Mr. Kuk's Excelente Aventura

For the first leg of my sabbatical adventure, I set off without my trusty sidekicks.  It was a little bit intimidating traveling to a land where I had a limited ability to speak the language, but I was confident in my planning and preparation. Guatemala is a beautiful country!  I only saw a small part of the country, though, because the mountainous terrain and windy roads slow down travel significantly.  I spent most of my time in San Pedro La Laguna, along the shore of Lake Atitlan, possibly the most beautiful lake in the world.  In fact, author Aldous Huxley said, "It really is too much of a good thing."  While I was in San Pedro for language school, I was able to explore other locations around Lake Atitlan.  If I were to share all my memories, this post would be more like a book, so I am only going to share three favorite activities and two lessons learned by the shores of Atitlan. The best way to get to San Pedro is by boat Three Favorite Activi...

I am about to take off on a year-long sabbatical adventure with my family as we live in Spain for the 2019 – 2020 school year.   When I announced my sabbatical at the end of the school year, students and parents asked how they could follow my experiences.   This blog is the answer to that question.   I will try to share stories, pictures and videos from my sabbatical.   The blog is geared towards the school community (hence using Mr. Kuk in the title), but it will also be a good place for family and friends to keep up on our adventure. In this post, I want to give an overview of my plans for the year. What is a sabbatical? The word “sabbatical” is derived from the Biblical concept of a Sabbath.   In a tradition that is still observed by some people, the Israelites were commanded to reserve one day for rest and worship after six days of work.   This concept applied not only to the days of the week, but also to years, as the Israelites were also ...