So I was going to wait to post this so I could add some pictures, but I haven't got around to it and this is about a week old already. I'll try to get pictures up on Monday or Tuesday.

Last weekend (Now two weekends ago- the weekend before Palm Sunday) I went to Granada on my descanso, partly just because I wanted to, and partly to do research on hotels and tours for when my parents come in July. I had a very nice relaxing time there! Granada is a very pretty city, and very touristy (probably at least partly because it's so pretty). But it was nice to be there and eat some different types of food. I didn't do anything very exciting. I never seem to do much on my descansos- I'm so tired, I just want to rest. I stayed at two different hostels. The first was nicer, and had a pool, but then Michelle joined me and wanted to move to one that was a little cheaper and had free breakfast. It was also nice (they both had free internet), but I think I'll stay at the first one when I'm back in Granada. So I spent lots of time on the internet, and reading, and relaxing. It was good!

Then on the way back from Granada, we met a couple from the US, John and Janae, who had been volunteering in Jinetega building houses. They were heading to the island to relax, and we invited them to stop by NPH. So Wednesday they came by and stayed at the monastery one night. They ate dinner with the kids, and Michelle and I got a lot of questions if they were our parents (they were around our parents age). We said, no, just friends we met in Granada. The kids didn't seem to care much, they were just excited to meet new people. It was nice for us too. It's always nice to connect with someone from close to home.

So I've been busy in aula de recurso. I usually have some math problems for the kids to do. A lot of them are working on subtraction with borrowing and place value. They're also all working on memorizing the multiplication tables. So we practice those, often with games to make it a little more interesting. We use a variation of the game "war". Instead of one card, you lay down two, and then each person has to multiply their own cards. Then the biggest wins. The kids like it, and it's good for them because here they memorize the multiplication tables in order, so they need practice on doing them out of order. I've also been explaining multiplication to a lot of them, because many of them have it memorized, but don't understand why 4 x 3 = 12. Also in each session we usually read a book and then I write up some questions for them to answer about the book. That's my morning, and then in the afternoons I'm usually planning for the next day. Also, since we don't have a copy machine, and the one in the school office is broken, I make lots of copies by hand. So that takes up time too! Then I'll go up and hang out with the kids and help them with their homework. On Tuesday I started reading Charlie and the Choclate Factory (in Spanish) to the girls after dinner. It's open to whoever wants to come, and I usually have between 3 and 10. They seem to be enjoying it, so that's good. They often ask me to read a second chapter. I'm going to try to get a copy of Harry Potter 1 to read to them after Charlie, but I have a few other good options if I can't find HP. I have Charlotte's Web and The Hatchet. But I think they'd really like to read Harry Potter.

Another thing I've been doing lately is downloading St Olaf chapel services. The Catholic mass here isn't exactly what I would choose for a church service. The priest is (as described by our national director, who is Catholic) boring. His sermons almost aren't worth the extra concentration that listening in Spanish takes. So that's unfortunate. Also, the music here is not overly great. Liselot is trying to work with the choir, but she says it's really hard because they can't even match pitch. And then also there's the problem that I always feel excluded in Catholic churches because I'm not allowed to take communion. So I was missing church in the states, with good music and sermons that make you think and teach you things. So I found the podcasts of the St Olaf chapel services. It takes a lot of patience, because a 20 minute chapel service takes an hour to download and a 1 hour church service takes 3 hours. So I often start a download in the morning and then go off to school. Sometimes when I come back it has worked, but more often the internet has timed out and I have to try again the next day. But I get some, and that's better than none!

The exciting news from here (at least for me) is that on Sunday the group from Carleton college comes (plus Dave O and Antonia) and then next weekend on Saturday (the day before Easter) the St Olaf and Gustavus groups come. Each group will only be here one night, but it will still be really nice to see some people from home. This coming week is Holy Week, so we have lots of activities planned for the kids, so it should be a busy, but fun week. I'll let you all know how it goes! I hope you all have a wonderful Holy Week, and for those of you on Spring break, have safe travels and a relaxing break from class!