Boa Noite!

This would be the beach. It was foggy and cloudy, but we were all still there--and it was fun :)
This is downtown Cascais, where I live. There are tons of cute shops and cafes--but the sidewalks will make you dizzy!
These are funny because they are the most in-depth locks EVER. Portuguese people are VERY into security...which is funny, cause I never hear of anything dangerous happening. Maybe it's because everyone uses these suckers on their doors!
Um, yes. Those are canned snails. And the come with snail shells, so you can stuff them. And then eat them.
These are fish bodies--cut open and salted. Then they're stacked like this on tables and hanging from hooks and ewwww! They smell something AWFUL!
Welcome to the beach! I went for the very first time today--and I enjoyed it! Though, I was constantly reminded that this is Europe by everyone's attire and beach protocol...
This is one view of my classroom at ICSC. My room has 3 glass walls, with floor to ceiling shades that come down (actually these are over EVERY window in EVERY building--including my apartment--it all comes back to security!) It's quite snug, but I like it. The science teacher I work with, Robb, mocks my desire to make it "pretty," but hey I have to stare at it all day, so I'll try to make it as pretty as possible!
This is my desk here in the corner of my classroom.
The front of my classroom--the library is right outside my door. So when I'm teaching, everyone in the library is learning too--whether they want to or not!
This picture is for B-ma--she wanted to know about my bedroom--well here it is! Not very exciting--and lots of white walls, but it does the trick.

Today at church, I heard two songs that made me smile--the first was "For the Beauty of the Earth," an old hymn that makes me think of Little Women and the second was "Eternal God," which took me right back to somewhere around 1995. Both of these songs brought back great memories--and made me miss home a bit! To be honest though, I haven't had too much time to be homesick lately. My life is entirely FULL of things. If it's not teaching, then it's planning; if it's not planning, it's some sort of meeting (apparently, we educators love our meetings); and if it's not a meeting, it's most certainly me making a list of the next 1,000,000 things I have to do!

This weekend, for example, I have been contemplating the Christmas Program that I've been put in charge of. Sounds great right? Christmas carols, twinkling lights, eggnog and gingerbread!!! That's what I thought too--when I agreed to do it. Now, however, I'm thinking--my bob, what have I gotten myself into???

I have moments like this pretty often. I feel like as soon as I cross everything off of one list, I've got another list, 3 times as long, waiting for me. It's a little time consuming--this teaching thing. I find myself at the school from about 7:30 am until about 6 pm everyday--and then coming home and usually working here for another few hours. Even weekends, I have spent a lot of time working on plans and grading papers. Sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in the details, that I tend to forget why I'm really here. Don't get me wrong--I want to be an amazing teacher. I want my kids to learn--and I think that's why it takes me so long to get everything done--I'm sitting for hours trying to figure out ways to make this academic book stuff come alive for them--and that's hard! I want my students to enjoy school and to do well. But at the same time, I want to be careful that I'm not just their teacher--I want them to feel like they can come to me with anything. I'm here to be there for them--and I don't want to get some wrapped up in the little things that I forget that. This may all sound confusing! I apologize--it's just what's been going around in my brain this weekend.

Anyway, I'm attaching some new pictures :) Thanks so much for all your prayers everybody--I've been feeling them! I love you all!

xoxo

Ariel