Girl Meets World

In accordance with all the hype from Girl Meets World commencing filming this summer, I am quite stoked that I have finally come into my own in Perú.

The last couple of weeks have been stressful as I began my first year of teaching which is commonly regarded as the hardest year of teaching. It is especially difficult when the administrative side doesn't really know what's going on, the students know you have no clue what you're doing, and you are a woman in a machisto culture trying to teach people who are the same age as you. This has proved to be a struggle for the last two weeks, but I have finally gained the trust and respect of my students. They still try to get out of everything (because picking up their pencils for 45 seconds and writing a couple words is that draining), but at least they are learning. Thankfully, I am learning from them as well. They frequently teach me words in Spanish, and I enjoy teaching them quirky things about English. Every time I say section "2B" they have to respond with "Or not to be." They're cute. (And don't worry G-man, your video is a work in progress...)

Also, I want to give a huge shout out to Ms. Susan Kirkman for hooking me up with some sweet snacks as part of a going away gift in May. My diet in the States usually consists of anything but meat and rice, and guess what the two staple foods here... You guessed it. Meat and rice! And huge portions of them. With bones. I finally had to ask my host mom to only serve me half of what she was planning to prepare for me. You can imagine that such a drastic change in diet in a short amount of time has been quite trying. I haven't eaten much the last couple days due to stomach aches, and on Father's Day I was craving something familiar when I remembered my gifts! I was luckily able to nosh on one of those lovely snack bars, and it helped tremendously. Sending you lots of hugs and kisses for that heads up play!

In other news, this past weekend was quite eventful with many salsa clubs, sandboarding (yes, sandboarding!), and friends. Sandboarding was incredibly fun, and yet completely different from snowboarding.

It was also incredibly beautiful!

Finally, I want to give another shout out to my dad since Father's Day was yesterday. We celebrated Sr. José with a nice duck dish, and it was wonderful but you know nothing beats celebrating THE Timmy T. He is my favorite, and he has always worked so hard to make sure we have everything we need and more. I know we never say enough how much we love and appreciate him, but he deserves to hear it each and every day all day long. Thank you for always supporting us. Thank you for giving selflessly to us. Thank you for passing on the Hinesley last name and good times. Thank you for coming to all of my 149,999 softball games (excluding the 1 where I hit my only home run....). Thank you for paying for all 150,000 of those softball games. Thank you for giving up another Father's Day together so that I can be in Peru writing this right now. Basically, thanks for being the best dad.

I love you!