¡Bienvenida Hanna!

Yesterday it happened. The four of us SALTers parted our seperate ways. Though it´s almost sad, we shall be seeing each other again soon (at our next MCC meeting at the end of November) and are all looking foward to this next step! Ana came with me to meet my new family -- ¡Qué fantástico! After dropping off my bags and saying brief hello to my new ¨madre¨, Doña Juana, we headed over to my new place of employment -- a ¨kinder¨ (ages 3-5) a few houses up the street from my new home. There I was greeted with a sign that read ¨¡Bienvenida Hanna!¨ (Welcome Hannah!) and a sea of big brown eyes. I am already ¨Maestra Hanna¨ and quite famous along the whole street since I agreed to play ¨Encendidas¨ last night....or as some may know it, ¨Hide-and-go-Seek! ;)

To the left you can see some of my new amigas! Of course, the first night we had to play dress-up with all of Hannah´s clothes, makeup, and shoes....quite the fancy ladies there, no?! The second from the left (in the jean jacket) is Blanca (technically mi prima -- cousin) and farthest to the right is Maritza (technically mi sobrina -- niece) -- though we all live in the same house and they are already mi hermanitas (little sisters!). We had a rousing game of Uno last night with a healthy dash of ¨sibling rivalry¨ as Luís joined his dolled-up sister/cousin and played with us. He is Blanca´s older brother, again, most affectionally mi hermanito (little bro!), and quite the gentleman at age 12! He is featured below right..... :)

Today I was back at school -- learning little by little just what it is my job entails! Best I´ve discovered so far, I´m the ¨catch all¨....I mostly observed today to learn how a ¨normal¨ day at La Buena Tierra works. I helped serve breakfast, brushed the teeth of about 20 adorable niños (children), helped cut and glue and clean and PLAY! Two of the other maestras came with me to my house after classes to see where I live and we made plans for dinner tomorrow. I´m also booked on Sunday, as Lizy -- the directora of La Buena Tierra school -- invited me to go with her to her church in México City! Needless to say, I´m thanful to already have friends, a marvalous family, and pleanty to do! Thanks for remembering me in this transition as well! :)