Tag Archives: Friends

Happy Tears

NESTS and NNESTS

I had the pleasure of giving a charla (workshop) a few weeks ago with one of my counterparts to the new group of Peace Corps Trainees and their new counterparts they’d just met. The charla was about how we can work together as Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTS) and Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTS) to both be better teachers.  Peace Corps LOVES acronyms…can you tell?  haha!

At one point during the session, Ana Cecilia and I were to share our prepared remarks about what we’ve learned from each other these past two years and how working together has made us better teachers.  We practiced and had it all planned out…..until we both broke down crying trying to share in front of close to 60 people.  It was embarrassing.  It was heart-warming.

I’m not ready to say goodbye yet…and that hit me hard in the middle of this session.  I feel so lucky to have had the chance to get to work with amazing teachers like Ana Cecilia, and feel beyond honored to have her say that I have forever changed her teaching and her life for the better.

Dicho for Peer Influence

Time for the third animal inspired dicho doce in a row! April was cats, May was shrimp, and June…wolves 🙂

El que con lobos anda, aullar aprende – He that runs with wolves learns to howl.

My favorite thing about this dicho (obviously) is that I learn the verb for howl – aullar!   I love it! Much more onomatopoetic (ah-oo-yar) than howl. I also thinks it’s totally true, and something that we see in evidence of daily in the high schools. The influence of those around us makes a huge difference. Studies show that even the actions of your friends, friend, friend has an effect your behavior.

Today, on our 4th wedding anniversary, I’m grateful for the influence that Emily has had, and continues to have on my life.  She has been an ever present source of encouragement and support as I’ve been starting my journey as a teacher here in Nicaragua.  Her work ethic, creativity, and organizational skills are wonders to behold  🙂

May our wolf pack continue to grow stronger in the years to come!

Peace Corps Friends and Family Facebook Group

In a recent email from our Director and fearless leader in Washington, Carrie Hessler-Radelet, thanked us for our service and let us know that we are in her and the rest of the staff’s thoughts during the holiday season and beyond.  In that email she also mentioned a Peace Corps Friends and Family Facebook Group.  I thought I’d share the link with you in case any of you are interested.

January is a really busy month for us, but we’ll get some stories and posts up soon.  In the meantime, we’ll keep adventuring!