Homesick...

Friday was again, spent at the school preparing our classrooms.  When I arrived at the school, I went to gather my supplies from the school store, but they were still not in.  They said to check back in after our meeting at 9:30.  I spent most of the morning in Alexis's room, helping her decorate and cover her bulletin boards.  I also helped her with her inventory list, since hers was one of the ones that was two pages long.  I loved the way she had set up her classroom, using various props and decorations.  I envied how creative she was, but she reminded me that this was her third year teaching and she had accumulated all of it from years prior.

Around 9:30, we all headed over to the auditorium for a workshop.  The professor from NY who had come down with the two student teachers was giving a workshop on how to promote an English speaking only atmosphere.  Since it is an English speaking school, it's often challenging to get student to only speak English since they are so used to speaking Spanish.  Most of the teachers, myself included, were interested in the workshop, but were anxious to get back to our classrooms.  There was so much to do and not enough time.  After the workshop, a lady from HR came in to go over procedures and rules with us...again.  That's when it got interesting.  People were in an uproar over some of the rules and made several outbursts.  Things like teachers weren't allowed to cut in front of students to get their lunch and personal day requirements were much debated and argued over.  I sat back, amused, at the personalities erupting and kind of felt bad for the HR lady.  After all, she was only the messenger from the administration...

 About an hour later, things still were not resolved, but we were all dismissed for lunch.  It was a brief lunch, as everyone wanted to get back to their classrooms.  I got my stuff from the school store, which it was finally there, and returned to my room.  I began tearing down all the old paper and setting up the new stuff.  I still had no clue what I was going to put on each board, but the new bright colors cheered me up.  I stuck my headphones in began dancing and singing along as I worked.  Around 2:30 I had to stop for a high school meeting in the library.  I received my schedule, but no roster, so I still had no clue how many students I had.  However, I had two classes for each grade.  Six classes a day...not too bad.  I was anxious to see who my students were and how everyone would get along.  After the meeting, I finished hanging up the butcher paper on the bulletin boards and called it a day.  I would finish everything on Monday.  I returned to the hotel, exhausted again, but happy I had gotten some stuff accomplished.

That evening, as I chatted online with family and friends, I began to become really homesick.  What was I doing?  Was I really not going to get to see my friends and family for 4 straight months?  I missed my sisters, my nephew, my friends and family; the ability to get food that I liked by just walking  into the kitchen.  I missed the comfort of my own bed.  I even missed the smells of home.  Did I make a big mistake in coming here?  After all, the financial situation was not the best.  Do I just call it quits and return home?  I mulled over these questions with two of my close friends back home and they both told me the same thing: "stick it out;  you committed to a year.  Yes, we miss you and you miss us, but it's for four months.  You can do it."  They really encouraged me, even though I was still feeling down.  It was going to be a long four months.