Bombs Away!

The weather is terrible today with thunderstorms in Asuncion. So, what does one do for entertainment on a wet Saturday here? Easy......... (Look out Linn!)

Ready,

Aim.........,   Fire!

.....OOPS missed!

Linn!  Linn!! Get your camera ready!

OOPS, missed again.....
So what happens when the boredom of failure sets in?.........
You just get closer to aim better!

And if all else fails........ well..........!!!!

A load of hot air?!

Yesterday there was great excitement in the Primary department because it was Science Day. This year the theme was "Air".

That left a lot of scope. We had volcanic air with its dust (or bubbles, as the case may be), hot air experiments,

helium balloons,

a compressed air gun (complete with electric pump), plenty of air pollution and lots of other things, which were exhibited by each class. A lot of effort had been put in by the children.

 

Great fun was had by all (and I think that they learned a bit too).

Sports

Another busy week.
On Tuesday the Secondary department went off to our sports centre at Surubii for their annual Sports Day. This was swiftly followed by the Primary Sports Day on Wednesday. This was one of the quietest Sports days on record, due to a new arrangement by the P.E staff. I was confined to the library so I did not go this year.

On Thursday morning the winners received their medals in assembly.

Baby doing well

I have been nurturing my "baby" with sunshine and lots of water and now it is growing to look like a pineapple.

I have had a busy week with my sixth grade class. There are only ten days to go until the mock Key English exam and some are not putting in the effort so we will see what happens.

I had a bit of fun this afternoon. Ben and Sam were sent out to sweep the car park in front of the house (normally a ten minute job). Being Ben and Sam it took over an hour and they built up a huge audience of Paraguayans on the opposite side of the road, who were laughing their heads off at their antics and arguments. Unable to resist I decided to go and water the garden with the hospepipe at the same time. You can guess the rest. Fun was had by us all, I ended up a bit wet and the Paraguayans now think that I am nuts.

Panchos a la parilla

"Lazy day, Sunday afternoon," as the song goes (I'm sixties vintage!). We had a lovely service in the English church this morning. It was a beautiful day so I decided to invite my neighbours round for some panchos (a simple barbecue with hot-dogs.) We had a pleasant, relaxed time on my patio, gorging on panchos and drinking terere to keep cool. The temperatures have gone from 2C on Tuesday to around 40C for the weekend. Fortunately my patio is quite shady.

Here you can see (left to right), Sam, Kim, Ben and Matt.

Avid readers

This year we have been really promoting reading in the library. At the beginning of the year the children could read better in English than in their native language, so we bought in lots of new books in Spanish and held competitions.
Yesterday I reviewed the number of books read in the primary department and in what language. The children are now reading more books in Spanish. I sent out certificates yesterday to two pupils, one in second grade, who had read 52 books this year and another to a fourth grader who had read 40 books.
The exams are now on so as they finish an exam teachers are sending children along to the library to relax. Today first graders came in and sat, enjoying reading books in English.

Business Enterprise

This afternoon some secondary pupils set up stalls as part of their business enterprise initiative. They had a variety of goods on sale and were in competition with each other. Some had concentrated on cheap cakes and biscuits and others had made some boxes of chocolates and some photo frames, which were relatively expensive. There was some high-powered sales chat going on (as well as some flattering of staff!) in an effort to raise the most profit. I have yet to hear what stall made the most profit (if any).