mid terms

I am sighing a big sigh of relief because my colleague and I just submitted the mid-term grades for all of our classes. It is always a nice feeling to get that necessary and often troublesome part of teaching accomplished. Compared to last cuatri, I felt better prepared and more confident, and, this time around, I think I was more successful at managing my time with respect to giving and grading exams. And now I can get down to the business of planning for the second half of the cuatri, which ends on April 23. I have a feeling it´s going to fly by (especially because we have our Spring Break April 1-10)! Anyway, things have been busy lately with work and I´m hoping to move again in about a week because something I have come to understand about myself is that I just really need my own space right now. But I have been thinking about blogging! I´ve been thinking about all the friends and family I am far away from, too. Thank goodness for Skype and blogs and phones and all the modern things that help me stay connected.

We are having a bit of a cold spell here in Yucatán right now - temps went down to a frigid 50°F during the night. Laugh all you want, but it feels chilly when you´re used to 80°F weather.

New Pictures Haiku

Some things pass quickly

Others are worth waiting for.

Another night falls.

¡Mi perfil profesional!

You can now see my professional profile up on the UNO website:
http://www.uno.edu.mx/contenido/personal_academico_detalles.php?depto=Idiomas#

(It´s only taken 5 months!)

More soon...I am busy getting things going on my new online Moodle course for 2nd year Public Administration students.

Saludos!

My Address at UNO

This is my address at work, should anyone ever need to send me anything:

Maestra Sylvia Popichak

Depto. de Idiomas

Universidad de Oriente

Av. Chanyokdzonot Tablaje Catastral 10344-10345,

Valladolid, Yucatán, CP. 97780

MEXICO

I am posting this only because a number of people have asked me for my address here and I want to have it on record!

...And we´re back

The long weekend brought some respite and I was able to spend time with some really wonderful people. Saturday night I went to a Full Moon Party here in Valladolid. Then on Sunday, I went to Yokdzonot to the ecohotel run by my friends, Erica and Jorge. Check out their beautiful website! You might want to come visit! http://yucatanmayanretreat.webs.com/apps/photos/

I had a really nice visit with them and their two dogs, Luke and Lea. They had several guests staying there this weekend and everyone was super nice. We had some rainy weather Sunday afternoon, but on Monday the sun decided to shine on us and we just relaxed under the palapa the whole day.
Now it´s back to work, and I´m having my two Gastronomy classes do their first oral presentations in class this week. They have made Powerpoint presentations and, so far, they have been doing well. Today I learned that March 31 is National Taco Day in Mexico, that lemon juice can be used to heal wounds as well as for Lemon Meringue Pie, and that in Mayan culture, water is the symbol of the spirit.
February has begun and I won´t have another long weekend until mid-March, but right now I´m focused on resolving my living situation, and once I do, I´m sure staying close to home will feel kinda nice!