Fancy Pants

The time between Christmas Break and Spring Break is always a long stretch for teachers.  At this point you feel like you've been working with your students for such a long time, but yet, you still have so far to go until Summer Vacation.  You've been with them long enough that you feel like WHY AREN'T THEY BEHAVING??!?  but in their little minds they've been with you long enough that they feel like WHY IS THIS LADY STILL MAKING ME BEHAVE!?!?!?!?  And part of you feels like you really can't blame 'em...I'm a little sick of the sound of my own voice echoing off the walls of the classroom.  Bueller... Bueller?

So, in an effort to get that echo out of our heads and regain our sanity, we took off to Tela, a nearby beach town (yes, we've already been there). 

 We were joined on our travels by another couple, Sarah and Sava.  Sava is Dan's teaching partner in 7th grade and Sarah is the Middle School Guidance Counselor.  They are actually both from Madison, so many of our favorite places are places they also know well.  Originally we were going to stay in a budget hotel, as we normally do.  The budget hotels we tend to frequent are clean and have beds, but that's about it.  However, when we went to check-in we were surprised to find out that they were all booked up, as was their neighboring hotel.  Not knowing of many other options we did a team huddle, and came to an agreement- we were going to go fancy.  

Walking down the beach in search of paradise

Down the beach is a giant resort called TelaMar that looks like it was airlifted out of DisneyWorld or some such idyllic place, and plopped into the 2nd rate beach town of Tela.  We were a little wary of the cost, but decided if we shared a room with Sarah and Sava, it would be about the same price as if we had chosen the budget option and stayed in our own room.  As we paid for the room in the Main Building we were still a little nervous that the room may not live up to our ever-growing expectations. 

A little different than our normal "Habitaciones"

But, in a few moments we had our key and as we opened the door to our 3rd level paradise our expectations were surpassed.  The room was spacious, replete with two giant beds with firm mattresses (not the saggy, worn ones to which we've grown accustom) and covered by fluffy, clean, white comforters.  The wall was adorned with actual artwork, as well as a gigantic flatscreen TV.  Best of all, was the balcony; a large ceramic space which overlooked the 3 giant pools of the resort, bringing to our attention that one of the pools featured a "Swim-up" bar.  We had indeed gone fancy, and were happy that we would not have to go back for another day and a half.

Our travel partners in front of the luxurious pools

Swim on up...

In a typical blog post at this point I would fill you in on some adventure we had the next day.  But, there were no adventures to be had on Saturday nor Sunday- just pool time, drink time, card playing time and humongous flatscreen TV time.  And it was spectacular, every last fancy minute.  It was just what we needed, and today as we headed back to work we felt a little more tolerant and ready to face our days.  We'd gained back that last drop of patience that we just might need to get us through until we get recharged in full during our Spring Break.