Un Poco Sobre Mi.........
I am a big fan of all things Latin American. I am fortunate to have traveled to every country from Mexico to Chile, except Venezuela and Colombia, so those will be first on my list for future trips. I first became interested in Spanish when I was in high school. I had a great Spanish teacher named Señora Gutierrez. She made learning the language very fun, and we always did engaging, interesting activities that piqued my interest to always learn more and one day become fluent. I was inspired to study abroad during college in order to really learn Spanish, and during my junior year I went to Barcelona, Spain to study at the University of Barcelona. My greatest times were spent traveling in the country, enjoying the many amazing cultural festivals and holidays. Favorite cities included Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Sevilla, Tossa del Mar, San Sebastian and Santiago de Compostela. I loved exploring the city, enjoying the many vistas as well as cosmopolitan cafés, restaurants, and shops. And the tapas were so tasty!!
An extra special highlight of my year in Spain was walking the Camino de Santiago, which was an ancient religions pilgrimage across the northern part of Spain. I started in Pamplona, where the famous “Running of the Bulls” festival takes place. From there, I walked across the country for close to 600 miles and ended in Santiago de Compostela. It was an amazing trip which I will never forget. Other favorite trips in Latin America were to Machu Pichu in Peru, the Mayan pyramids in Mexico, Tikal ruins and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, beaches and jungles in Costa Rica, climbing volcanoes in Ecuador, and hiking the Patagonian region in Argentina and Chile.
I also travel frequently to Baja California and am enthralled by natural beauty of the region. In the photos above, I am working at a sea turtle monitoring station near Todos Santos where I was fortunate to rescue sea turtle eggs and replant them to hatch 40 days later. I then witnessed other young baby sea turtles hatch from their eggs. We then released them into the sea to begin their lives. What a beautiful moment it was to see the babies taking their first steps into the sea!
Have I mentioned how much I love teaching? Well I have a varied background in the field of education which includes teaching all grades from K-6, teaching technology, publishing children’s books, teaching 5th grade in Brazil, establishing libraries in Asia and Africa, and of course, teaching Spanish to college, middle school and elementary school children. In my Spanish classes I strive to introduce and integrate culture, geography, traditions, food, music, art, and lifestyle of the many different countries across Latin America and Spain into our daily lessons in the hope that students will see the value in learning a second language and form a personal connection to Spanish. I hope my passion for Latin America and its people will inspire my learners to embrace Spanish and realize its ability to open up a whole new world to them!
¡Bienvenidos! Vamos a Aprender y Descubrir Juntos!
¿Quién Soy Yo?
Me Llamo:
Kelly Morphy
Mi
Cumpleaños
es:
el 1 de febrero
Yo vivo en:
Sausalito
Yo tengo:
Una gata llamada Samba
Mi
Educacíón:
UC Irvine
Grand Canyon University
UC San Diego
Años
como Maestra:
12
Me Gusta
Comida Favorita:
bistec, comida Thailandesa, espaguetti,
galletas de chocolate chip, frutas tropicales
Libros:
The Secret Life of
Bees, What is the What,
Water for Elephants, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Love in
the Time of Cholera
Animales favoritos:
gatos, perros,
delfines, y tortugas marinas,
jirafas, elefantes
Viajes
y Paises favoritos:
Nepal,
Perú, España, Brasil, Chile, Argentina,
Jordan, Africa del Sur, México, Guatemala, Alaska,
Yosemite, Baja California, Ecuador, India
Hobbies:
haciendo caminatas, kayaking,
corriendo, leyendo, viajar, pasar tiempo con familia y amigos, ir de
compras, haciendo
aretes
Músicos:
Maná,
Shakira, Coldplay, John Mayer, Jennifer Lopez, George Michael, Daughtry
Links
www.propeninsula.org
www.roomtoread.org
www.transfairusa.org