Tropical Eyes and How Time Flies

It has been quite awhile since the last post on this blog since I decided to lay low for awhile. But now I'M BAAACCCCKKKK and better than ever since I may have a bit (if only a bit) of direction in my life nowadays. I'm officially moving to Valencia, Spain in the fall to teach English in elementary classrooms as a Fulbright Scholar. I still have not grasped that concept and still think it is quite unfathomable that I got the Fulbright, but I guess it won't really feel that real until I get there. I am constantly having dreams that it is not true and that something is going to fall through, which will put me behind on the job hunt here. Yet, it is real and perhaps I need to just be hit with that realization...hopefully soon.

Over the past few weeks, my days have been spent either 1) student teaching (which ended on Friday, April 29) and 2) getting my Fulbright information together and mailed to the appropriate places. Luckily, I have had the good fortune of working with some people who have bent over backwards with kindness to help me get everything in order. I can speak volumes of how wonderful the Fulbright Advisor at Temple, the doctors and nurses that completed my medical forms and fought for appointment times for me, and the people at the FBI Fingerprint Services and Post Office have been to me. I do hope this applying for a visa process becomes a bit easier as time moves forward.

On a completely unrelated note, student teaching ended on April 29 (yes...the same day as THE ROYAL WEDDING...and, yes...I did allow the students to watch almost an hour of the highlights on www.cnn.com), and I don't think I was really prepared for it. I LOVE my kids but still did not realize how much it would hurt to leave them and my cooperating teacher. They all get me some very generous and nice gifts as well as write me letters which included, but were not limited to, the following hilarious phrases, completely penned by these third graders:

• "You are now free to live your life and be free."
• "I suggest when you go to Spain that you should take me."
• "I like how you look when I look at your tropical eyes."
• "Your eyes are yellow, blue, green, and hazel. They are tropical eyes and they are beautiful!"
• "I like how you dress like a lawyer."
• "You are my queen and I am your princess."
• "You are tall and short at the same time."
• "On the first day, the teacher showed you the attendance list. You called our names and said we said present when we were here or yes or no if we ate breakfast."
• "I like to stand next to you because I am very persistent."
• "Your new class needs to respect you like a teacher, not like a woman who is walking in the street."

Yes, I apparently have tropical eyes and am tall and short at the same time. There is clearly no better physical description of me.

It's crazy how fast this past semester went and literally does feel like I was just walking into that school for the first time yesterday. Seriously Time, where did you go? I graduate next week??? It's all just unfathomable to me. I'm going to miss those kids so much because they were awesome and I could not have asked for a better experiences than the one I received in their classroom. But, I guess it's time for a new adventure and I guess that new adventure is supposed to start now.

Oh...and as for that ROYAL WEDDING ...Gina and I just loved every minute of it and are currently plotting our entrances into the royal family as we speak. (...cough..Prince Harry..cough..) Also, thank you katemiddletonforthewin for keeping my days full of royal laughs. Keep it classy Britain, I hope to see you soon.