Friday, July 18

I am on my countdown to return to the US - less than five weeks now. At this point I am again feeling that I don't want to return, although my advisor has suggested that it will be easier to finish my degree in MN. It has been a wonderful week at the school. Last night I finished teaching my second week of classes and have had 100% attendance both weeks. The administration is very impressed, and so I am, given how busy the teachers are. Rafa and I have had a wonderful week of class together talking about grammar. It is a language teacher's dream. Yesterday and today we spent a total of about four hours discussing the difference between "should," "have to," "must," and "need to," in Spanish. He drew charts to distinguish different aspects of each verb and then asked me for examples. I am so impressed with his intellectual curiosity and capability, and I still feel I am very lucky to have a found a teacher with whom I can discuss so many topics and with such enthusiasm. Today we talked about the three classes I am teaching and made some asjustments. It is great to have a colleague with whom I can discuss my work; I have never had this before, and feel that I am in a teacher's paradise.