Boots Abroad: Things that make me laugh/smile in my day : )

I thought I would dedicate this post to some of the little things that make my days enjoyable!

1. my walks to/from school
- Obviously I have never called a small town "home" before, and I have found that I enjoy it more than I thought I would! Angol is so pretty, and I underestimated how much I would appreciate having a beautiful landscape in the background every day. I have plenty of route varieties on my 25-min walk between the house and school, and there are always new things to notice. Since I got back for second semester I have spotted two new graffiti murals by the same artist in the area near school. There's hardly any graffiti art in Angol, but I like these!

There has also been more pollen (which I learned is from the pine trees in the hills surrounding town, not from those yellow trees like I thought), and more rain, so I had plenty of sidewalk designs to spot this week. The color didn't come out in this picture very well, because it was cloudy, but the powder is yellow, I swear!

it looks cooler in person, just believe me

2. our government-issued textbooks at school

- Some textbooks are just more entertaining than others. The sophomore students found a picture in their book of a little gringa girl who they think looks like me, and between the curly pigtails, book, and smart-alecky caption, I have to give them credit. She bears a chilling resemblance to young Maddie.

this is from a unit on expressing opinions. some real controversial stuff here.

My favorite picture in the textbooks, however, is this amazing photoshopped owlcat:

If anybody knows any geneticists with too much time on their hands, please forward them that photo. We owe it to humanity.

3. the animals I come across

- Mr. Llama, obviously. Not even bad weather can keep him away from his odd post.

But also the many dogs everywhere. As much as I hate to see them out in the street, I stop to pet them frequently, which cheers us both up immensely. And of course we have the cows that occasionally wander into our neighborhood. They don't do anything particularly exciting--I mean, they're cows--but I do love surprises, and that includes turning a corner and seeing a cow where you are not expecting a cow. Yesterday I had a new surprise as well: a pig!

this porky was pretty filthy. I have no idea where he came from

4. my host family

- I've said before how lucky I am to have been placed with my host family, but it always bears repeating. They're somehow reserved yet goofy at the same time, much like myself. Luckily my Spanish is adequate enough for us to make jokes together. My host mom's cooking is keeping me on my toes--this week I tried both cow udder and cow stomach. I thought they both had the same flavor, and I did not like that flavor... but I'll try anything, and they know that! My host siblings are always singing or practicing guitar, and they have little family jam sessions every now and then. A few weeks ago the power went out for a bit, so we had to light candles and they sang a bunch of lovely songs I didn't know. They have beautiful voices! It's lovely coming home to them every day. I don't think I ever shared this picture, but this was from my birthday celebration back in April : )

Francisca (Panchi), Yeny, Franco, and Vlady

5. my students

- I've gotta say, I had no idea I would enjoy working with high schoolers this much. I was used to working with either much younger kids or people my own age, but high school students? I wasn't sure how I would manage the teacher/friend balance. But it has been fantastic! They're disruptive sometimes, yeah, but I expected as much, and a lot of them are sweet enough to try to make it up to me if they can tell that I'm frustrated. I am really impressed by the effort that a lot of them put into English, too. They never run out of questions about different phrases they heard or words they saw. Regardless of their level, they try to make jokes and show off by using slang I have taught them. That ranges from them throwing up their hands with a "my bad! my bad, Maddie" when I catch them talking in class, to trash-talking their friends with "I eat guys like you for breakfast!" And they are amazingly sweet. My freshman students have been some of the most affectionate ones. In fact, I have a fan club of freshman boys. They call themselves "The Maddie Lovers," and they throw up hearts for me when I walk by. I adore them, but, as you can see from my face here, they can be quite exhausting sometimes!

the core founders of The Maddie Lovers: Daniel, Nicolás, Julio, and Sebastián

But I have plenty of other, less-obsessed, sweet students too! And, in fact, I've even gotten to know some of the elementary and middle school students who I don't have in class but who I see during recesses.