summer days and living easy

So its been about 10 years since i wrote on here. Sorry but i figure that everyone that really keeps up with what i'm doing talks to me through e-mails, letters, or phone. but life has been really great and i think its worth sending my positive thoughts out into cyberspace. So today is officially 6 months since I've been in Guyana and i have to say my life is good:) I still miss everyone at home like crazy but this has been such an amazing experience so far that it almost makes up for that. Even on my worst day this is still the best decision i've ever made. maybe im still in my honeymoon phase i don't know. but im growing up and learning so much about myself that i figure even if i dont do something huge and earth shattering this will still be worth it.
So the reason for my good mood..i started my summer classes two weeks ago. The first day it was pouring raining so of course i was worried no one would come. And i wanted to show the other teachers that I am a good teacher. I figured if no one showed itd be embarassing. So i got to school and some of the boys were already waiting for me. :) My class is for low students that are going into grade 6 because a lot of them cant read and they take there Common entrance exams in 6th which can strongly play a role in where their education/life goes. So for my class i originally had 8 boys say they were coming. And now i have 10 boys in my class...i guess the girls didnt want to come. and i have really bonded with them. The first day of class i pre-assessed all their phonics knowledge and letter recognition skills. I had a few kids who could not recognize over half the letters in the alphabet and a couple that did not know a single letter sound in the english languagge! i mean they couldnt tell you what one letter said. but i dont see this as a problem. it just means i can start from the beginning which is good! so we've been taking small steps so far we've covered the letters B D and F. Next week we are going to start with H. i'm hitting all the one sound letters first. Originally my class was two days a week but the boys seemed to like it and i was having fun, and now that i know how much we need to cover i uped it to three days a week. I'm hoping that i will be able to continue on with them throughout the school year and work with other grades too in the same way because there are only 9 classes left and thats just not enough time. I'm hoping that i really they make a strong progress in their literacy...sorry if this is boring but i love this stuff..what can i say ima teacher!

oh also i rescued a cat from the market last week. he/she is so sweet and TINY luckily ..despite my friend Dan jinxing her(thanks!) heds/shes still alive. im pretty sure its too small to be away from its mother though. but it seems to be doing fine. im not normally a cat person but its nice to have something to take care of and play with. Its name is williams..you know..cat...williams lol shout out to trell on that one.

but dont worry suzie i still love you more!!!

p.s. i think one day the bats are going to take over my house entirely!

until next time i love and miss you all!!

leighton