Sara Diaz

I live on the New Jersey Shore in the USA, about 90 minutes south of New York City and half a mile from the beach. My town is a summer resort for New York tourists, so it’s crowded now, but there are lots of great restaurants, shops, and places to hear live music. I am divorced and live alone, but I have two wonderful grown children, and my son (26) just married an amazing woman in July, so it’s been a happy summer. He and his wife are teachers, too. They live near me, and my daughter (24) lives in NYC, working at a cryptocurrency exchange, and she’s watering my garden for me while I’m here. I’ve lived in New Jersey most of my life, and grew up in a camp-meeting town called Ocean Grove, which didn’t allow cars in the confines of the town on Sundays. I also lived in DC /Northern Virginia for about eight years and in Japan for a year.

I teach 5th grade at an independent school, and I’ve previously taught 3rd grade and Japanese language. Before coming here this summer, I worked summer school and wrote a new social studies curriculum, so I’ve been busier than I’d like to be in the summer. Next year, I’ll be working with two new 5th-grade teachers, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them.

In the free time I do have, I love to read (reading The 1619 Project and I Am Malala right now), garden (flowers, veggies, and berries), learn languages, go to the beach or pool, fix up my house, and travel (favorites include Venice, Puerto Rico, Savannah, and Barcelona). I’m looking forward to traveling to Granada before my Pueblo Ingles session this summer. I traveled to the Dominican Republic last spring, and by far my favorite day was when we visited a monkey preserve, and I had monkeys climbing all over me! I also enjoyed a recent trip to a wolf preserve in NJ with some friends.

I’m a vegetarian, but I eat eggs and dairy. I enjoy cooking and baking, especially with foods I’ve harvested from the garden. A neighbor and I joined our local community garden this summer, and we help each other out watering and tending our gardens. I’ve harvested so many veggies, I’ve hardly had to go grocery shopping. Looking forward to trying some new Spanish foods while I’m here, and looking forward to meeting you all!