Fiesta de Cumpleaños, VIP movies, Valentine's, and Flying Solo

Felíz Cumpleaños a Mama Tica
A couple weeks ago we celebrated Mama Tica´s birthday. I have no idea how old she turned because my feeling is it´s probably an international rule to never ask a woman her age. So however many years we were celebrating, it was done at Mama Tica´s daughter´s house. Court and I spent the afternoon with Mama and Papa Tico, his mother, Mama and Papa´s daughter (Karen), Karen´s husband (Alfonso), Mama and Papa´s son (Eric), Eric´s wife (Catherine), and Catherine´s two sons (who will be referred to as "The Possible Fifth Grader" and "The Possible Seventh Grader" because I have no idea what their names are). It was a really nice afternoon chatting and eating with the family. Karen and Alfonso are also expecting their first baby, which is very exciting for everyone. Especially Mama and Papa because it will be their first grandbaby. During the lunch-that-was-also-really-dinner, we all gathered around in the kitchen to watch the rodeo on TV. Apparently, the bull has killed three riders this year, so it's kinda a big deal. Then we sang happy birthday in Spanish and Mama Tica blew out her candle. It was a good day.

VIP Movies
Wednesday we had a half day, so most of us went to the VIP movies. We saw "The Bankjob" (which, by the way, was released in theatres in the States in July 2008) for less than $4. The seats were enormous leather recliners (total La-z-boy status), and you could order sushi and wine to be delievered to you from the consession stand during the movie.

Did I mention we paid $4?

Felíz Día de la Amistad Y Amor
AKA Valentine´s Day. Our class had a parent-student-teacher get-together at a student's ranch. I really enjoyed meeting the kids' parents. They were extremely friendly and kind, and now I have a good idea of where the kids are coming from. It was also fun to be able to recognize some of the kids' parents by how much they resemble each other. We wrote messages of love on helium-filled balloons and released them into the air. (And yeah, I winced and apologized to the environment as I let mine go.) The kids also got a soccer game going, kids vs. dads. I was on the kids' team. (You're shocked, right?) It was a lot of fun playing, but a little while into it my knee locked up and I threw my weight onto it. I thought I had dislocated it, it hurt so badly. I'm fine now, it's just sore. But it was a fun game, both to play and to watch from the sidelines.

That night, Court, Karina and I saw "He's Just Not That Into You." Although I can take a step back and recognize that it's an incredibly cheezy movie, I was totally into it. Even teared up at the cute parts. En serio.

Flying Solo
Today my mentor teacher had to leave, so I was left alone with the class from 11:30 til 3. Kinda spooky, but really good. I'm happy to say the reading, math, and spelling went well. Math actually was much better than I expected, considering they usually need the lesson to be re-explained a few times. The trickiest part was the science lab because the kids had to work in teams to complete the activity. That proved to be a challenge for some of them. We ran about ten minutes late, but I got lucky because the science teacher said the next class wouldn't come in for another fifteen minutes. Plus at one point one of the girls gave me some badittude, which I immediately addressed and cleared up. Then later that same girl told me she had a headache and was "exhausted," and I had to bite my lip to keep from telling her just how tired I was, too.

Oh and tonight while Court and I were having dinner, Eric, Catherine, and her sons came over. The Possible Seventh Grader came up to me and put his ear in front of my face and his nose near my food. I kinda stared for a moment and said, "Uh..." until I realized he was just greeting me and expected a kiss on the cheek. I felt silly for that awkward pause and wanted to explain, but what could I say? "I thought you were smelling my food?"