Sometimes I feel like a ten year old girl trapped in a grown up body.  I still dream like a child and every so often I cry like a child.  The thought of Christmas mornings still thrills me and I still want to grab a Mason Jar when I see fireflies.  I want my Momma […]

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Disclaimer: I’m a good teacher. I hug my kids. I love my kids. I’m a good teacher. I really, really am. The scene. Two hundred Colombian kids in one small cafeteria. Eight teachers on duty plus all of the lunch ladies that I love. There are lentils for lunch. My favorite! There are two fourth […]

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I spent four of the five Thursday nights that I was home at The Sizzler. I ate until I thought I could hold no more and I laughed and visited with the regular crowd. And each of those Thursdays I’d make my way toward the register to pay my ticket only to find that “tonight’s […]

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It always happens. Summer flies by. Lazy days end. Bedtimes come earlier. Soap replaces chlorine. Stores stock more pencils, paper, and crayons. And another school year starts. There’s an unspoken nervousness that parents, teachers and children share. Parents watching their babies grow a year older. Children wondering if they’ll like the teacher, whose desk will […]

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I know.  I know.  I’ve neglected you all, but it takes me a while to adjust. I’ve been back in Manizales for a week now and at last there is hot water and internet and curtains that cover my wall of windows.  The windows that look onto The Avenida.  The windows that I can’t open.  […]

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Yesterday morning I got up early to meet a friend. He’s a bit of a wanderer, too, and I like that. Somehow it always works out that we’re together in Mississippi at some point in the year. With crazy schedules and whirlwind lives, it seems impossible for old friends to visit. And then there’s the […]

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I like to feel disconnected sometimes. I like taking deep breaths and not thinking about deadlines or inboxes. I like the slow paced life of the South in the summertime. I like being home. But I like feeling important and web missed, too. I finally made my way to some internet. (Thanks, Kathryn, for letting […]

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It’s a running joke that Manizales shouldn’t even have an airport. Nine out of ten flights don’t make it out and I knew that, but some secret optimistic part of me thought that my 7:00 a.m. flight would be the one that actually took off. Yeah, right. At 9:30 a nice lady from Avianca milled […]

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There’s just something about airports. The waiting. The rushing. The waiting again. Waiting on people you’ve missed. Waiting on weather to change. Hoping for good winds. Praying for less waiting. I’m sitting on the floor in a Colombian airport. My plane should have taken off two hours ago. Manizales is covered in clouds and sprinkled […]

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It’s 10:30 and I just sat down. It’s been that kind of day. I had hoped that the day before I came home would be all full of hugs and laughs and time spent with friends. Not so much. I had tons to finish up at school this morning, so I dove right in. (Seriously, […]

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