Tonight was open house for the parents at the school.  Since I don't have a homeroom, I meandered between the third grade classrooms, meeting parents of my students.  I introduced myself in Spanish, giving a brief history of my life and what brought me to the Academia Alianza.  This was one of the most empowering moments of my life.  When I was done speaking, all of the parents applauded my Spanish, as if I'd given a highly inspirational speech, rather than linguistically stumbling through it.  I spoke further with more parents in Spanish... maybe its just the thrill of the job, but to communicate meaningfully with your students' parents in another language is elating.  ...I wonder if my students feel the same excitement when they speak in English.  

   I bought peanut butter today.  Ordinarily this would be a $5 investment for a jar of Jif.  My friend showed me a place in the market that sells homemade natural peanut butter for $1.70.  I think it's just crushed peanuts, but its delicious to my peanut-butter-deprived taste buds.