Some of the best days are those that are completely unplanned. Today we had originally planned to go see a play, but then we got a call from Guen that she wanted to hang out, so we went over to see her. We went to the mall to see a movie where we met up with my parents. Then there was a shopping extravaganza! They bought us both a lot of new clothes. Thank you so much!!! Dad and I got to hang out a bit while the girls were away, too. That was nice.

Bets and Guen went to see “Stick It,” so I skipped out and went to hang out with Dad and Mom a bit. Dad grilled the juiciest steaks ever and made some great sides. Then we just relaxed.

A very nice day with the family, completely unplanned.

Family, Shopping, Stick It

Today I had an excellent class! First, Bets and I stopped in to Papi’s on Ponce to get some tostones and maduros for my students. I explained what they were, how they were prepared, and they all got to to try them.

Then we did a very fun negotiation of meaning activity where students are paired and one of them has a composite picture and has to describe it to the other person who then draws it (only by hearing what the other person is saying). It really gets them using gestures, circumlocution, and other techniques to get their point across. Too, they really seem to enjoy themselves. The picture portrays an airport, so it requires them to use a lot of the vocabulary from Chapter 9 (which we had to review today).

The semester is wrapping up quite nicely. Monday is the last day of class, then the finals on Wednesday.

Negotiation of Meaning, Plantains

Tonight I decided to go to bed early so that I wouldn’t be tired tomorrow for work, but then I started hearing a dripping noise in the kitchen. I asked Betsy if the window was open, but she said it wasn’t. Then we discovered that there was water all in the kitchen. We saw that it was coming in from around the window! I noticed that the gutter for the building was full and so water was pouring over the edge of it onto our window sill, where it was thereby leaking into our kitchen. We put a bunch of towels and I thought that would be it, but then I heard dripping again in about 30 minutes. The towels were soaked, so I called our emergency line.

Now the rain has kind of lightened up a bit. We’re waiting for the maintenance man to give us a call back.

Rain, Home

My contacts party was short-lived. I took them out last night and put my glasses back on. All yesterday I was fiddling with my phantom-glasses. I didn’t realize how often I pushed up my glasses or adjusted them until I wasn’t wearing them anymore. I actually missed them! So, back to ol’ four eyes for me.

Glasses

For some reason, this morning I decided I wanted to wear my contacts. I probably haven’t worn them in well over a year now. Now I have what Betsy likes to call “old man eyes.”

That should probably throw my students for a loop today. hehe. I wonder if it is better for allergic eyes to have contacts or not. I would guess to have, since it might block out some of the pollen (but I could be wrong).

Contacts, Allergies