One of those days...

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Today was one of those days where punting a student, to get them to pay attention, seemed like a pretty good solution! Obviously its probably not something that should be put into practice, but just the thought of it being a possibility made class go by a little bit quicker. Today was a heavy-hitter, with 7 classes in a row. Three hours straight of 4th graders that if you lose their attention for two seconds, they are gone for the next three hours you should be teaching them. It is nice when a little ray of hope shines out from the darkness and a student takes it on himself to get the class back in order. So far, I am 2 for about 30 on that actually happening during any of the classes. It is basically warfare everyday in the classroom, rolling out of bed knowing I am shielding the world from poverty and illiteracy as a teacher. It might not be that dramatic, but it helps me feel like I am doing something important out there.

The neighborhood slowly starts to warm up to us, although as we ran, Joe received a random "it's eminem" shout out. We were able to find our way into a pickup game of basketball against some high school team? They practiced on the playground and they only ran 3 vs. 3, they did have a coach, though. Two of them were sporting Shaq and I think the other one was even sporting a Rick Fox jersey. They are out their playing though, kudos to them. For a little bit later in the trip, it looks like Cusco and a northern beach in Peru could be on the radar sometime between January and March. It will be pretty awesome to head back the Andes and the Pacific. There are few places in the world that can compete with the beauty of the Andes and how peaceful it is, before of course you lose your breath from walking about 10 steps. Sometimes when you go to places like that, you just can't help but wonder how God thought up such an incredible place. It seems almost too good to be true.

I am happy down here, though. It didn't seem possible being away from my previous life for such a long time, right in the first day or two , but it is life and you have to learn how to get by and be happy with the cards you are dealt. Don't think I don't miss all of you back home!

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