Math in Spanish

This morning we followed the normal routine of heading to the Toddler House and cutting up veggies before breakfast, but this morning the only veggies to cut up were potatoes...and LOTS of them!  It was interesting that Mirna (the cook) didn't know you could eat the skin of the potatoes.  She thought the skin was a layer of dirt.  Even though I mentioned that it could be eaten to her and that we eat potato skins back in the States, Laurie and I still peeled all of the potatoes anyway while Alina, and Laurie's children (Rachel, Rebekah and Nathaniel) chopped up the potatoes.

After chopping the veggies we had breakfast and as usual, Rachel and I washed the dishes.  When I came out of the kitchen, I saw Carla with a plate of what looked like restaurant food.  She told me that sometimes the Tienda sells breakfast and that was where she got it.  On the plate were 2 tortillas, a fried egg, refried beans, bacon, butter, a slice of avocado, and 2 slices of fried plantains.  It looked AMAZING!  She asked if I would like her to call down to the Tienda and ask them to set a plate aside for me.  I didn't even have to think twice...it only cost $1.25 in American money.  When the plate came up to the Toddler House, I shared with Alina (since we both had eaten breakfast already).  It was delicious.

After eating that plate of food, I walked with the big girls to the school.  The elementary school did not have classes today due to a teacher inservice.  Suany, who graduated last year and is studying for her upcoming exam in September to go to the university (kind of like an ACT test), asked for some help on the 2 math sections of the practice exam.  I told her that I'd run back to our room for a notebook and some pencils and that I'd be right back after dropping the big girls off at school.  We spent the entire morning going over the 50 practice math problems.  My master's degree in bilingual education (being able to teach math in Spanish) has really paid off here, since the problems incorporated Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2.  We finished up right around lunch time.

After getting the kids settled for taking a nap, I headed out to the farm to take a picture of the cement job that the WI/AL teams did.  When our WI/MD crew was down here, they did the left side of the greenhouse (hydroponics) floor, and the week after the AL team came in and did the right side.  I've made a few mental notes about the work done...although the AL team's side seems more smooth on the surface, there were many more cracks on that side.  Also there was a large ripple where you could see they left off on the first day and began on the second day.  In the picture the left side may look rougher, but that is all loose stone/gravel that can be swept away.  GREAT JOB WI/MD!

Left Side: WI/WVA/MD Team and Right Side: AL Team

I walked around the boys area and found Emilio who I needed to chat with about technology.  After we chatted, I headed back to the Tienda and chatted with Doris' sister, Lourdes, for a little bit before heading back to the Toddler House to play with the kiddos for an hour, then go through the supper and night time routine.  After all the kiddos were showered and dishes were done, Alina and I headed back to our room.  We brought up a movie on Netflix, called Summer Eleven.  The movie is geared to Alina's age, with 4 girls as characters who spend the summer together after their 5th grade year and all having different backgrounds.  Alina really liked it.  Although the power went out during the movie, my laptop was fully charged, so we were able to continue watching it.  The power came back on before the movie was over.  We headed to bed shortly after.