It's that time of year once again...

Come the end of August, something special happens in the stationary and paper stores of Ecuador. It is the dreaded SCHOOL SUPPLY SHOPPING, and it is back! You may remember my experience school supply shopping last year - what started out as a fun, exciting moment of my eldest being old enough to go to school, turned into a hair-pulling, four-hour long ordeal. Aside from the general lack of product in the stores ("Thin wire? No sorry, we're out. Nope, don't have shiny foam either. No, I've never heard of PLAID fabric paint. We don't carry small rolling pins, and we ran out of markers and colored pencils and modeling clay yesterday"), the fact that the list itself reads like Morse code (1oo hjs papel bond tamaño INEN 75 gr.), and the lines that go to the back of the store, there is an additional problem: everything you buy wrong (brand, size, color) IS SENT BACK! Needless to say, school supply shopping is a small science here, and so this year I came prepared: I brought a translator (my Spanish-speaking and Ecuadorian-raised husband), and I got the list the week before classes started.

Despite my preparation and general prudence, there were still large crowds. My translator was indispensable, and although he does not enjoy this type of shopping at all, I will never again go on my own. Me: "Boxed pencil sharpener?" (He grabs it off the shelf and puts it in the cart. ), "Cheese eraser?" ("I saw those over here..." as he goes to get it), "2 HB pencils? 1 imitation rapidografo, black? 3 large sheets of "comet" paper?" (Hubby scurrying from aisle to aisle, grabbing normal things like fine-lined pens and pencils and tissue paper off the shelves.)

We were in and out within an hour, although we only had half of the items. Since then I have been briefed on what to look for ("brilliant foam sheets" = foam with glitter in it, "thin rope" = thin corded ribbon", etc.) so that over the next few days I can be on the lookout for specialty items, hopefully available in some of the smaller stationary stores. I am still struggling with a "non-traditional story book" (Pinocchio? Aladdin? The Three Bears? What is considered "traditional" here?) and finding a junior-sized rolling pin. Oh, and reusable paper towels - do such things even exist?

And the ever elusive PLAID fabric paint - which I have seen in the U.S. but never here.

So, the hunt will continue and come Monday, will we be prepared? Come back to see!

Note: You may remember from last year that cotton balls were a popular item. It seems that teachers get into fads, since they all ask for the same thing. This year there are no cotton balls on our list, but we have been hard pressed to find the glittered foam sheets and yellow folders. Who says teachers don't succumb to peer pressure?

Update on Agustin's School

Well, as most of you may or may not know, Agustin, 3, started preschool a few weeks ago. We put him in a place that was near the house, but after a few unfortunate incidents (luckily not involving him but other kids his age), we decided to find somewhere that was a bit more organized and not so impromptu. We found a beautiful school only a few minutes by car from the house, and immediately enrolled him. At first it was hard for him to make the transition. He missed his other school, his other friends, his other teacher. He didn't seem to hate the new school, but was sad and wouldn't talk - not one word the whole morning (very strange for him, let me say - he's not one to be quiet for long!). He was picking up on a lot of things, however - learning a few shapes (in Spanish) and some songs (unintelligible for the most part), but not really making friends as I understand. The teachers were impressed with his motor skills - he took up the scissors and color crayons and all right away (he practices with Mommy). But socially, not doing so good.

Well, last Friday he had a bit of a stomachache the night before and so we decided to keep him home since he seemed constipated (sorry if that is too much information for anyone - just normal Mommy-talk, I guess). Then, we stayed an extra day in Ambato this weekend and didn't get home until early Monday morning - so Tin missed two days of class. Today his grandmother brought him and all he did was cry!

After a few minutes of crying, the school decided to put him into the daycare program (in a separate area) of the school, with the other 3-year-olds, and he was so happy! He talked the whole morning, played with the other kids, made a friend (Martin) and said goodbye and see you tomorrow when he left. I am relieved, because it looks like they were pushing him too hard - while maybe not too advanced per se, perhaps a little over his head in a certain way. Anyhow, this way he will be with these new kids until next school year, when they will, together, enter preschool. I am much more comfortable with this - maybe this new school was too organized! Obviously, the kids had already been in the school for the entire school year, and Agustin was entering late, so was behind. It seems like he knew that. Also, this school made him work and play hard, and he would come home every day so crabby and so exhausted that we would end up fighting the whole night with him. I think he was just being pushed too hard.

So, that's the latest news in the Life of Agustin!

Another blog in the blogosphere

I've been largely absent on my blog lately. I've been really busy at work, which is the only place I can post blogs from, since Blogger doesn't like Safari much. I've also been working on the CEC blog, which I've created for CEC students but which could be used for English students in general. Here's the link. Check it out and leave a comment. It is a team blog, but so far (as you can see), I am the only one posting anything. I'm having a ball with it though as I learn how to embed youtube videos (easy) and other widgets like that cool Hangman game. Plus, I "get" to read books frm our library and post reviews, which gives me an excuse to read. And anything that gives me an excuse to blog, of course. Blogging rocks.

Nicolas recently had his one-year birthday. We will be celebrating this weekend, but we did have cake and a few presents on the real day. Here is the birthday boy now.



















and another one:




















and we can't forget his big brother...

Testing what I've Learned

I've been involved in some online workshops about using technology (blogs, internet, wikis, etc.) in the classroom, and I've come across so many great ideas. Over the next few days, I'll be experimenting with them and posting them somewhere so I don't forget! Here is the first experiment: a photo cube! how cool is that?

Cool Slideshows