Back at it

Well I now see that I have been slacking on the posts.  Whoops! My apologies.  Here is the latest on last week. 

Sunday: Church and a lazy day. 

Monday: Today I had piano with Q.  Q is one of Pastor Bram friends and he’s pretty enthusiastic about piano.  The first lesson went well.  Afterwards I made dinner and then had a lazy night. 

Tuesday: School was a normal day.  After school I made dinner for the girls and then headed to Pastor Brams where I was able to practice guitar. From there Ravi and Sheena picked me up and we went up to Pastor Tom’s where we worked on ordering some more wedding stuff.  I stayed until Sticky group.  This week for Sticky group we had a bit bigger of a group.  Casey and Kerne walked Abby up to Pastor and Jens and then stuck around and Mrs. Kewiche and her husband came as well.  It was nice to have a bigger group.  Afterwards Sheena and Ravi gave us a ride home.  I was really tired so I headed to shower.  Afterwards I was brushing my teeth when all of a sudden I see something move.  I quickly spit out what was in my mouth and called for Abby.  Sure enough, a nice roach was underneath my hairbrush… Thank goodness for Abby! I don’t know what I would do without her. 

Wednesday:  After school there was a staff workshop which means we could not have piano lessons this week.  Unfortunately, 3 hours later it seemed as if we hadn’t gotten as far as we should have.   We got home and all I wanted was food.  I quickly ate and then the girls and I ran to the store where I bought some ice cream.  This was the first time I have bought ice cream in the store, but it seemed like it was much needed for the day. 

Thursday : Since we weren’t able to have lessons this week at church, Casey came over with the guitar.  He was able to have his piano lesson and I had my guitar lesson.  Afterwards we practiced a few songs for church.  I feel a lot more comfortable playing once I’ve practiced with the guitar.  Later on I skyped Kayla, finished lesson planning (or most of it) and headed to bed. 

Friday: Today was a dress down day.  In honor of earth day the children could wear brown or green.  I honestly wish there were no dress down days.  They always seem to bring additional challenges.  Anyways after school was over I came home and started making chocolate chip cookies for CIA and sloppy joes for dinner.  Casey and Kerne came over for dinner, however by the time the cookies were done and we had all eaten, it didn’t make sense to go to CIA.  We would have been extremely late.  Instead all of us including Tanya went to Keebees.  It was a relaxing night and afterwards we made our way home. 

Saturday: Saturday morning I woke up early, well early for a Saturday.  Staci picked me up and brought me over to her house to learn how to make mocha roll.  This is a delicious rich chocolaty frozen dessert.  I stayed for just long enough to learn and afterwards Staci dropped me back at home where I watched some TV, skyped Kelsey and Megan, and took a long nap.  Today is Yuri’s birthday so we decided it would be nice to go visit him at work.  While waiting for the guys to arrive Abby and I enjoyed some country music and coloring.  I was so relaxed that I didn’t realize the guys had arrived until they yelled into our window and scared the living daylights out of Abby and I.  I was literally in tears.  We walked to the main road where we caught a bus.  We then spent the night hanging out. 

Sunday: This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn.  We got ready and headed to church.  This morning I played 3 songs in church and I was pretty proud of myself.  After church we went with Jen to Mega J’s and Super J’s.  I came back and ate and then took an hour long nap.  It was a much needed nap, but left me tired.  I talked to mom on the phone for a bit and then walked up to Jen and Tom’s for movie night.  It’s been awhile since we’ve gone up on Sunday night.  A well- missed routine.  As soon as we got home, I showed, and crashed.  In fact I was in bed and asleep by 9 P.M.  Monday should be a good day! 

Island Hopping: Barbados!

Saturday night: 

            Pastor Tom came by to pick us up and drop us at the airport.  Our flight for Barbados was supposed to leave at 7:30, but of course LIAT was late.  As we waited, we froze in the airport.  I don’t know why, but it was freezing in there.  By the time our flight actually left, we were supposed to have been in Barbados already. We arrived in Barbados a good hour late, but oh well everything is good!  We made it! We stayed at Oceanspray Beach Apartments and my first impression of the hotel was that it could have been cleaner.  It was not dirty enough to find a new place, but just not as clean as you’d expect a hotel to be.  Oh well! Here is where we are staying for the next 4 nights.  I am really impressed though by the view.  The water is literally right next to the hotel.  You can feel the mist from the waves crashing against the rocks.  The view is spectacular!  I know where we will be spending our nights! 

Sunday:

            This morning we woke up and headed for breakfast.  The hotel serves a continental breakfast in the morning.  The food was pretty good, but my favorite part was the juice and the view!  If only I could wake up to this view every morning!  The waves are rolling in and hitting the rocks.  A perfect morning to enjoy God’s creation! 

            After breakfast we went to the front desk where the helpful lady showed us a map and explained how to take the bus as well as where to get it.  We headed back to the room to finish getting ready and then headed out for the day. 

Today we left thinking we were going to go spend the day a place called the Boatyard.  We left the hotel and headed in the direction of the nearest bus.  Because we take bus in St. Lucia, we knew it was cheaper and were told we should be fine as long as ask where we are going.  Well we got to where we thought the bus would pick us up and waited.   Not before too long did a guy come and let us know that we needed to hop the bus a short walk away.  No problem.  We got on the bus and were surprised at how easy it was to ride.  A bus ride is 1 U.S. or 2 Barbadian.  So cheap compared to a taxi and so worth it!  We headed to Boatyard and realized that it was very similar to Reduit (our beach in St. Lucia) and decided to leave.  We then walked towards Bridgetown and found the bus station to take a bus to Crane Beach.  For 2 U.S. we traveled on a big blue bus for about 30 minutes to Crane beach and it was gorgeous!  So worth the time it took to get there.  The view was breathtaking!  We walked along the rocks, laid out for a bit, ate some food at the beach restaurant and then headed back to wait for the bus. Our timing was incredible.  We were thinking we’d have to wait for about 30 minutes before our bus would show up, but after about 10 minutes of waiting the blue bus came rolling around the corner and we quick ran across the street to get on.  We got off at Oistens (closer to our hotel) and went to the ATM and gas station to get some food and juice.  We walked across the street to another beach and sat down to enjoy a shandy before heading back home.  On the way home we stopped at Chefette for dinner.  This is basically Barbados’ version of McDonalds, but in my opinion 10x better than McDonalds!  My broasted chicken sandwich was amazing and I got a second in case we don’t get food tomorrow after our day tour.  We caught bus 11 to get back to our hotel and the guy on the bus again helped us to find our stop.  Taking bus is pretty easy here and I’m glad we’ve decided to use this as our means of transportation. After arriving at the hotel we took it easy and then enjoyed some drinks under the stars at our hotel. 

I’m very proud of us.  With many questions we were able to get around all day, no problem!  First impression of Barbados has been good.  The people are extremely helpful and friendly and the sand is the softest sand I’ve ever felt!  More to come tomorrow! 

Monday:

            This morning Abby and I got up at 5:45 for the sunrise.  While it wasn’t the best sunrise I’ve ever seen, it was pretty spectacular watching it come up over the ocean (something we don’t get to do in St. Lucia).  Because we were up so early and had to leave early for our day tour, I did not fall back asleep after that.  Instead I drank some coffee, watched a show, and went to breakfast with the girls.  We got picked up at 7:45 in the morning and left for Harrison’s cave.  Our driver that was taking us around for the day had a little bit too much energy for so early in the morning and therefore some of the things he said sounded crazy.  However as the day wore on he was filled with facts and we learned a lot about Barbados and its history.

            Our first stop was the Harrison’s cave and it was really cool.  The cave is pretty big and the whole tour was done by tram.  Seeing the stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, pools, ect. was really cool and amazed me.  Again I could see the power of God in his creation.  After the cave tour we drove nearby to a Wildlife reserve where we watched green monkeys being fed.  The monkeys were not caged and roam freely throughout the area, however the only time we saw any was during feeding time.  The swarm of monkeys following the bananas was insane!  We started to walk down the path to see if we could see any more wildlife, but about halfway through it started to rain in the forest.  I was very glad that I brought my rain jacket as it helped keep me dry.  We then turned around and headed back to the lookout point until we headed back onto the bus. 

            Next we drove a bit until we reached Bathsheba.  Bathsheba is a rock formation on the coast.  It was beautiful!  While a short stop, it was one of my favorites to see.  After about 10 minutes we left and had about an hour drive south where we went to a place called Pirates Cove for lunch.  Our Bajan lunch was delicious!  Barbeque chicken, macaroni pie, rice, stewed meat, corn, salad, plantains, and cooked vegetables all were on my plate and I can say all were gone by the end of the meal. 

            Following lunch we boarded a pontoon which took us to the turtles.  This was by far my favorite part of the trip!  The turtles were AMAZING!  Some literally came within inches of me.  We spent a good 30 minutes swimming with the turtles as the captains of the boat threw food into the water to keep them near us.  I can’t even begin to describe to you how cool this experience was. It is just something you will have to experience yourself some day!  The turtles were so cool we tried taking underwater pictures with Tanya’s underwater camera.  Unfortunately the camera didn’t last long though and took on water.  Downside the camera might be toast, positive side is that she was able to capture about 5 pictures before it died. Our friendly driver actually went to the local store and bought Tanya some rice for her camera to sit in.  After the turtles, we headed back to Pirates cove where we were given chairs to relax on for the last hour of our day.  With our free drink in hand, we enjoyed our chairs and the view.

            After the tour our driver dropped us at Buffy’s, a small local store close to our hotel.  We wanted to get juice for the night.  We then walked the rest of the rest of the way to the hotel where we chilled for a bit before we went out and walked down around a path on the coast. Watching the waves and how they form and build off of each other is really cool.  The power in just one wave incredible.  Anyways we headed back before it got dark and the tide came in.  After a long packed day we were all pretty tired.  We relaxed for a bit and showered.  I bought an extra Chefette sandwich the day before, so I ate that for dinner.  We finished off the night with a drink under the stars and went to bed. 

Tuesday:

We started off this morning chilling in the room and having breakfast.  Around 10 we left for the bus and headed towards Rockley Beach.  It was very relaxing.  All the different shades of blue that you see in the water still amazes me! So beautiful! 

We spent maybe an hour or so on the beach.  I went in the water and felt like I was in a wave pool, except for there was obviously real waves and salt water.  It didn’t take long before I was tired and came back to dry off on my towel.  Around 12 we headed for lunch.  Across the way we found some food and shops.  I ate pizza before heading to shop for some souvenirs.  We then took the bus back to the hotel.  I am really amazed at how smooth this bus system is.  In St. Lucia we just have the bus driver, but in Barbados many buses have the driver plus a person in the back who takes the money.  It really seems to keep things moving.  It’s also really nice for us as we don’t know where we are going so we tell them exactly where we want to go and they take care of it. 

We didn’t have long at the hotel before we were picked up for our sunset boat cruise.  We had a lovely time aboard El Tigre where we stopped twice to snorkel and then headed out to watch the sunset.  Swimming with turtles is definitely the highlight of this trip!  While aboard we were served a bunch of delicious finger foods and we were able to try the local rum and beer.  I would say both of fairly similar to St. Lucias.  While I loved the sunset cruise, I was a bit bummed.  My favorite sarong blew off the boat and is now most likely on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.  I hope they have another that I can buy when I get home. 

Following the cruise, we had our driver drop us at Oistens.  This is an area that is known for its food and entertainment on the weekends.  I’m not quite sure what we were thinking but each of us got food plate of food.  I have never seen so much food in my life- well maybe that’s just my eyes saying this because I had already eaten on the boat.  Anyways we got some local food, but none of us were able to finish it.  I guess we’re going to have leftovers for tomorrow!  We took the bus back home and enjoyed a drink under the stars before heading to bed for the night. 

Wednesday:

I can’t believe our last day in Barbados is over.  It has been a great vacation!  This morning we all got up not feeling the greatest.  I’m not sure what happened exactly, but we’re thinking it may have to do with something we ate last night.  So much for leftovers today, I do not think I will be eating them! None of us slept well and all of us had this uneasy feeling in our stomachs.  Despite all of that we got up, packed up our bags, and headed for breakfast.  We then went back to the room to grab our things.  We left our luggage in the office at the hotel, as we would not be back for checkout time, and met our surf instructor who came to pick us up.  Yep that’s right.  I am going to try to surf! 

Upon arrival at Barry’s Surf School, we paid and then headed to the beach for our lesson. Barry, Simon, and Ben were our surf instructors.  Because there was only 5 in the group, we had lots of individual help.  Surprisingly our lesson on land was about 5 minutes long and before we knew it we were hitting the waves.  “Knee, foot, up,” were our simple direction on how to stand on a surfboard.  My first wave came and I repeated to myself “knee, foot, up.” All of a sudden I was standing.  What?!  I rode my first wave in all the way to shore! So exciting!  Paddling out was way harder than I expected and therefore a huge workout.  It was really cool though and I would recommend to anyone who has ever thought about surfing to give it a try.  Your eyes may burn from the salt water and your legs might get fried after 2 hours of being in the sun, but its worth it!  Yes I will admit I did get a bit sunburned.  I lost track of time and about 45 minutes before our time was up, I went to reapply, but by then it was too late.  Oh well!  I’m glad its our last day and I won’t have to deal with a burn and wanting to be at the beach tomorrow. 

After surfing, we stayed at the beach for a bit longer and relaxed on some chairs.  We then went off to find food, but instead of going to a restaurant we popped into the local supermarket.  Boy was this such a good decision!  Bajan’s have donuts and not just any donut, sprinkled donuts!  I of course had to buy one and I got Hershey’s cookies and cream milk to go along with it, all of which was reasonably priced for an island.  Could I not have chosen more Bajan food?  Yes, but in the moment the American food was what I wanted and I could not have been happier.  We then went back to the surf school where Barry drove us back to the hotel.  We enjoyed our food there.  I can’t believe our time is coming to a close.  We spent our last hour and half sitting in chairs and watching the waves roll in.  Tanya and I were able to take quick showers in the extra bathroom before our taxi showed up to take us to the airport.  Once we arrived at the airport, I got Chefette one more time before heading through security.  I really am going to miss Barbados!  Teacher Liz was at the airport and on the same flight back with us.  We all almost missed our flight back to St. Lucia because we were in the wrong spot, but made it for the last boarding call.  Back in St. Lucia, Jen picked us up and we headed home to relax a bit before bed.  It does feel good to be home, but I really do miss Barbados! 

Crane Beach

Surfing was awesome! 

Loving Barbados!

My wonderful travel companions

Barbados beaches are the best 

Our boards for the day

Bajan food

Bathsheba 

Monkeys

Swimming with turtles

Seriously can't get enough of these beaches! 

Sunrise from the hotel

Crane beach 

Yes we did as the locals do.  Buses were our main form of transportation 

Holy Week

This last week was a special week for the children.  On Monday our school day started as usual with assembly.  After assembly we headed back to the classroom to stuff our paper mache eggs with Easter candy.  The children brought in lots of candy so this took a bit of time to get them stuffed.  Afterwards we headed outside with snacks, lunch, picnic baskets, and balls.  The children spent the rest of the day playing on the big field with grade 1.  During the afternoon we hid the eggs on the lower schools play field and the children had to go search for their egg.  We then finished the day off on the field where parents picked their children up.  It was a relaxing day and fun to interact with the children in a different way than normal.  After the picnic, we had conferences to do.  I was at school until about 5:15 and came home exhausted, only to remember that we were heading to Pastor Tom’s to sing for his birthday.  We went to Pastor Tom’s around 8 and were back around 10, where I crashed for the night. 

            Tuesday was another special day.  Pajama and movie day!  All the students came to school looking very comfy.  They brought blankets, pillows, and popcorn for the movie.  We teachers worked on darkening the room, by putting blankets or newspaper in front of the windows.  Since grade 1 was joining us, opened the partitions between 3 classrooms and put on the Air Conditioning for the day.  We watched Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rio.  Both movies were good, however often hard to hear as our speakers were not super loud and we had students from both classes talking.  Too bad I didn’t have our neighbor’s speakers from upstairs.  If we had everyone would have been able to hear.  Oh well! Next time! Again after movie day was conferences.  Another long day at school. 

            Wednesday was our last day with children at school for Term 2.  It started off with the school marathon.  Not all of our students were involved, however, since most were all Najma, Robin, and I all went on the walk/run around the neighborhood.  While not long, the hill that we walked up was a bit hard for some of the students.  I am very proud of my Kindergarteners for not giving up and finishing it though!  After the marathon, the rest of the day was really relaxed.  Because of the marathon I was short 6 children, so we spent the rest of the day with sports awards and lots of outdoor time.  Once my students left, we again had conferences.  Not all the parents showed up though, so I spent a lot of time standing around.  That is when it hit me how tired I was.  I really need to catch up on sleep!  Once I came home, I quick finished making spaghetti which is what we brought over to Pastor and Jen’s for dinner.  Our sticky group was providing dinner for Kettle Morraine Lutheran High School (KML) who is visiting for the week and helping with Vacation Bible School.  After dinner Abby and I stuck around to do dishes.  We don’t find it fair for Tom and Jen to have to do all of them when they host.  After dishes Abby headed home and I stayed to help Ravi and Sheena with some wedding stuff.  It ended up being a really late night, but oh well! I was more than happy to help! 

            Thursday was a day full of conferences.  Our morning started off slow, but we were able to get through majority of our parents before 1.  We finished up for the day at that time, as Robin had to get to a funeral.  I came home from and took a much needed nap.  That night we went to church for their Maundy Thursday service.  I came home and crashed for the night. 

            Friday I was actually able to sleep in!  It was so nice and again much needed.  I had a relaxing morning and was able to watch some shows and do bible study.  We headed to church for Good Friday service.  Good Friday was a Tenebrae service. At the end of the service we wrote on a piece of paper our sins and then we nailed them to the cross, like actually nailed it to the cross.  It was a very personal way for me to realize that I am also responsible for Jesus’ death, yet he died for me to take away my sins.  After church we went to the beach with Tanya.  We were going to go to Reduit beach, however as we were walking past the Aquatic Centre a parent asked if we’d like a ride Landings beach.  Even though this was not our plan, we couldn’t pass up a ride so we went.  We walked from Landings to Pigeon where we sat on the rocks and watched the waves on the Atlantic Ocean.  As we sat there we realized we had no idea how we were going to get home.  It is Good Friday and therefore a holiday in St. Lucia.  We weren’t even sure the busses would be running for the day and we didn’t have too much longer before dark.  Well God was looking out for us.  Not too long after this we looked over and down the way was Pastor Bram and Q.  Kerne, Casey, and Bradley had also come with and were chilling by the car.  While Bram did not have room for us, he did mention that KML was at Pigeon and Pastor Tom would be picking them up in the church bus.  So we waited for the church bus, got our beach fix, and were able to relax a bit. The day turned out perfect with free transportation and the beach!  Friday night our neighbors came over to hang out for a bit.  By the time they left it was pretty late and we quickly tidied up.  Tanya went to grab the laundry from the laundry room, however there was a HUGE spider in there.  This one was even bigger than before.  After a few screams we quickly messaged the guys upstairs and being the manly men they are, they came to take care of it.  All 3 of them.  So there is a benefit to having male neighbors and we are definitely happy to not have to take care of the huge spiders! Unfortunately they lost the spider trying to kill it.  They searched everywhere and couldn’t find it.  We’re hoping that it ran into their laundry room and died, but because we know it was not killed we are still uneasy about going into the laundry room. 

            Saturday morning came way too quick.  We woke up early to get to church clean up.  I worked outside a bit picking weeds and picking up garbage and then inside as well.  I lucked out and did not have to go outside as it rained because I was wearing a white shirt.  After church clean-up, the band practiced for the Easter service.  Easter will be the first service that I will play with the band for in church.  A big day for me!  Upon arrival at home I took a 10 minute nap and then changed for the beach.  Along the way we stopped at the bank, Lime, and felly belly.  I was a big crabby until I got my felly belly in me.  As we arrived at the beach we ran into the KML students again.  We relaxed a bit and after a short while our neighbors met us there.  They are very unique fellas and because they are med school students, they know a different group of people that we do.  We met another med school student and all watched the sunset before heading home. On our way home we got groceries and after a quick dinner, I started making cookies for Easter Sunday snacks after church.  It was another late night and I was exhausted around 11 when I finally got around to going to bed.

            Happy Easter!  Tanya came with us to church this morning.  It was so fun to be in church on Sunday and see what Easter in St. Lucia is like.  Church was packed!  I loved the flowers and the music and everything.  I had my official debut in the church band, which I think went okay.  I’m hoping now I’ll feel more confident to play in church.  I also sang in the choir and that was pretty sweet too.  Theresa, one of my Sunday school students, sat with me for majority of the service. I love that I can be an example for her, not just in Sunday school but during church as well.  After church we stayed to help with VBS prep.  While I don’t mind helping, I will say that it was something we probably could have skipped after presenting our music to the group.  I wasn’t in the best mood that afternoon and we stayed until about 3:30.  I was hungry and tired and just wanted to spend a bit of time at home before Easter dinner at Jens.  Fortunately Ian took the bus home with Abby and I and we were able to make the potatoes and change before heading up for Easter dinner. 

            Easter dinner was delicious!  It was the first time I have had ham since being here and I loved it.  We also had potatoes of all kinds and corn.  After eating, we played adults verses young adults in playdough Pictionary.  Yes I was finally considered an adult! J It was fun playing with the group that was there.  After everyone left, Tanya, Abby and I stuck around to help with dishes.  I think this may become a trend of ours.  By the time I got home however I was crabby! I think I’m realizing that my break is not actually going to be a break.  I will not be able to sleep in.  I will not be able to do what I want.  I will not be able to relax as much as I’d hoped and I will not be going to bed early.  Hoping tomorrow I wake up in a better mood.  Tonight however I am just going to crash.

Some of my students at our picnic

Easter egg hunt

Pajama/movie day

Good Friday at church

The beautiful Atlantic on Good Friday

Easter Sunday with the best :) 

I teach Jude and Casey piano.  Both decided they wanted to join our picture.

The beautiful Easter flowers.  

Spinnakers 

Practicing for Easter service.

My favorite part about St. Lucia.

Prep for Conferences

My apologies on the late post.  It’s been a busy 2 weeks.  I’ll try my best to back-track, so here we go.

            Last week Monday-Friday was normal in terms of school during the day.  It was our last full week of school before spring break.  Monday afternoon I stayed at school until about 5:15 to work on reports with Robin and Najma.  We go through each sheet and rate each child on a scale of 1-5 to see where they are at in different areas.  This sheet is only part of the report that we give to parents during conferences. 

            Tuesday during school I was able to finish most of the front side of the report sheet. Robin and I spent both outdoors going through our 29 sheets.  Having to write these reports by hand is tedious and I don’t like it.  It would be so much easier if we were able to type them up.  All the reports are written in pencil and sent to the office.  Once they are approved they are then sent back to us to be written in pen.  It is so much writing.  I felt like I was back in college taking notes as my hand started to cramp up.  Anyways, I was happy to finish majority of the reports during the day.  That meant I was able to leave school at a normal time.  Tuesday night a group from church went to see the move “Risen” at the movie theater.  It was interesting to see another person’s portrayal of Jesus.  I however was pretty tired and once I got home I crashed.

            Wednesday we had piano and church and Thursday after school was our staff meeting.  I can’t understand how the teachers are able to teach on the other campus with the construction happening next door. For the first hour + of the meeting the cement mixer was going and I could hardly hear my coworkers talking.  By the time it ended I had a major headache and was ready for home, however of course we still had matters to finish in the meeting.

On Friday was the school swim meet.  Najma and I walked over the Aquatic Centre with our students and got them ready for the meet. My students that were there did the kickboard race.  I think they did better than I would have!  I was so proud of them.  They got in the water and raced in front of a bunch of people.  This is a first for most of them and they all did well.  After they finished the race, we had them change and headed back to school.  Friday night we went to the beach with Casey and Kerne to celebrate Kerne’s birthday.  It was a good time, however a late night.  Upon arrival at home, we met the neighbors for the first time.  I wasn’t quite sure what to think of them, but they seem nice at least. 

  On Saturday morning I woke up around 7:30 to an earthquake.  It was the first earthquake that we have had that I have actually felt.  My bed started moving back and forth for about 10 seconds and then it was done.  I was able to fall back asleep for another hour or so.  Saturday afternoon we went to the supermarket, KFC, and Felly Belly.  We finished the day off by hanging out with our new neighbors.  We got to see what the upstairs of our house looks like and I must admit, it is pretty nice.  The guys are actually really nice and I think we got all the issues out there.  I’m hoping from now on they will attempt to be a bit quieter.  All our neighbors are really nice though. One is from New York, one from Nigeria, and one from London.  I think we have made some new friends!

Sunday was Palm Sunday and started off with church.  It was a little weird because Abby wasn’t there.  She had a student’s birthday party to go to.  This is the first service that I have not had Abby with as my sidekick.  Anyways, Palm Sunday was fairly similar as it is in the states, the children walked in with Palm branches.  I will say though that the Palm branches were a lot bigger, as they got them from the Palm trees here.  A good variety of sizes.  Sunday afternoon Tanya and I headed to the beach where we saw Nigel, a bartender at the hotel.  Nigel was a bit surprised to see us seeing as the last time we told him that we were only visiting for a week, but hey 2 weeks later we still are in St. Lucia.  Whoops!  Anyways Nigel invited onto the hotel grounds where we chilled with a drink by the swim-up pool bar and chatted with his other coworkers.  Afterwards, Tanya and I headed to Spinnakers for some French fries (our supper) and then headed home where we showered and relaxed for the night.  

Our relaxing afternoon at the hotel

Yes she is wearing a winter coat...

Week of Sports

Another week in the books. This week our big project in school was to finish making paper-mâché Easter eggs.  Each of the students made one egg and next week they will be painting them and then stuffing them with candy for the Easter egg the following week.  Monday and Tuesday afternoons were pretty relaxed.  Dinner, yoga, and bed would pretty much summarize my night.  Wednesday night we had church and Thursday night Abby and I taught piano lessons. Friday, however, was not a normal day.

Friday was sports day at school and man was I exhausted!  My day started at 7:30 when I arrived at school.  I started helping to set up around 8 and by 9 students were out on the field ready to go.  Basically my job for the day was to help set up each of the races.  There were multiple heats of each race, so as soon as the first group went I was helping set up for the next group. The students were involved in a variety of races throughout the day.  Cones and markers, three legged, sack race, potato and spoon, hanging clothes, socks and shoes, marble rolling, balls in the buckets, and running to the finish line.  Each student was assigned to 3 races and the final run to the finish line everyone did.  The students took a break for snack, but during this time the parents did their races.  The only “break” I got was about a minute in between the few races to drink some water and put some more sunscreen on.  It was such a long day, but it was kind of fun to be so involved with it. 

            I was very thankful that we had an early release and I was able to make it home around 1:30.  Upon arrival, I changed out of my jeans and tshirt and laid down in bed.  I literally could not move for a good hour and a half.  Tanya got home and we unwinded with a bit of Chairman’s before heading to Jade Terrace (a Chinese restaurant) for dinner before CIA.  Our new neighbors upstairs were blasting their music super loud, so we all got out of the house for the night.  Tanya came with us for CIA this week as it was held at Antilla brewery.  Once everyone arrived we had our bible study and then played Taboo.  It was a fun night and I really enjoyed having CIA outside of church. 

            Yesterday started off like any other Saturday, except I actually slept in!  Not often will I sleep past 8:30, but I woke up around 9:30 only to find both of my roommates were awake already.  I did some laundry and attempted to watch Pastor Ben’s sermon while eating my pancakes.  Tanya, Abby and I started to look into booking our activities for Barbados, but weren’t able to come up with a solid plan.  I skyped Megan and then Najma came over for a little bit so we could finish our planning for the week.  We found out that we are a lot more creative with our lessons when we lesson plan on the weekend, unfortunately we normally can’t do this as lessons are supposed to be in on Fridays.  I talked with mom on the phone for a little bit and was able to practice guitar and watch a little TV, before Staci came to pick us up.

            We spent out afternoon/evening at the Landwehr house.  They live up the hill from Calabash Cove, so we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on the beach with a decent sunset.  We then hiked back up the hill to their house for an amazing dinner of grilled chicken.  I need to learn how to cook like that!  After dinner we played a game called Deer in the Headlights before heading back home.  Last night for whatever reason I could not do math for the life of me, and Jonas enjoyed giving me a hard time about that.  It made me feel right at home.

            This morning I woke up a little before my alarm.  This allowed me to actually get some laundry done before church.  Church was great as always and upon arriving home I cleaned and ate some lunch.  Almost every Sunday we come home and have hashbrowns for lunch.  I normally have a smoothie to go along with it.  Tanya, Abby, and I booked a few of our activities in Barbados.  A day trip and a sunset cruise are currently planned.  We’ll see what else we are able to do while we are there. I did some school work and then relaxed a bit before heading to the supermarket with Abby.  While there someone asked if we were his neighbor, to which my reply was “Umm… maybe.”  Yes, he is one of the new tenants who lives upstairs.  He seemed nice and walked back with us from the supermarket.  Hopefully we’ll get to meet the others soon.  Maybe if we make a good enough impression they’ll be a little bit quieter upstairs.  I guess we’ll see! We’ve been spoiled for the last 6 months having no one upstairs.  Tonight we are headed over to Jen’s for piano and pizza biscuits (Ian’s new creation). 

Making smoothies out of "glow" foods

In our house shirts :) 

The gorgeous sunset.  I love this part about St. Lucia

Beach life

Beginning of March

            Wow time has flown.  I can't believe it is already March.  In a few short weeks I will be on Easter break and enjoying island life with my wonderful roommates! This week, school was pretty normal with the exception of Friday when upper school was off campus having their sports day.  Even though this did not affect my students, school seemed very quiet.  We’ve been practicing for our sports day which will be this coming Friday.  I hear that sports day is a crazy day that will leave me exhausted.  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

            After school on Tuesday, my roommates and I were sitting in the kitchen chatting like normal when a bus pulls up with a bunch of stuff.  Sure enough, the place upstairs has finally been rented out.  We now have 3 big guys living above us.  While we still have yet to meet them, we now know a bit more about them from our landlord.  They are students at the local med school and are not Lucian.  This is good news!  We were really nervous that with 3 guys, they would be noisy and have loud music, but so far so good!  With the exception of Tuesday night when I woke up due to the sound of water running and weird noises upstairs, we have had no trouble with noise.  In fairness though, Tuesday was a rough night in general as my fan had broken and so I was hot and didn’t have my normal background noise.

            Wednesday after school Jen went to the store and bought me a new fan.  I never knew how excited I would be over a fan, but I was actually giddy! Unless you have experienced St. Lucian heat, you probably wouldn’t understand.  We were picked up around 6 for our Lenten church service.  It was nice to be back in church and felt like it had been awhile due to us not being in church last weekend. 

            Thursday after school we were picked up around 4 for piano.  It’s always interesting to see who actually shows up for lessons.  While in previous weeks, I have not had many students and Abby has had more, this week I had all my students and Abby had one come in during the last 20 minutes of us being at church.  After piano/guitar we headed out to eat with some people from church.  Pat has been visiting St. Lucia for the last 3 months and set it all up.  Again everything is on Lucian timing.  Everyone was supposed to arrive by 7:30, but it was at least 7:45 before that happened.  Dinner was officially served around 9:45 and we did not arrive home until midnight.  While I was very thankful for dinner, I knew I was going to be tired for school the next day.  Way past this teachers bedtime!  The restaurant, Jacques, was super fancy and we enjoyed a full course dinner.  As dessert was served, Ravi officially asked Sheena to marry him and it was such a special moment.  Her ring is gorgeous and I’m so happy for the two of them!

            Friday after school we came back and found out that we have a new wifi and cable provider.  None of us were happy about this as we now are not getting reception in our rooms and our U.S. shows/music stations will no longer work.  We decided we needed to get out of the house so we went out for French fries at Spinnakers.  This was followed by stargazing and drinks on the beach with Casey and Kerne.  It was so relaxing to be able to watch the stars with the waves crashing the background.  We also had some added entertainment from the guests at the hotel.  One came over and asked where we were from.  We tried to convince him that we were Lucian, but he didn’t quite believe us because in his words “we are white”.  I guess that is a pretty good giveaway most of the time.

            Saturday was a frustrating day.  We woke up and again I realized that the WiFi was not working in anywhere in the house but the living room.  I honestly did not know what to do with myself.  I walked around the house and talked with my roommates, practiced some guitar and piano, and waited for answers.  How sad is it that my life changes so much the minute that WiFi doesn’t work.  Our landlord and another guy came over to attempt to fix it, but after over 3 hours of working on it, WiFi was still not working properly in anywhere but our living room.  Hopefully on Monday they’ll get this all sorted out, but for now we’re sharing the couches between the 3 of us.  We again left the house and headed to the beach.  I’m pretty sure we can’t go anywhere anymore without some guy coming to talk to us.  This time 2 guys on the beach came and started talking to us.  So much for a relaxing time!  Some people just don’t get the hint.  On the plus side, we now know 2 more people by name on the beach.  As we were leaving the beach we ran into Pastor Bram and a bunch of other people from church who were watching the sunset.  While we definitely could have stayed, we all decided to walk home and head to the supermarket instead.  By the time we got home, we ate, showered, and soon after I went to bed. 

            Today has been a very relaxing day.  We left for church early this morning so that Jen could bring some of the Johnston’s to church.  Pastor Johnston from Antigua preached today and we were able to meet him and his family.  We were hoping to make it to Antigua before they leave for his new call to Mexico, but I’m thinking the chances of that are pretty slim.  We’ll see though!  After getting home we honestly relaxed all day. I attempted to make chocolate chip banana bread.  It tastes great but the looks, well we won’t talk about that.  

We've figured out how to make some pretty good pasta! 

Not many people can say they can go to the beach after work on a school night.

Yes my new fan is kind of a big deal!

Our delicious dinner at Jacques

A decent sunset on Saturday night

Sheena's engaged! :) 

A year ago when I was struggling to figure out what I was doing next year, God knew.
His plans were far greater than my own! 

Last week in February

Tuesday was Tanya’s birthday so after school we went with Jen to Smuggler’s Cove.  It was seriously gorgeous there!  I got even more excited when I found out that this was the location in which part of the Bachelor was filmed.  If you know me, I’m a pretty big Bachelor fan and yes I still follow and make bets on it even from far away. We got a drink and enjoyed our time there.  Afterwards Jen dropped us at home and we left shortly after to try out Spice of India (number 1 on tripadvisor).  I will say though that I was not impressed.  The serving sizes were small and it was very pricey.  However, the food was good and I’m glad we were at least able to try it out.  A birthday is a good excuse to treat yourself.

After school on Wednesday, Abby and I rushed home to quickly eat.  We then headed off to piano before the 6:30 Lenten service.  After the service we finished up piano and I had my guitar lesson before heading home.  By the time we arrived home it was past 9:30 and I was exhausted and ready for bed.  What a long day!

Thursday was another long day, but I was happy and excited that our workshop after school ended before 5.  This meant that for the first time all week I can finally have a relaxing night.

Friday was an interesting day.  School for the most part was normal, with the exception of practicing for sports day.  In 2 weeks sports day will occur and each of the students participate in different events in which they have to practice.  I’m starting to realize how exhausted I will be after that day.

Friday afternoon Karen and Mike (our landlords) came over and while Mike worked on the fridge, we chatted with them about different things to do on the island.  Abby and I then headed to Jade Terrace where we had delicious Chinese food.  Unlike Spice of India, the portions were big and reasonably priced.  I will be going back again, but next time I think Abby and I will share a meal.  Afterwards we met Casey and Kerne to take the bus to Mega J’s where we met Pastor to get a ride to church.  While waiting to get on a bus, there was a fight between some of the bus drivers because one of the bus drivers pulled into the wrong area.  It caused Abby and I a bit of anxiety, but we were okay and nothing came of it.  The topic at CIA was patriotism and it was interesting to learn a bit more about St. Lucia.  CIA finished up and Pastor Bram brought us back to Rodney Bay where Abby and I headed to Keebees with Casey and Kerne. We were pretty excited when another table bought us a drink.  While it turned into a late night, we enjoyed our time out with the guys.  It’s been awhile.   

Saturday morning came early when I was woken up by the sun at 7:30, however I was able to sleep in until at least 9 after I put my sleep mask on so that was a little better.  We spent out morning planning our spring break trip.  After coming up with our basic plan we went to the beach where we made friends with some of the workers from the local hotel.  It had been raining so we went under the umbrella of the hotel.  Once the rain got a little lighter the security guard came over and thinking he was going to kick us out from under their umbrellas we told him that we were visiting, which was followed up by questions about what we had done and where we planned on going.  We had quite the story going for the 2 workers and another guy on the beach about our "vacation" in St. Lucia.  On the plus side, the hotel worker offered us free drinks and we enjoyed a nice and relaxing time on the beach.  If only we could get free drinks every time we were on the beach.  On our way back from the beach we stopped at the supermarket and then headed home to eat, shower and finish booking our trip.  I’m excited to announce that we will be spending 4 days in Barbados over our Easter break.  Ahh!!!

            Sunday morning started off with my alarm going off at 5:30.  While this was quite early to wake up, I would say it was worth it.  Abby, Tanya, Darnelle, and I did the colour run this morning.  This was the 2^nd colour run that I have done, but vastly different from the one I did back in Minnesota.  I would say it was a very cultural experience.  While the race was supposed to start promptly at 6:30, it of course did not fully get under way until a little after 7.  Not too bad for St. Lucia!  The girls and I had previously decided we were going to walk the color run.  We followed behind a truck that was blaring soca music.  The music was great and definitely kept us going, however it kept everyone else moving at a snail’s pace.  The color run/walk turned into more of a dance down the road.  The color throwing zones were a bit different as well with only about 3 workers or so throwing color at the runners.  At the end the color party had only 1 big color throw as they threw out all of the extras for that one throw.  There was lots of music and dancing, but the DJ kept stopping songs in the middle and switching to a new one.  I think he just liked hearing his own voice. Overall the color run was good and fun, with lots of students from school involved, but I’m uncertain as to if I would do it again here.  We ended too late to get to church,  so instead we came home, showered, ate, napped, and had an extremely lazy Sunday at home. 

Beautiful Smuggler's Cove

One of the Bachelor dates took place right there!

Happy Birthday Tanya! We love you!

The crew out for Tanya's birthday

Our before picture.  Colour Run 2016

Colour party

The Birthday girl

Abby, Darnelle, and I with a little extra colour on us.