A 'Mal' Day

Preface: In Spanish class each day I ask the students how they are doing. They respond with "bien" (well), "asi, asi" (so, so) or "mal" (bad).

The five year old kindergarten classes had a tea party at school today. The object was to practice manners that they have been learning. It was pretty cute!! The cafeteria was all decorated and the refreshments were fun and sugary. Each student dressed up for the occasion. I was able to peak at it for a bit and was so sad that I didn't have a camera. There were party dresses, neck ties, top hats, feather boas, gloves, and even a tiara! I had to laugh when I saw Rohan (one of my favorite Indian students) wearing a giant cowboy hat!

One of the kindergarten classes came to Spanish immediately after the tea party. They were quite sugared up! One boy wearing a coat, tie, and hat walked into class and announced to me "I am mal! I am having a mal day! The tea party was mal!" I asked him why it was so "mal." He pointed to the rest of the class and replied, "Because THEY laughed at my mustache and broke it."

(Now this perplexed me a bit, because I didn't see a mustache. I had noticed one of the kids earlier with a mustache painted on, so I assumed that this was what he had had and that maybe it had smeared or something.)

Meanwhile, we jumped into Spanish class for the day, but every now and then it was punctuated by little comments like, "I am so mal!" and "They broke my mustache!"

It all made sense though when Nicolas marched from his seat to trash and declared, "This mustache belongs in the trash!" I saw then that it was an adhesive little Hitler-looking mustache that had become stuck to itself without any hope of being untangled.

Life can be so rough when you are five!

The Crazy South!

Today a guest pastor at our church told us this and I just had to pass it on! As a child his grandmother used to make him take a piece of peppermint and a sugar cube mixed with a tablespoon of kerosene. She called this "worming" them.

Wow!

Playing school!

As a child, I spent many hours playing school in my bedroom. I would line my dolls up (including my Cabbage Patch dolls Brenda Patience and Dougie Teddy- laugh Cabbage Patch sure knows how to name em).


My sweet Dad even made me a grade book and a pointer to make it even more real.


Now I really am a teacher! This is my first year teaching elementary Spanish and I often feel like I am playing school again. Only this time, the students can talk and this makes all the difference! If there is one thing kids do well it is talk!


Kids can say the funniest things. I have been asked numerous times if I am Mexican! I am trying to teach them that everyone who speaks Spanish is not Mexican.


The first week I asked them to name some countries where Spanish is spoken. The answers were rather pitiful. Maybe it is the Olympics, but several claimed that they speak Spanish in China.


But my favorite story of all is the first grade class with an Indian student named Sham. Another boy in the class pointed to him and declared, "He speaks Spanish. He is Mexican!" Sham vehemently protested, "I promise, I'm not Mexican!"

Oh dear, here we go again with the whole Mexican thing...

In the middle of the woods...

When I first moved here after we married I got a job at the local library. I was the "floater" which meant each day of the week I was assigned to a different branch in one of the surrounding towns. Wednesdays I always dreaded! I was sent to an almost dead little town with hardly anything more than a gas station and the library. Today though, I returned to this town and unbelievably even found myself thinking "I could live here." Here is why...
Deep in the woods on the banks of the river is a little cabin.
With an amazingly chilling spring feed pool!
A dear lady from church lives there and invited the youth for an afternoon of fun in the refreshing water.
Ronnie, my big fish, hardly left the water.
The diving board provided endless entertainment.

And the cozy cabin was perfect for a relaxing Sunday afternoon!

Ronnie and I both agreed, that it would be wonderful to have such a retreat one day, even in what I thought was a horrible little town!

Porches!

Being the foodies (lovers of good food) that we are, Ronnie and I were thrilled to hear everyone's rave reviews of a local restaurant called Porches. We have learned that small town voices are prone to exaggeration so we wondered if it was really all that it was made out to be. However, when we visited it a few months ago, we were thoroughly impressed! In fact, we returned to visit it again today with Ronnie's parents.


Porches is located in an old southern house complete with big sweeping porches, stained glass windows, hardwood floors, picket fences, hydrangeas and lots of charm!

Hungry visitors enter though an inviting gate.

In true southern fashion, a welcome is issued from the yard.

Diners can choose from an intimate table in one of the indoor dining rooms or for one on the big veranda surrounding a lush courtyard. We opted for the porch since it just seems fitting to eat there in an establishment with that name!
The entree choices included Pineapple Brined Pork Loin, Baked Chicken Casserole and Shrimp and Fried Eggplant Croistini. I choose the shrimp and it was delicious!
Each meal includes Tea, an entree, your choice of three sides, corn bread or yeast roll, and dessert. A lot of food for a mere $8.75!
Something new we tried today was a fresh tomato cake. Imagine a crab cake only substitute the crab with tomato...very yummy! Other side options included: fried green tomatoes, black eyed peas, pasta salad, garden salad, and hot pineapple. Each day the options are different. On our last visit they had lemonade green beans that were amazing.
Dessert was your choice of bread pudding with almond sauce or pear cobbler.

The pears were fresh from the tree out front!
The visit is completed with a stop by the gift shop full of pretty and interesting antiques! The owner will ring you up herself and offer all kinds of little interesting tidbits about the history of the community.
If you want to experience southern cuisine at its finest then this is the spot! Come visit and we will take you there!

Youth Trip

We are off to a week at the beach with the youth! It should be fun and challenging all at once. Pray for us if you think about us please!

Antiquing!

While our town hardly offers anything in the way of shopping (excluding the WalMart and Dollar General) , it offers some great spots for antiquing and junking. I enjoy wondering through the wide expanses of stuff and searching for some great treasure. I never know what I might find!

Recently, Ronnie and I walked downtown and wondered the aisles of an old building now full of vintage goods. I think I probably made about four full laps all around the store taking everything in. It was definitely worth the exploration; I came home with a few new (old!) treasures of my own!
This tea/coffee pot from the 1950s instantly caught my eye. I love the color and thought it would be a fun addition to my teacup collection.

Months ago I spotted this glass pitcher and set of eight matching glasses with flowers etched into them. I refrained from purchase as I couldn't really justify the price. However, as I admired them again the elderly man who runs the shop noticed and offered to come down significantly on the price. I couldn't pass up the offer!

Apparently I inherited my mother's love for pretty china and dishes!