Sunday, June 15, 2008

James Blunt!



I was VIP at the James Blunt concert this weekend. Well, of course I wasnt really important but I knew some people that were. I love that I have connections here. Anyways the concert was awesome! James Blunt was fantastic live. He had lots of energy and was really fun to watch. Its near impossible to take a decent picture at a concert since its so dark, but I thought this one turned out cool even though you can't tell who the band is. The second picture is of Azra, Emira and me right after the concert. They are both way sweet and fun girls that will be teaching with me at the school. I really dont have much to add, things here are the same as last week...work work and more work.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Working Overtime!

This week has been so busy! Florencia and I have been working from sun up til sun down...seriously 14 hour days easily. But the great news is, we are enjoying it. We spend the mornings preparing for the teacher training course, the afternoon training and the evenings working on other projects in preperation for the school opening. The first day of training was difficult because of the language barrier. Some of the teachers struggle to understand English, but mostly they aren't confident in speaking it. We pushed them really hard all week and it was amazing to see the improvement by Friday. In just five days they needed practically no translations. All of the teachers seem very dedicated and are putting in lots of effort. They appear to be excited about Montessori and about learning more of her philiosophy and method. I don't mind that I have been working so much because I am so happy to be teaching and learning at the same time. There is so much that I don't know and this week has been completely fascinating to me as I have learned a lot about pre-natal and the first three years of life. I have been teaching a workshop on communication with children and as I have prepared for it, I have learned so much about language and its affects on our emotions. Be very careful what you say! The more I learn about Montessori the more I love it. Everyday this past week was like a confirmation to me that the path I am on right now is the right one. I am so eager for next week to start...I love sharing my knowledge with others! It is rewarding to see the eyes of these teachers light up as they begin to understand and appreciate the Montessori way.