[Holi/birth]days

During Semana Santa (Holy Week), I had no school and the good fortune of being able to travel to Paris, northern Morocco, and southern Spain. The whole trip was absolutely amazing! It would be impossible for me to recount all of it, holy cats. But, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will provide a few photos instead, and you can pretend I wrote you a whole book about my adventures...

Paris, France

Chefchaouen, Morocco

Malaga, Spain

Granada, Spain

My birthday was just a few days after we got back. It totally snuck up on me, per usual. I had caught some nasty traveler's bug towards the end of the trip and so was down for the count for a few days. Luckily, my birthday was the first day I could eat real meals again! And that was the best birthday present EVER. Either that, or the following:

One of my favorite students in my group of little baby first-years is named Jose (real shocker there). He's one of those too-cool-for-school types but he's just so. darn. cute. and also a total angel in my class. On Thursday, he bounced into the classroom and wished me a happy birthday. I was completely caught off guard! 

"Jose, how did you know it was my birthday?"

"You told us."

"... Ummm, no I didn't."

"Yes, you did. When we learned about Martin Luther King" (PEOPLE, THAT WAS IN EARLY FEBRUARY, MAYBE EVEN LATE JANUARY) "you told us that he died on your birthday. So I circled today's date in my planner."

It's true, MLKJ was assassinated on April 4th, so I must have mentioned off-hand that the 4th also happens to be my birthday, which is a sad coincidence, etc. And Jose wrote it down! And told everyone! And the whole class sang to me! In English! And that, right there, may have actually been the best birthday present ever. 

Speaking of my birthday, thanks so much for all the well wishes! They made me feel both close to home and incredibly loved, and that was truly appreciated. :)

xoxo,

E.