Greg's Ecuadorian Adventure

The three-day week before Easter, it seemed everyone was asking the same question: "WHERE are you going?" Naturally, I went to Puerto Lopez as was written in the previous blog. One person who I had this exchange with was Jeanine-- my Milwaukee counterpart at work. She recently purchased a car here, and was feeling interested in a weekend getaway soon. Seeing as the first week of the new partial/grading period was a four-day week... why not then? Soooo we didn't have the week off for Easter because it was "used up" during the February break. Honestly, we all could use it now! At least this first week back was a four-day week, because Friday was Teacher's Day. Yes, teachers are actually honored on one day of the year in Ecuador. It is a day that also honors Ecuador's great educator, Juan Montalvo Fiallos. So we get Friday off (but not the other schools weirdly enough), in short. Anyway, Jeanine and I briefly tossed around ideas of places to go. Quil...

Oh my, when I tell you that I have been busy and stressed... you don't know. This past Wednesday, April Fool's, was the end of the fourth partial or grading period. Since the two-week February break, my life has been quite uneventful. One weekend, I went to a BBQ/House-Party hosted by some colleagues. Another weekend, I helped celebrate (early) the birthdays of two friends. I guess I did go to Plaza Foch a couple of nights, where one was to watch the Badgers play in the NCAA tournament. Other than that, nothing but work. And this was an extremely quick grading period! Only five-and-a-half weeks. This time brought a lot of different things that were looming over my head Internal Assessments were due. In the International Baccalaureate (IB), students are required to complete internal assessments in each subject area. And it is different for each content area, too. For science, it is completing a minimum of 40 hours. I had to fill out paperwork for each of my students comple...