Pre-holiday

4:30 pm .. at least it's pretty

Holiday anticipation is sometimes the only thing that helps make it through the dark dark days of December. Each day I get a little closer to my flight and those adorable kiddos back home! In the meantime, I've had lots to keep me busy.

A few weekends back was the Chrismas Bizarre. The ISL students made coasters to sell and all the profits go charity. I picked up these penguins! It was a beautiful day so I strolled through some of the other markets and parks. The park near my apartment has a giant bunny wonderland. The bunnies are equally large in size! But I've enjoyed walking past it the last few weeks. 

The next weekend was the staff Christmas party. This year, it was a place called Moonshine. It's a fun Rockabilly themed place in Old Town. Yummy snacks, plenty of drinks, and even a small pool table! 

That Sunday was the Santa Run! Another charity event where tons of people dress up as Santa and run through old town! It was cold, but thankfully not snowing or raining-- wet and slippery cobblestones make the short distance feel much longer. I was going to do the race with Bekah, but her family was in town and they had a stroller... the only thing more dangerous than the cobblestones would be the crazy number of strollers. So I ran ahead while they walked the course. 

Finally, it was the last week of school. It felt like the days dragged on, but there was plenty of fun! We had the Snow Show- my students composed their own songs to play on Boomwhackers. 

Then we had a PJ-and-slippers day on Thursday! With some peanut butter bars and a compliment exchange. At first, the students were a little unsure about the compliment thing. Then some of them were really against it once they found out it was random and not just their friends. But once everyone got their compliments, they were loving it!! And I think the fact that the compliments came from different people was more meaningful to them. That is what I am telling myself. :) 

Friday finally came! The room moms brought in pizza and ice cream treats. They also a planned a super cute craft with holiday pictures of each kid. And glitter. So. Much. Glitter. But the students were happy!! And sparkly. 

I just submitted the final assignment for a second grad class. Tomorrow I have a list of Christmas, birthday, and wedding gifts to get. Then a suitcase to pack and squish it all into just in time to head to the airport!!! 

Michigan here I come!! 

 

Fall 2016

I think 2016 may be the fastest year I've yet to experience! Before the last few days slip away I'll try to recap my last few months!

🍎✏️ SEPTEMBER ✏️🍎

There was a hockey game! Go Dinamo.... they actually played well and were in the lead. Until they weren't and of course that's how it ended. But we got this awesome selfie with the mascot! 

There was a fall festival. The fall festival actually. It's one of the bigger markets that happens and it's complete with crazy furry hats and adorable little booties for tiny toes! It doesn't sound like Charlotte would slow down long enough for these anymore!! 

There was a girls night. And another. Okay, there were probably a few. I also remember several brunches at various locations around Riga, my favorite being the Bagel place that is literally right behind my building! I've had a lot of bagels in recent weeks. I regret none of them. 

🍃🍂🍁 OCTOBER 🍃🍂🍁🎃

There was a break! From school at least. Grad school continued and so did the rest of life. I didn't plan to travel and instead offered to help a friend and take care of her dog while she toured Italy. Lulu and I had a fantastic week of walks in the park, rounds of fetch, and cuddling- my toes have never been so warm! 

Of course, Lulu likes a little adventure too. In the form of slipping her collar. As she had done this to Elizabeth a time or two, I picked up a harness for her hoping that would prevent any mishaps. But oh no! Lulu and I joined Bekah and her dog Bella on a mini road trip around Latvia. Our very first stop, Lulu managed to slip the harness and took off, first to the river, and then through the town, while I frantically chased behind cursing shouting for her to stop.  Once we caught her again, I made sure to check the harness Frequently. 

We ventured through Kuldiga, to see the waterfall. Then to Liepaja to check out the fort ruins and seaside. From there we followed the coast up to Ventspils and Kolka where the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga waters meet! It was fun to see the beaches around here and they reminded me a lot of some areas in Michigan.

And of course, Halloween rounded out the month. It's slowly catching here in Riga, but very slowly. A couple from the school did host a house party though, so I joined some friends and we all dressed as clowns. Sadly, we did not pull up in a tiny car. Maybe next time.

🍁☁️🌧🌨⛄️ NOVEMBER ☃️🦃💡

While my family celebrated their unusually warm temps, November rolled into Riga with a snowstorm! It wasn't too upsetting, the city is beautiful with a layer of white snow and somehow it feels like the snow makes it less cold. 

Months ago it was announced that Elton John would be performing in Riga. Yea, stranger things have happened, but this one seemed up there so we grabbed some cheap tickets. Plus, the arena here is quite small, so all the seats are pretty good. However, we did not consider the date very carefully. He performed on Tuesday night and Parent conferences were after school the next day! But again, how often do you have the chance to see Elton John perform in Riga. It was actually a really great concert.  Followed by two days of awesome conferences. 

Grad school was, of course happening during all of this, but I spend enough time on that (despite the vision presented in this blog) I didn't feel it required any more attention. It is going well though. Challenging me in ways and helping me to become a better teacher. I see connections frequently between what happened at school and our discussions or vice versa. Okay, enough about that :p 

After conferences ended we had a lovely friends-giving celebration!! It was a week early but coincided with Latvia's Independence Day, so it still felt like a holiday weekend! Most of which was spent grad-schooling, but there was also Staroriga going on!! There are several different light displays put up all throughout the city. Cool stuff to look at, but consistent with the trend since July, the weather was terrible! Cold, cold rain made the exhibits a little less enjoyable. Only a little though. 

Celebrating their hard work with
a disco-ball dance party

In grade 4, we wrapped up a unit about technology and innovation by sharing some of their knowledge at the elementary school assembly. The students worked in groups to produce little trivia games for everyone to play, they wrote scripts for themselves, and they totally ran the show! My job was to move the PowerPoint along, which was fine by me!

The next day they continued their awesome streak with the Invention Convention! Each student came up with an invention of some kind to present. We even had grade 5s and some parents fill in an investment form to see whose idea attracted the most attention. In the end, the "zero effort skates" (self-propelled roller skates) and the "bag n flag" (an automated kitty litter box) were the investor favorites. 

And now it's December! We've started learning about human rights, my second grad class is a few weeks away from being complete, we have more snow on the ground, I have Christmas music playing, and in 16 days I'll be back home again!! Just in time for Charlotte's first Christmas, Dylan's third birthday, and Pookie and Tara's wedding! 

..I'm pretty sure 2016 doesn't plan on slowing down now. Let's see how 2017 goes!