Bonfires and Thunderstorms

It's just after 4:00. I'm sitting in my living room with the windows wide open and listening to the sound of rain pouring down on our tin roof. The thunder is going like crazy. Lightening flashes almost continuously. My cats are not scared; rather, they sit comfortably, each on his own chair in the dining room. If you were in the room with me, we'd have to shout back and forth to each other. Sometimes it still boggles my mind that I live in a place where we have tropical storms and I can see palm trees outside my window. I'm enjoying it right now.

Earlier today I was at work, teaching. This week I started teaching an English Kids' Camp. I wrote the curriculum for the intermediate level and am teaching the beginner level. The kids come in groups from Colombia. This first week, it was just 1 group, and I had 9 students. On Monday, another group will start and I think I'll be up to 12 in my class. The kids are cute...but naughty. (Erika - WORSE than some of the ones we had at WILS.) Their English is very limited, and the curriculum is too hard for them. Which means a lot of thinking on my toes and a lot of games! It's quite exhausting, really. They get two 10 minute breaks in the morning. Typically, I let them out of the classroom and watch them walk to the bathroom, and then escort them around the corner outside to a courtyard between two buildings. It's not a big courtyard, so they can't run and play or anything like that. Two of the boys brought hackey sacks today, so I figured: sweet! That will keep them occupied! Well, apparently not occupied enough. I left them alone for not more than 5 minutes to set up for the next activity in the classroom. When I cam back out, they were all sitting there, watching.....fire. Yes, they created a bonfire right there in the middle of the courtyard - surrounded by bushes, a bench, and two buildings. I guess one kid had brought a lighter. They lit their brown paper bags and juice cartons on fire. These kids are 8-12 years old! What little sh*ts!!!

I left it up to their school director (a petite, lovely nun) to deal with them. Discipline is above my pay grade. I just went back to teaching: January...February...March.....