Maribel

Our meeting was not short, but it was sweet, thank goodness.  After our last few phone calls where she was demanding my day of the week at Achoy, and after I had gone to the higher ups behind her back (that's what I was supposed to do, but it felt somewhat scummy), I was afraid she would be mad/upset/annoyed.  She was none of the above.  She's a peppy soul, which I really like.  So we discussed the book situation.  I gave her my new money and my new count.  Then she told me that on November 15, they will stop taking orders.  YIKES!  Half of my students are still bookless!  ARGH!

So I need to send home something to tell the parents of the upcoming deadline.  I will tell them that November 4 is the last day since the word deadline doesn't exist in Spanish.

Next, I will not be teaching on Friday.  I will be presenting something about Comexus.  Apparently it's application time for teachers here and since I'm the lone representative, I am the presenter!  Should be in English, so that's at least comforting.

I'll be presenting for only a few minutes (and Maribel is unsure whether there will be a computer) at the TKT preparation and exam (Teacher Knowledge Test for English teachers). I'm also supposed to take this expensive test, but Maribel thinks they'll pay for it.  I wonder how I'll do with my own language?!

Finally, we discussed my "open classes" which were supposed to be before this Friday.  Obviously they can't be before this Friday (by the way, this is the first I've heard of this with the explanation of what it actually is), so we try to plan them.  Maribel is crazy busy, and I'm headed to Cozumel next week.  We decide to can it.  If anyone asks, we did it.

The open class is basically an invitation for parents to come see English class for 20 minutes.  The underlying point is that they see that the students need their books.  It's basically a PR move on the English Teachers' behalves to get students buying the books.

Hopefully my note home will do the trick.  And thankfully I will not be exposed to that many parents at a time!