El 10 de Agosto

So today was the 10th of August, which is apparently like Ecuador's independence day, or Quito's independence day, one of the two. However, they really don't celebrate like we celebrate the 4th of July in the U.S., but it was still a fun day. All of the schools on the island (and there are a lot, like 15 I think) parade down the street, and then everyone gets the day off. I got to march with my students down the street and everytime I would try and help them march and show them how, they would always laugh at me, so I just gave up. This was pretty much all of the celebration that went on, I was really hoping for a big BBQ or some sort of fiesta but nothing!!!

Long time no blog....sorry!

Ok, so what has happened since my last entry....well, all of last week was vacation week for my school so all I had to do was coach soccer from 8-10 in the morning, and then the rest of the day was free. There were some pro`s and con`s to that schedule; pro: I had a rather relaxed easy week, con: everyone else had to work when I didn`t so I was also getting pretty bored. I am really enjoying coaching soccer though, all the kids have a great time and I don`t have to constantly tell them to be quiet and sit down like I do in the classroom. I also caught my first stomach bug from a foriegn country last week...luckily I brought basically an entire pharmacy with me so it wasn`t much of a problem.
I went to Las Grietas and explored one of the lava tunnels that are on the island last week also. Las Grietas is absolutely beautiful. If you do not know what Las Grietas is, you should look it up! The water was blue and transparent, and you can just swim through these giant rock walls. Unfortunately there were a lot of people there when I went, so it was pretty crowded. I will definitely go back at a less popular time. The lava tunnels were pretty cool as well. It was a bit short I thought, but none the less still fun. I saw an owl hiding out in one of the little caves in the tunnel, got pretty close. That same day I also went with Ingun and Andres (the Norwegians) with Xavier (lives in the house) to the greenhouse where he works in the center of the island. Watered a bunch of plants....it was exhilerating! I have also found a really good trail to run. I run from the house to Tortuga Bay. The trail is about 3 miles long, and then if I run on the beach I can get about 5 miles in. Running in this humidity is no easy task though. I am lucky if I can get that 5 miles in.
Teaching is going well, other than the fact that I spend half my time just trying to get the kids to stop talking. For those that actually pay attention though, we are just flying through the lessons. I already moved on to verbs today, which was something I did not expect to do so soon. I really enjoy each and every class I teach though, even the loud ones.