All Good Things Must Come to an End

They’re here! My parents arrived safely on Tuesday night and the fun began soon after. I met them at the airport, we dropped their bags at the hotel and headed over to the Ti Bananne restaurant to toast to the conclusion of my unique adventure abroad. We returned to the room to assemble the treat bags I would give my students the following day at school, while I talked nonstop about some of the things I have learned here.

With “Treat Day” planned for the following day at school, I had no idea what to expect, but I warned my parents that there would be a lot of noise. They laughed it off while we packed the rental car with three suitcases full of school supplies they brought with them. Thanks to my aunt and her kindergarten class, and all of the effort my parents went through to transport the supplies, we were excited to be making such a large contribution to a deserving school. Since I had told a lot of the students that my parents would be coming that day, they were greeted with excited smiles and welcoming hugs. My dad made a quick speech and then, just as we hoped, the students and teachers were thrilled and appreciative of the gifts and supplies and their wide eyes and toothy smiles were priceless. As the all-school assembly continued, I was presented with a gift from my class as well as a song they had written. I couldn’t say thank you enough and I was so proud of them. It was hard to say good-bye as I fought back tears, but the glassy eyes of my students told me that I truly did make a difference.

With only three full days on the island, I knew I would have to pack each day with multiple activities to show my parents as much as possible. Therefore, after school, we headed over to Pigeon Point so they could have a turn climbing the Fort. We also stopped at the shopping mall, ate lunch at the marina and then made our way to Castries for the Festival of Lights. Marking the beginning of the Christmas season, the Derek Walcott Square was packed with people waiting to see the town light up for the first time of the year. Now the lights will stay lit until Christmas is over.

To celebrate my Dad’s birthday on Thursday (which is also a holy day in St. Lucia), Annabelle and I arranged an “Around the Island” tour for the day. We packed fifteen people into the bus and made our way down the Western (Caribbean) Coast and back up the Eastern (Atlantic) Coast. We began by touring the College of the West Indies – the only post-secondary school on the island – which stands right next to the monument in remembrance of the fourteen battles fought between the British and French for possession of St. Lucia. We continued along the narrow, winding roads (much to Mom’s discontent) and despite the slightly overcast (and very windy!) day, we were able to stop at various viewing points to take some gorgeous pictures. We also saw the shop where Casava bread is made and of course had to have a few samples. The other highlight was spending time at the Sulphur Springs to step in the warm, yet smelly, water. Supposedly, bathing in the stream is good for sore muscles and other body aches, but we were content with just getting our feet wet. The sulphur comes from the only volcano on the island which uniquely caved inward instead of erupting outward. Exhausted, but content with the jam-packed day, we made it back to the hotel in time for happy hour and then spent the rest of the night relaxing with the cool breeze.

Friday was sort of a catch up and relax day for us. Unfortunately, my parents still didn’t get to see very much sun, but we walked around Rodney Bay for awhile before packing up our suitcases and sitting by the pool. It’s a good thing they brought those extra suitcases of supplies that we left here, otherwise I would have had to leave quite a bit behind! That night, I confidently led my parents on the two-bus trek from the hotel to the Cherubin’s house for one last dinner with my host family. My parents had already met John and Brenda, but it was nice to sit down and actually have a conversation all together. Over a delicious meal and various drinks, we exchanged a few gifts and a lot of thanks. The highlight of the night for them was the snow my parents brought from home! Granted, they’re just little crystals that you mix with water, but it truly does look like the real stuff and they enjoyed that very much.

Over the past eight weeks, the Cherubins and everyone at school have helped me create so many stories that will remain with me forever. Despite my excitement to be coming home for Christmas, saying good-bye to my new family was very difficult. They all said I had exceeded their expectations and hope that I return in the future. All the words in the world could not express exactly what it’s like to spend eight weeks in an entirely new community and culture, but I want to thank you for following me along on my adventures. I was happy to share the good times, and during the not so good times, I appreciated the reminders that I have a whole support system rooting me on from home. This experience has truly been both eye-opening and life changing. I have learned so much about myself as a teacher, but also as an individual. It’s hard to believe that everything I had planned for for over a year is actually over, but I’m proud to say that I did it, I really did it.

Counting down . . .

It’s amazing how much I’ve learned and experienced in seven short weeks. Unfortunately, I’m already counting down my final days here, but doing my best to make the most of each one. I brought my laptop to school on Friday so I could show my students all of the pictures I had taken of them. They had so much fun looking at all of the pictures and I loved hearing them laugh and reflect back. They also enjoyed listening to some of the music I have, although they had never heard of most of it.

Friday night, I went out with the girls to celebrate one of their daughter’s birthday and just spend time with them outside of school. We took the little ones to Pizza! Pizza! and I secretly jumped inside because the place was a Lucian Chuck E. Cheese’s! No, there weren’t any electronic games, but you could still buy little toys, popcorn and snowcones as well as play on the huge jungle gym and jump on the two jumbo trampolines while waiting for the pizza. I’ve heard my students talk about this place and they often write about going there in their essays.

Wanting to spend as much time with my host family as possible before I leave, I woke up early on Saturday to bathe, get some work done and get out by the shop to see what was going on. I know Christmas is right around the corner, but Lucians sure take celebrating to the extreme. By noon, almost everyone already had a few drinks in them and was laughing and singing along with the radio.

I didn’t stick around long enough to see what time the gathering dispersed because Annabelle and I planned on spending the afternoon at Pigeon Island with her daughter and a friend. A hot spot for weddings and other events, the park is a beautiful historic landmark scattered with ancient war forts, jails and canons. We climbed to the top of the hill – a piece of cake compared to Gros Piton! – and were able to look out over the entire northern part of the island. Annabelle highly suggested I return here for my own wedding, so start saving your pennies now! ;)

As the start to the many good-byes I will have to say in the next week, the principal of the Monchy Primary School invited me over for lunch with her family on Sunday afternoon. The meal was delicious and the company was warm and welcoming. She has a beautiful house which overlooks Rodney Bay, so when I wasn’t out playing with the kids and the five new puppies, I was enjoying the view.

For one of our last hurrahs in the classroom, the students and I decided to have another dance party, but this time we wanted to make it official. Four students were chosen to be the judges and I handed out slips of paper with numbers on them to create the order of contestants. We had a great time playing “Monchy Idol” and the comments from the judges were priceless!

This whole good-bye thing is going to be much harder than I thought, but I guess that just goes to show how influential these people have been on my life. All of the teachers planned a going away dinner for me on Monday night and it was fun to relax and share stories with them outside of our usual school environment. I still haven’t quite gotten used to “Lucian time,” but for a dinner that was scheduled to begin at 7pm, I was quite surprised when we didn’t sit down to eat until 10 o’clock!

Parent-student-teacher conferences went really well today and I found it quite interesting to meet the parents of my students. It’s funny how similar the students are to their parents and a lot of their behaviors obviously come from home. Unfortunately I won’t be around to see if any of the improvements that I suggested during the conferences are actually made, but I hope to keep in touch with Ms. Hall and hear good things.

All day, I was excited for my parents to get here and I can’t wait to show them around school and my home life tomorrow. I’m sure my adventures with them as I wrap up my trip will be just as exciting as the past seven weeks.

And we’re into the home stretch. My, how time flies! After a low key weekend so that I could rest and recoup, I was ready to go Monday morning. I even got up early to head up the hill a ways to watch the sun rise. Standing there in awe, I cleared my mind and simply appreciated the beauty I was surrounded by. All weekend, conversations were buzzing with chit-chat about the earthquake and some of its damages. Some people had feared for their poorly structured homes, while others feared for their lives. The conclusion to each conversation I’ve heard is that the earthquake was a wake up call to start getting our acts together, especially in time for Christmas. We must take nothing for granted and live each day to the fullest.

At school, all of the teachers and I were busy grading exams and filling out report books, but of course, the students are still there and come first. Monday morning, I showed them a little art project I had learned when I was about their age and that kept them busy for quite some time. I still had some work to do in the afternoon, but I quickly realized that allowing them to “socialize quietly” was not going to work. Instead, we cleaned up the classroom and I taught them how to play “Heads Up, Seven Up,” which they loved.

I think I’ve exhausted every summer camp game I could think of and even though my students liked most of them, their attention spans are still about as long as my pinkie finger. They would not try the “Human Knot” because they didn’t want to have to hold hands, but when I asked for suggestions on what we should do, they hinted at a “Dance Party.” Not sure what that meant, and leery because we didn’t have any music, I hesitantly agreed and allowed them to move the desks to form a circle in the middle of the room. Before I knew it, three boys were drumming on their desks to create a rhythmic beat and two students were inside the circle dancing along. Relieved that the students were not fighting for once, I stepped back and observed the smiles on their faces as they patiently took turns stepping in and out of the center. It’s amazing how so much of this culture revolves around dancing and how unifying it can be. I had to laugh when I noticed that the boys were on one side of the circle while the girls were on the other – which reminded me of MY sixth grade dances years ago – but what was different was that the boys were just as eager to dance as the girls. And boy, could they dance! In my next life, I would liked to be blessed with half as much fluid motion as these kids have at such a young age!

I’ve also found it interesting to observe my better students often off in a corner quietly coloring or playing games like Parcheesi and Yachtzee while the dance party fills the room with noise. Sometimes they stand around to watch the others, but usually they find peace in the quieter activities. I took the opportunity to play with them and realized that these are some very intelligent kids. They devise strategies, play carefully and actually continue playing until the game finishes, unlike the students with the previously mentioned attention spans. ;) It has been so fascinating to observe the dynamic of the class now that instruction is over for the term. They have gelled so much and are even a little exclusive when students from other classes try to join their games. Their grade books are complete and I’m looking forward to meeting their parents when they come to pick up the grade books on Tuesday.

Earthquake!?

It has become a daily ritual for me to walk the mile home from school and I can’t help but brag that my student accompaniment has been increasing. It used to be just Janique and me because he comes over after school until his mom gets home, but now I have students asking me at lunch time if I’m walking home. Sometimes I’ve walked with groups of over a dozen students from various grade levels! On the way up, we sing songs, play I-Spy and guessing games and just laugh and laugh. It’s a great way to calm down and regroup after a stressful day and it is these students always help put a smile back on my face.

It was testing week. But there was a small problem: up until Wednesday, all of the tests weren’t ready! The district is supposed to supply the math and language arts questions for each grade, but we didn’t receive them until Tuesday morning. What’s worse is that they email the exams to the principal, so she still needs to print them out and run off all of the copies. With a small copy machine that is currently broken, the teachers were none too pleased. Ms. Hall and I tried to make due by continuing to find review work for the students to work on, but even they were getting frustrated because they just want to get the exams over with. Luckily, I was able to begin evaluating the students on the oral comprehension passage on Tuesday afternoon, but I had to listen to each student individually and did not finish until break time on Wednesday. After hearing the same passage twenty-seven times, you could ask me about Anna and her surprise present in a big box and I could recite the whole passage for you!

By an act of God, and the help of some neighboring copy machines, we were able to run off all of the pages for the written math and language arts tests. After Ms. Hall dumped them on my desk, I still had to collate and staple each packet of four sheets, but that was the least of our worries. The tests did not come with answer guides or scoring sheets, so I had to make them, too. I wonder if it’s always been like this! The students were able to write their composition essays on Wednesday and also completed the language arts written test. I have all of the written tests graded – unfortunately not too happy with the results – and I started grading the essays. Even though the students still need a little work on their grammar and spelling (there are some words I can’t even sound out because of the differing pronunciations here!) I enjoy reading the extremely creative stories. Now that I know my students much better, I can share in their humor and find myself laughing along with the characters.

They took both of the math tests on Thursday morning, but I haven’t had a chance to grade them yet because from noon until very late that night I was in the hospital. To make a long story short, I was transferred to two different hospitals (by ambulance each time) only to find out that I do not have Dengue (a potentially serious virus transmitted by mosquitoes) as originally thought, but I do have a viral infection. Guess I really am experiencing ALL of St. Lucia! I couldn’t help but look around in awe while sitting in my hospital bed because the place looked like something straight out of an old war movie. It was a single room with a small receptionist desk and seven or eight beds separated by blue curtains. Something else I definitely wasn’t prepared for was the minute long earthquake that effected almost the whole island! The doctors and nurses ran out quickly leaving all of us inside hooked up to I.V.’s and such. I don’t think there was any serious damage, and that hospital visit is one I will never forget.

Enjoying Family Time

Call it a Thanksgiving treat, or just plain coincidence, but Ms. Hall pleasantly surprised me on Friday afternoon by not giving me the usual list of topics to plan lessons for for the upcoming week. She argued that I had worked hard enough preparing the students for exams, and helping to prepare the exams themselves, so I deserved time to just enjoy the weekend. Since exams begin on Tuesday, I took a little time to brainstorm a few possible activities for Monday, and then did what I was told and didn’t even bring my scheme book home.

I still can’t get over the gorgeous weather I’m living in right now after hearing about the snow at home. It just doesn’t seem right to be walking around outside, even at night, without even a light jacket at the end of November. What really surprised me was when Nadia complained she was cold! We spent Friday night walking around town again and had a good time winding down after a long week.

On Saturday morning, I went for a long walk up a road I hadn’t traveled before. Climbing higher and higher allowed me to see parts of the island I hadn’t seen yet. I felt like I could have kept walking forever, but I also wanted to get back to see what kinds of exciting things were happening at home. I returned to find John working in the shop, trying hard to finish the renovations within the next week so they can stock it again for Christmas. I offered to help construct the shelves he was working on, but he politely declined the offer while expressing a concern for my safety. If only he knew about some of the projects I work on in the summer at De La Salle! But I didn’t persist and instead decided to accompany Annabelle, her daughter and her goddaughter to the marina. We packed up some juice and snacks and spent a few hours on the docks watching the boats come in and out. Within an hour, we all fell asleep under the warm afternoon sun. This really is paradise.

Around 5:30pm, we made our way back to the house so I could go along with my host father, John, to the evening mass in Gros Islet. The format was very similar to the masses at the Monchy church, but the building itself was much larger and gave me a lot to look at throughout the 90 minute service. It still amazes me how passionate they are about the worship songs they sing. Even though the church wasn’t even half full, and the windows were all open allowing the cool night breeze to circulate, the beautiful music resonated off the wooden pews and filled the air.

Every other morning when I get up before school to go for a run, I always see John walking down the road to go to work, but I never knew where he was actually going. So on Sunday, after waking me up with a glass of pure cow’s milk, he agreed to take me with him to “round up the cows.” As far as I was concerned, I hadn’t seen any farms since I got here; at least none that looked like the ones I pass on I-43 on the way to St. Norbert. Passing through a makeshift fence as we made our way along the dirt road, John welcomed me to the 600 acre estate, owned by the church, that he tends to (with only one other person!) every day. First, he took me over to the beautiful beach along the Caribbean Sea. Must be nice to have a private beach! Then, as promised, we went over by the cows quietly grazing in a small area of grass within the massive amounts of trees. John told me to stay put and before I knew it, I heard a “YAAH! YAAH!” and over a dozen cows ran right in front of me on their way to the fenced-in area where they sleep each night! John invited me to get closer to snap some good photos. “Take a picture of this one,” he said as he pointed to a big black bull, “poor thing doesn’t know I’m going to slaughter him for Christmas.” Too bad I’m going to miss THAT feast! Since we were on a bit of a time crunch, I obviously didn’t get to see all 600 acres of the estate, but now I know where John goes off to every day and why he comes home so tired.

The weekend ended with relaxing with the family and various neighbors. Since it’s nearing the end of the rainy season, it’s not as humid anymore and the mosquitoes aren’t quite as prevalent. Heading to bed early, I was ready for another week at school. I’m not exactly sure what is involved with the all-school exams, but I hope I have adequately prepared my students and am looking forward to seeing good results.

Happy Thanksgiving!

With exams quickly approaching, every class period has been devoted to revision of topics from the entire term. Although the students have been doing a better job with working efficiently and cooperatively, I know I can’t expect them to sit and do work for the entire day. They need to move around and let their creative minds work otherwise they get very antsy, very quickly. To help with this, I’ve scattered each day with a new mathematics activity to continue to promote Mathematics Month; as well as some Thanksgiving activities in an attempt to help them understand how we celebrate at home. Last week, I showed them how to construct their own Mancala game boards and taught them the rules of the simple partner game. It turned out to be a huge success and now every time there is a little down time at the end of a lesson, many of the students beg to play. They’ve even made it a contest to see who can “beat the teacher at her own game.” So far I’ve only lost twice, but they’re really starting to get the hang of the game and even devise strategies. This has been one of my favorite ways to observe their developing minds at work.

Another activity in which they exceeded my expectations was with my ‘Thanksgiving Quilt’ lesson. The students were asked to express themselves any way they wished (i.e. essay, song, poem, letter, etc.) and explain the things they are thankful for. I made sure to have them write a rough draft first, which helped them catch spelling and grammar errors. Then they transferred their words to the final paper and mounted it on colored construction paper. We hung the finished pieces on the wall outside the classroom in a quilt pattern and within minutes I was getting compliments from the other teachers. Despite the headaches I sometimes come home with from all of their rowdiness and quarreling, these students really are good kids at heart and are thankful for some wonderful things.

Furthermore, I was stunned when they asked if I could stay after school for “lessons.” From what I understood, lessons were various extracurricular sessions that certain students stayed for after the bell. I had heard about math, language arts and even karate lessons, but never took the time to investigate. Not wanting to let my kids down, I stayed back with about twelve students and went over whichever types of math problems they needed extra help with. The smaller class size made it much easier to maintain their attention and work through the problems a little more quickly. Since that session was impromptu and some of the students could not stay without asking permission, I agreed to hold another lesson the following day and every subsequent day until exams begin next week. Hopefully the extra thirty minutes of help each day will prove beneficial.

On Thursday morning, we took a class field trip to the Gros Islet Secondary School for the Grade Five District-wide Mathematics Competition. Each of the eleven schools selected two student representatives to compete for the chance to move on to the national round. I ended up volunteering to be the blackboard scorekeeper on the large stage with all of the contestants. Although neither one of my students did well enough to move on, (the winner only got one question wrong!) I still felt so proud of them. I can remember how nervous I used to get during mathematics and spelling bees in grammar school and I give them a lot of credit for getting up there in front of so many people. The best part of being on stage for the whole competition was that I was in the perfect position to see the rest of my students eagerly working out the problems in their heads and cheering like crazy whenever their representatives got the correct answer. I couldn’t help but smile and be excited for them, too. There’s nothing like a genuine smile of a proud little kid.

Even though I had to teach on Thanksgiving while the rest of you were watching football and getting ready for scrumptious family dinners, I’m not as jealous as I expected to be. Of course I miss home and send my good wishes and love, but I continue to enjoy myself here and am truly thankful for being given such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you to all of you for your thoughtful and supportive comments or even just taking time out to read these lengthy posts. I hope you can picture me smiling right now as I think about home. Oh, and please enjoy an extra slice of pumpkin pie for me! :)

Weekends are Fun

Another major Friday Night hot spot on the island is Anse La Raye and their Friday Night Fish Fry. So of course I had to try it! We made our way down there, despite the rain, and had a great time. Everything on the menu looked delicious and the spread included salt fish, shrimp, mahi mahi, tilapia, lobster and crab. With so many options, I had the waitress decide for me and she came back with a heaping plate of excellent shrimp. I also tried some of Nadia’s salt fish, but made sure to pick a piece far away from the (still intact!) eyeball that I felt was staring right at me. I usually don’t like when other people watch me eat . . . much less the food that I’m eating!

On Saturday, I just spent the day hanging out around the house and enjoying the weekend activities of the family. My host mom made this awesome plum jam that I couldn’t help but snack on all day. I will definitely have to bring some of her jams home since they’re so much better than Smuckers. That night, we took a trip back to the cinema to see “Fred Clause” (cute movie if you haven’t seen it yet) and then since it was a beautiful, clear night, we found ourselves on the boat once again. Seriously, it’s going to be hard to leave this place. Despite the seventeen miles of sea between St. Lucia and Martinique, we could actually see the streams of headlights from the traffic on the neighboring island.

Since over eighty percent of the population is Catholic, I have found myself right at home on Sundays when I attend the exciting church services. This Sunday, though, I participated in the 25th Annual Christian Youth Rally and returned from the fun day absolutely exhausted. From 9am until 6pm, we were dancing, singing and worshipping God with more energy than I have ever seen in a single auditorium. There had to have been almost a thousand “young people” from parishes all over the island who joined together on this day to share in praising the Lord.