HIking and huǒ guō

Wow, November has gone by in a flash! Besides my crazy "figuring out life" stuff, life is good. School has been going well, the kids are getting giddy as December approaches. We've had several new students start this month, all refugees from Sahara and Saudi Arabia. Only one knows a bit of Spanish, the rest only speak Arabic; making it a challenge for everyone involved. The kids are slowly finding their way though, as there are several Spanish kids who speak Arabic and are of Arab decent, so they are helping translate. Meanwhile I'm wacking myself over the head for not studying Arabic officially in school--I'm going to get more serious about that now.

I've begun to get out more and I've found some unexpected hiking buddies in my Chinese teacher and her husband. They've showed me the beauty of La Rioja and I find myself feeling at home in landscapes that look like the foothills of Colorado. We found fossils, saw amazing views and just enjoyed the fresh air. I was also invited to eat Chinese hot pot or 火锅 (huǒ guō) at their house, which was delicious. :) 

Nearing the end of the term at school and the kids have been presenting their projects. In English we've been doing constellations and the zodiac while their big multi-subject project has been the solar system. The final presentation day was filled with reproductions of the planets on a miniature scale, photos of the professors on paper rockets going to space, and lots of moments where I learned lots of basque space vocabulary. ;) It was a fun day and the kids were proud to present to their parents all they had learned.