i really wish i was able to blog everynight, because nights like last night both prevent it and merit it.
yesterday was a great day in class. i jotted down notes as ideas popped into my head for the classroom. at recess/snack, i spoke with Louisa about some ideas, and she was such a gem with making stuff and doing things for us; like cutting paper for my kids' cubby idea, and picking pods off the trees and painting them! seriously, i wish that woman was here all the time!
we got to do some hands-on math activities with the kids, but it has been really difficult because we arent following any sort of scope or curriculum. after lunch, Louisa came and gave us a run-down on the A Beka Book Phonics guide that we're going to start to follow. We sorted through some 400 cards, and she showed us the proper way to teach the sounds etc. and Jenna and I discussed some new ideas for the classroom, such as set up, decor, behavior management, and lesson plans for the rest of the week. i love being early on those things.
finished up in the classroom around 2:15 (or was it 3:15? anyway), and headed to the grocery with stacia (principal/teacher), keturah (office/married to an MK), and jenna (teacher). the grocery here (we went to SD; which is how its pronounced, not necessarily even its name) is very similar to that in parts of europe that i've seen. it has about 4 aisles, no meat, very very little produce (one stand-up cooler in the back), and an odd array of hair-dye, mosquito nets, and liquor mixed in. craving fresh produce, i bought some meager looking roma tomatoes and a small head of lettuce, all of which i will have to soak in bleach before i can eat (and yes, that is safe. better than diphtheria). also got some crackers, peanut butter, jelly, and some red-drank hawaiian punch cans. the total: 770 gourdes. conversion? psh. i handed her 21 american, apparently what its worth. so haiti isn't necessarily cheap, nor does it have the selection of kroger.
took a death taxi back with enough time to attempt a shower before dinner. my first shower. i tried the shower bag, but apparently it leaked most the water out and i was left with a little less than a gallon. i made the mistake of trying to use that first. oh, and shaving here? should be an olympic sport. the waters so cold you're either going to cut your goosebumps, or have to shave again immediately because of them! but compared to that water, the shower bag felt like a resort spa!
after dinner (and a blow-dry; just because it's haiti doesn't mean i have to give up all my creature comforts!) i went to the office to work on finding some sound cards for the lesson. mais, c'est mauvais. they weren't attached to the link that explained how to use them. after a lot of searching, i gave up and found supplement assignments for today. i made the short vowel sound cards for today, and jenna helped me out by coloring and laminating them like a pro!
while she worked on that, i worked on project #1: creating a calendar for calendar time!
how does one create a calendar? mind you, without the aid of kinkos or the parent-teacher store. well, you start by surveying what you have available. in our case, poster board was out of the question, but i did run into a copious (3 yards or so) amount of felt! but what to make the grid with? no puff pant. no fabric glue. no yarn. a silver sharpie from home! and the pockets? how to label them? with white-out!! add the velcro from santa-saint-louisa and computer-generated and hand-laminated numbers and Voila! you have a calendar!
although, it wasn't quite that easy. i worked on it for about 3 hours, but it was some of the best time i've spent here yet. as i was working, i had plenty of people come and talk and hang and help out. louisa for one. and jaysen, a proud asian, from seattle (i think?) but on staff at YWAM Kona. knows taylor stutts and his wife (taylor staffed his DTS team i believe he said)! very chill and hilarious! bryan, a black, 21(?) year old guy from amish country, PA. worked at YWAM Tiujana (yes, i know, i can't spell) for 6 weeks before heading here about 2 weeks ago for an indefinite amount of time. did his DTS in the dominican i believe, maybe mexico, who knows (its tough when i've met a million people from a million places and a million different DTS stories. all in three days!) but he loves hip-hop, and justin beiber (just for you Lauren!) totally reminds me of alvin love. and there's mike, whom i met last night, and was very sarcastic right off the bat. came, sat down and said "who are you and where did you come from?" haha. he is a YWAM staffer from .... um ... somewhere. whatev. does web stuff (i think?) for YWAM and his
heart is camp ministry. joshua, on staff at YWAM Orlando, is here serving as the kitchen leader, in charge of meals and clean-up etc. responsible for getting us the DELICIOUS!!! FRIED PLANTAINS last night! (last nights meal, although resembling baby-food, was indeed worthy of its own blog post! SO good!) he is originally from charleston, and totally recognized my guy harvey the other day, so he's legit. he'll be here for about 2 more weeks. matt, who is NOT from west virginia, but rather iowa, is here until the end of the month, and his story escapes me, aside from the fact he has his degrees in bible and TESOL, and spent time teaching english in central asia. not sure of his YWAM connection, because i'm really really bad with mixing all these stories up! (Which is why i am logging them here!) Reanna, YES THERE IS ONE!!!, did her DTS in Costa and is here, i think on here own? until Tuesday. she may be working with YWAM in the DR, but that escapes me too. she's a young'n, just 19, but it seems to be that i'm
the old one on base (although teacher-anne is 21, and i think ferran is, too. jenna will be 26 this month, and stacia, 36?)
sorry for the run down, but i'm trying to keep it straight, too!
anyways, they all sat and chatted and helped me peel a million velcros apart. it was really encouraging that they all stayed up, well past 11, when they were definitely exhausted and louisa still needed to pack and shower to leave today. they waited until i was finished to head to bed, and it was really great to get to spend some time getting to know everyone's stories and see how we've all ended up here. it was a good night!
this morning, came early though. quick b-fast bread with PB and then praise and prayer with the staff before school. it was really great, about unity mainly, but sarah asked everyone to pray for the sick (she and i), and honestly although i had felt like crap when i woke up with even less of a voice, more of a cough and sinus problems and a headache, they all seemed to get better after our worship time!
i took over teaching responsibilities today, and started the day off with CALENDAR! they were lost, but i think with a little time and routine, they'll learn to love it! i got them really involved today, getting them to volunteer to lead and repeat certain activities, or to point to things on the board, etc. that worked really well. too much time at math however, did not work very well. the boys were restless, and cedrick (whom bit me yesterday) would hardly pay attention in the group (he is only 4 though). after recess, we did work with the short vowel sounds, and i was really really impressed with them! The sound cards we made worked wonders!!!!
(i've got to go to bed, will finish in the AM)
***
trying to think back...
maybe got a nap this day, had my first teacher meeting and really enjoyed being a part of that with these ladies. they all bring something so awesome to the table and i think we really were purposed to be here together. after meeting and dinner, i began to work on a bulletin board for the class so we could start classroom helpers. except, the walls are cement blocks, and we don't have anything to hammer into or a bulletin board to utilize. but, we did have two empty cardboard boxes, slightly warped from rain, humidity, or cleaning water. add a little butcher paper, some lucky-find noah's ark borders, and a few cut-outs and Voila! you have a bulletin board. okay, again it wasn't that easy, but i did manage to finish the laminate star name tags with pipe cleaner hangers just as rhianna, bryan, and phillipson (on staff w/ YWAM as worship leader i believe) were about to go get ice cream. and since i turned it down the night before... i couldn't do that again!
we all piled in the back of the pick-up and stood holding on to the bars on the back of the cab for dear life. driving here is an extreme sport, no exaggeration. we stopped near the base and picked up philipson's sisters, grace and nicey, and his mom, and then we headed to epi-d'or for some cream glace, pommes frites, and boite d'eau. all for a grand total of 100 gourdes, or about $2.50. it was a fun night to talk to spend in the city.
view from the outdoor patio at epi d'or
zach had to be back for curfew, so he and rhianna took taxis home, but philipson told us he wouldn't be much longer and would give us a ride if we stayed. but once he finished eating, he said he felt sick and headed to the bathroom. poor guy got sick all over!
while he was in there, i got to spend some time speaking to his sisters in french. they didn't know much english, and said that my french was good (lies!). but it was fun to get to speak with natives, and in the native tongue! i also got to talk to bryan for a while and hear more about his life, childhood and story. once philipson came out, we left and dropped his family off, but he got sick again and we had to stop in a slightly bad part of town off the main avenue. i felt really bad because he was legitimately ill and like sweating and everything (not just haiti sweat).
we finally made it back just as they were closing the computer room and i was able to print a few things i needed for the next day. another long, late night, but totally worth spending it getting out and getting to know people and the community.
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