windows and doors

I really like the fact that the school where I work is open-air.  Windows? Doors?  Who needs them.  I also love the natural light.  I much prefer natural light to overhead fluorescent lighting.  Just ask my environmental science professor from Flagler…  opening the blinds was always my preference rather than turning on the lights…

My fifth grade classroom has an overhead light, but I never turn it on.  You see we have a wonderful “sky light” if you will.  More like a hole in the roof where iguana tails hang from and make me have a slip of the tongue with some sort of profanity that luckily my students do not understand. (now say that three times fast!)  So really the natural light is brighter than the artificial light so I don’t even think to flip the switch. 

My sixth grade classroom doesn’t have any lighting except for what shines from the sun, but honestly I didn’t realize that until just the other day when someone pointed it out.  Not a big deal.

The sky light in my fifth grade room is actually nice—not only does it provide light but even a little breeze every now and then.  Today I had planning at the end of the day and I was actually being somewhat productive compared to my usual plan time.  I typically get distracted by something outside or become sedated by the tranquil music drifting in from yoga class.

view from my 6th grade classroom

I don’t even know why I have written four paragraphs about this already.  It seems like the more I speak Spanish, the less I am able to communicate in English.  My spelling is verging on atrocious, when I once was the spelling bee champion of Lake Mary Elementary School back in the day. Stucco.  S-T-U-C-C-O.  Stucco. 

Where was I?  Oh yes.  There was a storm, a tormenta to be precise, during my plan time today.  It actually got so dark that it was necessary for me to get up and turn the lights on.  And then it started pouring. And thundering and lightning.  And there are children, running and screaming.  (there went my productivity).  I learned that my sky light/ hole in the ceiling is not so convenient during a storm.  Not only was I catching a nice breeze that literally blew my dress up, but leaves were blowing in from above.  And then the rain.  Combination of wind, rain, hole in the roof, plus windows without glass in them = run for cover, but where?

Today would have been a day for the paisley boots…   

On an unrelated note, this week I believe that I realized my purpose in this country...

to share the deliciousness of JIF peanut butter

and to introduce Milkbones to the dogs of Costa Rica

...consider my  mission accomplished!