Sofia Somewhere

As we go into April, the first quarter has finished, and we're about two weeks into the second. The past two and a half months have been non-stop busy with lessons to plan each week, quizzes to make, workbooks to check, activities to grade, and more. Nevertheless, I've been learning a lot, improving my skills, and enjoying the company and pleasure of teaching a great batch of kids. I'm teaching Third Grade, which is the biggest group in Primary with 18 students in my homeroom section and 20 in the other. I enjoy teaching this grade. These particular group of students have a good level of English, and I can hold conversations with them in English. Aside from that, they're at an age where they can understand my classes in English, they can work (fairly) independently, but still love to play games and receive hugs. I have some extra love for my homeroom section who have been very sweet to me, welcoming me as a new teacher, and always leaving me messages on the white...

Whenever Chis and I decide to eat out, I'm always torn. On the one hand, I love going back to our favorite restaurants or our tried-and-tested ones, but on the other hand, I also really love trying new restaurants. Over the last months we've tried some new ones, and revisited some olds one, and I've rounded up another list to add to our Antigua Eats  ( Part 1 of which is over here ). Before discovering Red Koi,  Kabuki  (6ta Avenida Norte, 14A)  was my go to Asian restaurant, albeit it was more just Japanese food. I satisfied my tempura cravings here, and a few months back tried some yakitori which was new on the menu, and liked those even better. The sushi is not the best here -- though it is still delicious -- but the other plates on their menu have made my stomach very happy. The ramen craze hit Manila several years back, but I was never a fan until I went to Japan . I don't crave it often, but every now and then, I do enjoy a good bowl of ramen . I wa...

After moving to Guatemala, the question I get asked most often is (naturally), "Why Guatemala?" At first, I wasn't specifically looking to land myself here. After leaving Spain, all I knew was that I wanted to go to another Spanish speaking country. I looked at several countries in Central and South America, and in the end, finding a job at UPAVIM pushed me in the direction of Guatemala. So it wasn't a dead-set vision of coming to Guatemala that brought me here, but over the course of my first year here, I came to love it. Traveling around Guatemala introduced me to the country's captivating culture. Living in La Esperanza and meeting so many wonderful women and children exposed me to the warmth of the Guatemalan people.  And my every day life in the city manifested Guatemala's similarity to the Philippines -- from city and provincial life to government and politics to quotidian habits; I've lost track of how many times I've said to others, "Just...

It's been some time since my last post; as usual, life's been busy. In November, I said goodbye to La Esperanza , and moved to Antigua, a city I've come to love with my frequent visits. I spent November relaxing in Antigua and traveling a bit around Guatemala, and then to New Orleans in the first week of December. The rest of December was spent with family at home for the Christmas season, and I was back in Guatemala by the second week of January. The past four weeks flew by. I started a new job at a private bilingual school in a town next to Antigua. I had actually started working for a week in November, but there was still so much to do once I arrived. I spent the first week in meetings and workshops, and decorated my classroom in between. Then we had a meeting with the parents on Saturday, and bright and early on Monday morning, the kids arrived in school. At this school, I'm teaching English to third grade which has two sections. Section A has 18 students, and i...

For the next half of our travels we headed east. We were initially just thinking Rio Dulce, but then that expanded to Livingston, and then to Puerto Barrios, but just to catch the bus back from there. So first up, Rio Dulce! Like I mentioned on my last post, traveling via public transportation can get tricky. Researching showed that to get from Lanquín to Río Dulce would have taken us at least 3 bus changes and 9 hours, and that’s if we were lucky and the buses pass by at certain times. In the end, we decided to just get a shuttle for Q175, and had an easy and hassle free journey to Rio Dulce. Ready for more travels We left Lanquín at around 8:20 (supposedly 8am, but we had to wait for a few people), and had a direct trip with no stops to Rio Dulce, getting us there 5 hours later. It’s a small town, so we got off with everyone else and walked the 5 minutes to our hostel, The Shack. It was right on the water, and seemed really fun. It was a small two story hut with a bar below ...