The view of the Santiago, Chile skyline reminds me that Summer is almost here along with the freedom to wander! 

Wow! I can’t believe I only posted on May 1st! Where did this month go?! I’ll do a quick update for today in addition to the roundup.

My life is kind of crazy right now with all of the end of the year stuff at school: report card comments, report card grades, packing up the classroom (this is the only time of the year that I hate my giant classroom library because all of the books have to be leveled and packed away in plastic ziplock bags), and dealing with sending work for kids who are out of the country or gone for weeks at a time.

On top of that, we have had an earlier schedule to avoid the afternoon roadblocks and protests that have been going on almost all month. So teachers must arrive on campus before 6:45 AM and we must stay until 1:45 PM.  In addition to this schedule change, we rotate our afternoon classes AND we have had to teach three Saturdays this month to try to make up missed days.  This makes planning a bit difficult!

Then I have my own apartment to pack up with 5 years of stuff that is keeping me very busy in the evenings.  Thankfully my cleaning lady has wanted to keep a lot of stuff that I’ve been giving away. I’ve also been able to sell a few small appliances and knick-knacks here and there.  My school recycling and donation center will happily take the rest… once I get it out of my apartment!

Oh, and it was my birthday on Monday, so of course, I had to celebrate over the weekend. And on Monday.  And again today.  And again on Saturday. hahaha, what can I say? I still like my birthday!

Around the web:

Does anyone else worry about onward tickets (especially when planning Central American trips)? Check out this review of some of the available services at the Professional Hobo website.

I love reading blogs from other international school teachers so I was very happy to see this blog about travel hacking and this post in particular about international teacher retirement!

I think it is amazing how we are still uncovering things long hidden from our modern world, so I was truly amazed when I read this article about a giant necropolis found with 17 mummies. I was to go to Egypt so bad!!

I was horrified and terribly saddened to read about the hate crime that was recently committed in my hometown on the commuter train.  Bless those men for standing up for the two young teenage girls.

Why is the maternal mortality rate rising in the US?!

Venezuela is heading for a Soviet-style collapse.  I hope they can recover like Russia did.

Music I’m Listening To:

I’ve never heard of Kygo, but I’m an Ellie Goulding fan so it isn’t surprising that I enjoy “First Time“. Check out the slightly creepy youtube video.  This song is great for helping me get my grades done!

Now Reading:

I can’t say that I’ve read anything too inspiring or remarkable this month.  I did give four stars (out of five) to “The Hundredth Queen” about an orphan girl who works hard to turn herself into a warrior who tries to help end a horrible tradition and help the other courtesans.  I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Movies I’ve Watched:

I finally watched Captain Fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough.  It is about a father who has raised his kids off-grid in the wilderness of the Pacific North West who has to bring them into civilization for the first time.  While it did make me cry a few times I think it still lands squarely in the feel-good movie category.  It is on Amazon Prime Video if you haven’t seen it already.

What I’m Watching On TV:

“Survivor” ended this month but I was actually happy with the winner. 😦

Also, I loved “13 Reasons Why” from Netflix! I watched the whole season in three days!  It is a hard show to watch because of the emotional topics discussed (mainly bullying in high school), but it brings up some very important issues. I wonder if there will be a second season?

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