Howdy Campers!

Well, I´m sick. My body was amazingly good at holding off for a week--I first felt it comeing on last Monday, but my body knew that it had to stick it out until Friday. Unfortunately, it used about 3:00pm as the cut-off time, while I was halfway through my last class. I didn´t actually feel it until I left the classroom at 4 (is there such a thing as a teacher´s high--you know, like a runner´s high? I think there is). The problem is that I am subbing tonight from 6 to 8 pm. After that I was supposed to go on a Chiva--I´d already bought the ticket--but I really don´t care about that. And you know I´m sick when I'm willing to let $10 go without making an attempt to sell the ticket to someone else. So now I just need to get through two more hours of teaching before I can catch a taxi and crawl into bed (and then spend the weekend sleeping--hopefully. Freakin' two-year-old be damned--I´ll push him under a Chiva, I will...) (Ugh, and now I´m trying to remember who has my ´blog address... just in case...).

The good news is that the class I´m subbing is Academic 1, my normal class. The bad news is that I need to go over a bunch of new expressions and words with them. I have a choice of doing it upfront, with the entire class staring at me trying to think of example sentences with my muddled brain (hell, they´ll think I´m drunk. It is the start of the Quito Festivals after all.), or to give them pair work and walk around and explain each word um-teen zillion times. Choice, choices... But I can´t avoid explaining the words... That´s just not an option.

For those of you wondering why I don´t just opt out, well, it is a little late now to find a sub on a Friday night at the beginning of the festival (plus it looks suspicious--just a little), PLUS, I want to build up good will with other teachers for when I need a sub in the future, PLUS teachers ha ve to pay out of their own pockets to get a sub (and the amount is more than we actually get paid. Incentive right there.).

20 more minutes. Just took my last Tylenol. Hopefully that will get me through at least an hour. Wish me luck.