to hear the song "You're beautiful" by James Blunt tomorrow. My teacher is playing the song for the students and they have to fill in the blanks for certain parts of the song. I miss American music...all I have is the limited selection on my computer.

All right, this ended up being longer than expected. Thank you SO much to everyone for the words of encouragement and prayers. The past day and a half has been so great! I'll be writing more soon...

By the way...the picture that I have posted is of the animal I like to call a teradactyl. Most people think that they are extinct, but they have actually reemerged in Avila. They are MASSIVE. Their nests are even bigger. They nests can weigh up to 700 kg, which if I have converted that correctly, that is 1543 pounds. Padre Rafael wrote this down for me, so its not that I just misunderstood his Spanish. They can reach a diameter of 1.5 meters (4.5 feet?) and 2.5 meters high (about 8 feet tall). Practically every church steeple has a nest on top of it. This is where the teradactyls and their babies live. As Emily says, she can sometimes see strollers in the nests from when the teradactyls have taken small children from the streets. I'm going to start threatening my children that the teradactyls will take them if they misbehave...Rachel says she almost got attacked by one today...close call...

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Photos

Teradactyl
Teradactyl nests

Comments

[anonymous]

So the teradactyls are real!!!! That solves my little mystery ;>)