'tis the season

I love Mami Yani. Last Friday night I was coming back from taking a walk with some of the girls when I saw them: flashing lights. Multi-colored lights. Christmas lights! Mami Yani had beaten everyone else by breaking out the Christmas decorations early. She asked me to help put up the lights, and I was only too happy to oblige. I smiled to myself as I wound the string of lights around and around the metal bars covering our windows, and even laughed when I discovered the lights' special feature: music. The lights came complete with a little box on the end that emitted cheesy christmas carols in MIDI format. Now usually I would be appalled at the earliness of the Christmas festivities--I mean, it's not even Thanksgiving yet (I just realized yesterday that Thanksgiving was this Thursday, but last Friday it still seemed a lifetime away). I'm rather picky about the Hollidays--the Christmas season must not start before Thanksgiving, and even the day after Thanksgiving is a bit early for my tastes. Also, Christmas carols must be in a minor key or be connected with my childhood in some way--O Come, O Come Emmanuel and the Carpenters' Christmas album are OK, Celine Dion or Mariah Carey singing a warmed-over version of Deck the Halls or Joy to the World are not. But this time was different. Putting up the lights I didn't care that it was early. I didn't care that the Christmas carols coming from the little boxes of joy were not my usual favorites. Instead, I enjoyed myself thouroughly. I was so excited, I ran inside to get my camera and we spent the next hour taking pictures of the lights and with the lights, along with the new conejito (bunny), Piccachu, who had recently joined the Mami Yani family. It was great.
This past week has been the first week of Summer classes (I don't understand why it's summer, when really, we're still in the Northern hemisphere, and technically are experiencing winter). I am teaching four sections of swimming classes. I have never taught someone how to swim before, but so far, things are going well. Pretty much all of the kids know how to swim at least a little, so Marla and I (Marla's a fellow SM) have been concentrating on teaching the kids how to do the Freestyle and backstroke. Some of them can't float on their back, so that has made it a little difficult, but all-in-all, I think that the kids are really improving. If nothing else, all of the kids have swum in the deep end, conquering any fear they may have of the pool.
Another week is coming to an end and I'm realizing how quickly the time is flying by. I was drawing pictures with some of the boys in my house last night, and I realized how much I actually loved them. Though they may be annoying sometimes, I'm gonna miss them.
This week in my work group the girls ran away from me two days in a row--one time armed with kumas, which are curved blades about a foot and a half long used for cutting grass, and the other time only one of the girls had a kuma. Needless to say, it was interesting. But I'm learning that sometimes saying something in a serious, "you're getting on my nerves" manner doesn't always work as well as a quiet, grave tone. We talked together as a group after work today and rated each other on their work time. I think that next week will be better.
Speaking of next week, Thanksgiving is next week! A volunteer group is here from Nebraska (bearing gifts from Uncle Dwayne and Aunt Joanie--thanks!!) and they have offered to cook us all Thanksgiving dinner! I'm very excited, but I hope that their pumpkin pie lives up to my standards.