I’m not going to lie to you, despite the cautiously optimistic pep-talk tenor of some of my previous entries, I’m not sure I’m going to make it here. Which is unfair because Frank Sinatra promised me that if I could make it in New York, I could make it anywhere. Well, I could make it in New York, but this is a whole new world of hard; Let me illustrate my point:

Yesterday morning, I was with the 7th graders doing some team building exercises when some little bugger bastard stung my lip. So, I spent the rest of the day with a hugely swollen fat lip. It was awesome.

This morning Rob had to kill a spider with a hammer. Yes, that’s right, the spider, IN OUR HOUSE, was so big that the only thing capable of killing it was a hammer. It was in the kitchen sink. This was also awesome.

As my 11th graders were diligently and happily working away in Writer’s Workshop this morning, a tarantula wasp zoomed by the porch and stung one of my student’s feet. His foot swelled up and I sent him immediately to the office. Why? Oh, just because the tarantula wasp (so named because it lays its eggs in a tarantula, rendering the tarantula paralyzed for the rest of its humiliating life) sting will cause TISSUE DEATH in humans. My student was incredibly lucky and, because he was wearing a sock, the sting wasn’t too deep and he will be fine. This was, by far, the most awesome event of the past two days.

Yesterday’s rip-roaring downpour destroyed many areas of the main road and now sections of my walk home involve fording rivers. I’m thinking of getting a kayack.

In order to be fair and balanced, here are some wonderful events of the past few days:

My students are awesome; they’re affectionate and funny and warm and committed to learning.

I’m still amazed by the clouds and mist rolling in over the hills as I stand on the porch of my classroom.

I don’t need an alarm clock because at exactly 6am every day a true symphony of tropical birds start warming up and gently wake me up.

Papaya. So good. So very good.

Same about pineapple.

And avocados.