​Getting back into the groove today was rough. When my alarm went off at 5AM, I wanted to cry. I was hoping for another seed planting day at the farm, but no such luck. Amber and Nico planted the rest of the seeds, and Maria and I watered the seeds we planted Thursday and finished hoeing the weeds out of the eggplant field that we started working on last Wednesday. Definitely not my favorite activity. It’s pretty hard on your back, and the stupid chickens at the farm follow you around while you’re trying to work and do their best to get in the way. I’ve started to just continue working as I would if they weren’t there, and if a chicken loses its head, it’s not my problem (yes, I realize it kind of actually would be my problem, but I’m choosing to ignore that). I’m adding “catch a chicken with my bare hands” to my list of goals for my time here.

Maria, trying not to fall into the water hole while filling up a watering can (don’t worry, this isn’t where we get the water for our showers)

The day didn’t get much better from there. Fernanda is still feeling sick, so I took over her class for the day (P5 and P6, aka 5th and 6th grade). I was just getting comfortable with our kids, and having to adjust to a new group was a bit of a challenge. She helped me with the prep work which was good, but the kids were hard to control and it didn’t help that I don’t know most of their names. For the elective, I tried to put them into groups to construct paper towers and compete to build the tallest one, and it was a disaster. They kept switching groups and trying to get me to tell them how to build their towers. In the end, two out of the three groups had good attempts, and the third turned in a stack of papers.

The winning tower, complete with a door and a roof (because all of the kids wanted to build houses instead of towers, and I said fine as long as it’s a tall house)

By the time school ended, I was ready to have some time away from the kids. I’m still not feeling great, so I took a nap for a few hours and woke up just in time for dinner. I’ve been in a bit of a daze since then. I think I just need to get to bed early tonight and try to sleep off the rest of whatever I have.I should go prep for class tomorrow so I can get some sleep. Good night!

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