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. 

Mom and Dad here

Long blog post alert.  Here we go.  My parents are here and there is a lot that we have done.  On Monday, mom and dad came over for dinner.  We made chicken in the crockpot and had some potatoes and vegetables with it.  Mom and dad enjoyed seeing where I actually live and teach and were even able to meet a few of the teachers at school. 

            Tuesday after school Jen took us to the beach where I met my parents.  We walked down the beach and my parents were officially able to meet Jen and Pat from church.  While Abby headed home, I stayed with mom and dad and went to Tapas for dinner.  Mom and I split a burger and some flatbread and I was actually really impressed with the burger.  It was the best burger I’ve had in St. Lucia (although that’s not saying a ton).  Tapas is a bit expensive, but for a treat, I may have to go back. We then walked back to the house and later on we went to Jem du Bois with my parents and Jen and Tom.  Jem du Bois at night is really nice and it was great to have my parents officially meet Jen and Tom and spend time with them seeing as they are a big part of my life here.

            Wednesday was a half day of school, complete with the school’s Independence Show and rally.  The show was rather long due to an untimely start and the rain that came.  I was thankful that in the end we took our students back upstairs to the classroom where they played games instead of sitting in mud and waiting for the next act.  After the show finished, Najma and I were in charge of selling pizza and chicken at the rally.  Mom and dad came to the show to get the Lucian experience and I think they have a better idea on what I mean when I speak about “island time”.  I was so exhausted afterwards that I went home and enjoyed a glass of wine with the girls before eating quick and heading to piano.  We got to piano really early, but only 1 student arrived for both Abby and I.  We then stayed at church for the Lenten service and headed back home afterwards.  We are so thankful for both pastors and Jen for being able and willing to give us rides to and from church.  After getting home I did yoga and headed to bed.  

            Thursday was our first official day of break, however we had to go in to school to work in our classroom (our workshop was cancelled).  I actually got a decent amount done and I felt really good about that.  Mom and dad came over to school and were able to see the inside of my classroom.  After our work day I headed home to take a quick nap before heading to the tax office in Castries with Jen.  We all had to get some paperwork figured out and break is the only real time we can all go.  On our way down to the offices we stopped at church because it was National Day of Prayer and Trinity was having prayers held every hour for the country of St. Lucia.  While we weren't able to get everything done at the tax offices, we did get at least part of it figured out.  Upon arriving home, we smelled some amazing food being made by my parents.  Unfortunately it was only half cooked when we ran out of gas for the stove.  Good thing we have Jen who saved the day and took us to go get more so we could finish cooking! Dinner was delicious! Lasagna, garlic bread, sangria, and chocolate chess pie for dessert.  It definitely reminded me of home. 

            Friday morning I was able to sleep in a bit, eat pancakes, and listen to Pastor Ben’s sermon.  Around noon Abby, Tanya, and I met my parents at Felly Belly where we each got drinks and then headed back to their hotel to wait for the parasailing guy to pick us up.  While we were waiting, mom and dad got to see firsthand how big the centipedes can get.  (I am proud of how calm I stayed basically telling my parents to pick up their things, move, and not let that nasty thing get anywhere near them.  Centipedes here can sting you.  Their sting is worse than a bees and many people have to go to the doctor afterwards). Val, our parasailing guy, picked us up and we headed to Pigeon Island where we met the boat.  All of us had the opportunity to para-sail and I was actually surprised at how relaxing it was.  I would have thought it to be more thrilling, like a rollercoaster, but it was actually a quite calming experience.  Due to a large parachute and not being able to go up ourselves, I was able to go twice, once with Tanya and once with Abby.  While both my parents and Tanya and I had dry landings, Abby and I did not have that luxury.  The boat driver had heard that Abby did not want to get wet, so what did he do?  He dunked us not once, not twice, but four times.  I think we learned our lesson: always keep your comments to yourself.  Upon arriving back we changed and took the bus to go to the Friday night fish fry in Gros Islet.  We waited a very long time for our fish, however it is always worth it and very good.  Mom even ate some of the fish!

Saturday morning I met mom and dad nice and early for the boat cruise down to Soufriere.  This is one of my favorite activities to do on the island and since one of the workers recognized me from previous times aboard, she gave me and my roommates free shirts.  Free advertising for them and of course you can bet I’ll be wearing that shirt around!  The boat cruise was great.  Mom and dad got to enjoy the day on the boat, as well as a waterfall, a mud bath at Sulfur springs, a tour at Mourne Cabaril Estate, and a delicious Lucian lunch served at the plantation.  I, of course, made friends with the workers aboard the ship and had a lovely time.  Always a good, long, and exhausting day aboard the Jus Tango or Mango Tango catamaran.  Upon arriving back, I did a little bit of spring break research with my roommates before showering and heading to bed. 

Sunday morning Abby and I were picked up by Pastor Tom in the truck (Jen brought my parents a bit later).  Church was great and it was nice to be able to introduce my parents to some of my church family.  After church Abby and I got to ride in the back of the truck.  This was quite the experience as I was holding a two year old child in the process.  (One of the Pastors in Antigua came down to preach an brought his son with him).  I came home to change and then we met my parents at the hotel.  We decided on Rituals for lunch and I can say that I was actually pretty impressed with their burgers as well (although I’m not sure my stomach agreed).  We went back to the hotel and relaxed by the pool before getting a message from Jen inviting us to go to Donkey beach.  Anytime I get an invite to go to the east coast I take it.  We met Jen and Tanya, Abby, and I hopped in the back of the truck on our ride to Donkey Beach.  The east coast is the Atlantic side, so the waves are much bigger, so much so that I got knocked over and washed into Tanya.  After that we stayed out of the water.  Donkey beach is gorgeous and we were able to watch the full moon rise.  Such a relaxing night!

Monday was Independence Day.  St. Lucia has been an independent country now for 37 years.  We were originally planning on going to Pigeon Island for the day, but instead Pastor Bram invited us to Cas-en-bas beach.  We did a bit of hiking, ate some brats, watched the guys play football (soccer), and enjoyed the waves crashing against the shore.  What a relaxing afternoon.  After getting home we changed and then Abby and I met my parents for dinner at a pizza place.  We went out for drinks at Antilla before I said goodbye to them until July.  It’s been a great break and I’m so glad my parents were able to get a taste of island life.  

The delicious dinner mom and dad made us.  

Parasailing here we come!

My roommates joined for an unforgettable day!

Such a great experience

The beauty of the East Coast

Love that my parents got to visit my island :) 

The full moon over the Atlantic

Part of the crew watching the moon rise 

When visiting St. Lucia you must see the Pitons.

February 8-14

I’m going to try and keep this blog nice and short.  So here we go.  This week started off really rough.  Apparently I wasn’t quite over whatever sickness I had last week and it affected my whole body.  It was like the flu had affected my entire body.  Monday and Tuesday I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  I would become exhausted just from turning from one side to the other.  I was sore and filled with fatigue and while I went to school, there was minimal movement and I came home exhausted and ready for bed.  Tuesday after school was a staff meeting that went until almost 6.  Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so Abby and I headed to church and Thursday night we had piano.

During the afternoon on Thursday we had our first practice with grade 6 for the Independence program.  A little history portrayal:  My students are the Arawaks.  They are the “children” to some of the grade 6 students. During the program they will be acting out how the Arawaks lived back in the day (cooking, fishing, crafting, etc.).  They act this out until the Caribs come and capture/ slay them.  Now I don’t know much about St. Lucian history, but my poor students were terrified the first time the Caribs came in.  You should have heard the screams!  Come the third time of practice however some of the boys were actually attempting to defend themselves, while other students ran away or tried to hide.  It should be quite entertaining come Wednesday. 

Friday was what seemed like another long day.  All the students came in wearing red, pink, and white for Valentines Day and we made Valentines for each other (each student finding a friend to write something nice about them).  The children also had Creative Activity and another practice with grade 6 for next week. After school we hustled home to begin cleaning as it had been awhile and afterwards Abby and I met Casey and Kerne at the mall to head down to church for CIA.  This week we watched the movie “The Seventh Son”.  It was not my type of movie, but it was nice to be with our church family. 

Yesterday was a very relaxing day.  Sleeping in, listening to Pastor Ben’s sermon from last week, and catching up on some of my shows were just a few things that happened in the morning. Later on in the afternoon we went to stopped to get Felly Belly on our way to the beach.  It was a gorgeous day for the beach and afterwards we enjoyed happy hour and fries at Spinnakers.  It has been awhile since we’ve had girls night.  On our way home from Spinnakers we didn’t make it out of the parking lot before it began to pour on us.  The trees did not provide much cover so we ended up waiting it out in front of the police station.  Finally it cleared up enough to make it to the grocery store, bank, and home where a shower, yoga, and my bed were calling my name.

Today is Valentine’s Day.  We went to church and actually stayed after church for a wedding.  An older couple from Texas got married this afternoon and I was able to see how a wedding at church might look.  I ended up being one of the photographers at the wedding and helped give Ian that extra confidence as he video-taped it.  I’m so glad we stayed, but I was even happier to eat some pizza afterwards before heading home for a nap.  Another cool thing about today is that my parents are officially on their way to St. Lucia!  In fact they should be in the shuttle on their way to the hotel as I type this.  I’m so excited to have them here and be able to show them the island in which I live! 

Valentines Day presents from my students. 

Abby and I finally took a picture with the church's sign.  

Parent Observation Week

Monday: I did not know what to expect today.  It is the first day of parent observation week.  What is that?  Well it’s when parents are allowed to come into the classroom and watch what is happening.  Every child’s parents has signed up for a half hour timeslot to sit and observe what happens in the classroom.  Can you say stressful?  Also I don’t have my copies yet.  What to do with my students that will coincide with what we’ve been learning? Well I ended up teaching vertical subtraction to small groups of children.  While it went okay, I need my copies!  I am overusing the student white boards and I don’t want my students to get sick of using them.  Today was the longest day of observation as it went the entire day.  By the end of the day my students were unfocused and ready to go run off energy, so Teacher Robin and I did an outdoor dismissal, which made the students very happy.

Tuesday: Everything was good today.  Today was the second day of parent observations, but due to extra-curricular activities during school, parents only came in this morning.  I am happy to announce that so far the visits have gone smoothly!  Another positive from today was that I FINALLY got my copies.  I have gone the last 2 weeks without them so this put me in a very good mood.  Now I actually have work for the children to do which will hopefully make the rest of parent observation week go smoothly as well.  After school, Jen took us to the beach.  I’m so glad that we’re starting this back up again, as it is a nice way to destress and relax.  Floating in the water and sitting on the beach talking with the girls is the perfect way to end a school day.  I wish I could do it every day, but I’ll take my Tuesdays and enjoy them! After getting back from the beach I made supper, did my yoga (10 days in), and showered.  Hoping to relax a bit tonight and watch Bachelor. 

Wednesday: Another day of parent observation is complete and thank goodness.  I feel like this week is dragging on and on.  After school I had to meet with Teacher Mindy to finish up our PowerPoint that we started to create last week for a workshop.  Tomorrow everyone from the workshop has to stay and present them and I’m hoping that it doesn’t take long.  This is an additional meeting that was not originally in the schedule.  After meeting with Mindy, I ran home to quickly eat and change as Pastor Bram was picking us up for piano.  I had just enough time to do all that before we got our ride.  Piano lessons went great tonight.  Jude is catching on very quickly and Casey is almost finished with his first book.  After getting back, I was exhausted so after yoga and a shower, I headed to bed. 

Thursday: Today was another long day.  We had parent observation in the morning and by the afternoon my energy was drained.  After school I had to go to the follow-up workshop where we presented our Powerpoint presentations.  I feel like I’m back in school again.  Anyways this meeting went way longer than I had hoped.  I was hoping we’d be out of there by 4:15, but instead it was minutes to 5.  Oh well! After the meeting Tanya and I ran to the supermarket to get a few necessities and then headed home where Abby had already started potatoes for us.  After eating I did my yoga and took a shower.  I got out with a massive headache and was shivering.  Normally I wouldn’t think much of it, but because of some of my students leaving with fevers this week I decided to take my temperature.  Yikes 102!  I’m not sure where that came from.  Well I had planned to do some lesson planning tonight, but instead I’m going to bed.  I’m hoping this fever will drop by the morning, but I guess we’ll see.  I’ll have to gauge school by how I feel in the morning.  Taking some Nyquil and I’m out.

Friday: Well I guess I get my day of rest a day early. My fever has dropped a little, but still over 100 and I have a major headache.  I got up around 6 to check my temperature and let school know I would not be in and then headed back to bed.  My head is pounding and I can’t seem to get rid of this headache.  Around 9, I got up to eat so that I could take some medicine.  I started episode 2 of Once Upon a Time today and now I am at episode 8.  I guess you could say I had a little time on my hands to do nothing.  This afternoon I did walk over to school to drop off my lesson plan book, but that was the extent of my activity for the day.  My roommates both got home looking drained and we locked ourselves in for the night around 4. Time for more Once Upon a Time and then probably off to bed early again tonight. 

Saturday: I feel so lame. With the exception of a quick run to the supermarket to get food for the week, none of us did anything! Abby, Tanya, and I are all trying to beat sicknesses going around.  It was quite the lazy day complete with more Once Upon a Time.  I was able to practice piano and guitar.  I play piano during communion tomorrow and I’m a bit nervous.  Hoping it all goes fine!  Tonight the girls and I started talking about where we might want to head for Easter break.  We’re looking into heading to another island for a week or so.  I guess we’ll see what comes up!

Sunday: It was a usual day today.  Church was great as always.  I played piano during Communion today and I was so nervous.  It went perfectly fine though and I’m glad I played.  I should probably do it a little more often and the maybe my nerves wouldn’t get the best of me.  This afternoon was another lazy one.  I’m hoping that with all this rest, my body will be ready for school tomorrow.  I took a nap and made shepherd’s pie for dinner tomorrow night.  It’ll be nice not having to deal with dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight we went over to Pastor Tom’s house, but this time to watch the Superbowl 50.  The food was great, some spicy (but good) chicken wings, bbq franks, brownies, crackers, pretzels, and cheese.  It was almost as if I were back in the states watching the game, except for I was sitting outside in 79 degree weather.  Abby and I only stayed until halftime, but we were glad we went over.  

The usual school morning: breakfast and bible study.

Yep we're watching the Superbowl. In St. Lucia.

Enjoying the game

Sorry for the sideways picture, but I was pretty excited to finally get my copies!

Just in case people are curious what our grocery store looks like.

Another week

Monday:  The weekend went by too quickly.  I’m ready for another break from school.  It rained today and the children had to stay inside for one of their outdoor times.  This makes for a long Monday as they were not able to run off their energy.  I am thankful that I was able to bring playdough back for my students to use on these rainy days. 

Tuesday: Today was a long day, because of the rain.  It was also a student’s birthday.  I love birthdays because my students bring in cake and ice cream and sometimes other goodies as well.  This is about the only time I enjoy desert here on the island.  In fact, Abby and I always bring some home for each other if possible so we both benefit like having birthdays.  Between the two of us we have about 60 birthdays this school year to celebrate.  Yum!  I have to take care of my sweet tooth somehow.  Tonight I watched Bachelor and saw Rhett one last time.  He leaves tomorrow which makes me kind of sad, although I’m happy for him and hope that his travel all goes well tomorrow.

Wednesday: This morning Abby and I ran to the bank and finally picked up our credit cards.  We were able to do this during our snack and outdoor time this morning, so the bank was less crowded than normal.  Going to the bank, while easy to take money out (we use the ATM), is not easy quick have to see a banker.  Our “quick” run to the bank even though not busy, took us about 45 minutes.  I miss being able to go in and get help within 10 minutes, but that’s not reality here.  Also banks are only open Monday-Thursday until 2 and Friday until 6.  Everyone goes on Fridays though so if possible we sneak out during school to accomplish what is needed.  Tonight was piano and it went smoothly. Guitar… not so much.  I need to practice more.

Thursday: A normal day of teaching, but afterwards had to stay for a workshop on Microsoft Powerpoint, meaning I didn’t leave school until after 5. 

Friday:  Today was alright.  We had a birthday in my classroom again, but this time the celebration was a bit over the top with noise makers and party hats and all.  For birthdays we only sing to the student and then get back to work (only about 5 minutes out of the day), well this one lasted at least 15. Oh well! It’s Friday.

I’ll be honest and say that parts of this week were really frustrating.  A week and a half ago I sent things to the office to be copied and I still have yet to get them.  So much for being organized!  This made it difficult this week to teach, as some of the lessons I had to improvise the follow-up activity on since my worksheets weren’t done.  Hopefully I have my copies by Monday, as next week is parent observation week and the students must be kept busy. 

Tonight was CIA which was nice.  Casey met Abby and I at the house and took the bus with us to the Cinema where Abby and I met Pastor Bram who brought us the rest of the way to church. Our topic was about social media and afterwards we played a small game of guess the playdough creation. 

Saturday: Ah I got a full nights sleep and feel very refreshed and ready to go.  So refreshed that I actually got up around 8:30 and cleaned my room and bathroom.  Afterwards Abby and I made pancakes and sat down for our regular Saturday morning devotion.  The rest of the day was relaxing as I watched some TV and headed to the beach.  On the way to the beach we stopped and got Felly Belly (this is seriously my new weakness).  While the beach was a bit busy and the water a bit cold, it was still nice and refreshing and a great way to spend the day.  After the beach we met my assistant teacher, Najma, at Razmataz for happy hour.  I tried naan bread which was delicious!  I’m so thankful for Najma both in school and outside of it.  Hanging out with her is very nice and we all enjoy it.  After making sure that Tanya got home ok, Casey and Kerne picked Abby and I up and we walked to Pastor Brams for Catan.  With the help of Pastor and Sheena, I ended up winning the first round.  I’m still trying to catch on to the game, but its getting easier.  While a fun night, I was definitely ready for bed at midnight when we got home.

Sunday: Getting up for church is something that I don’t mind at all.  Some people may think I’m crazy because I’m missing out on sleep, but I love worshiping with the people at church.  I love the services and love making connections with the people there.  Today I taught Sunday school which while not completely prepared, turned out ok.  Jason is 4 and was my only student which made for a nice and relaxed setting.  Before Sunday School however, I did a short piano lesson with Jason.  Our goal is that he looks at the piano and doesn’t just bang on it, but realizes that there is value to it.  After church we made a run to Mega J’s where I spent way to much money on bulk items, all necessary though.  This afternoon I took a nap and while we could have gone to the east coast with Pastor, Jen, and Ian, Abby and I opted to stay here and relax a bit more.  Last night took its toll on us.  Around 6 we headed over to Pastor and Jen’s for a quick piano lesson with Ian, as well as pizza and movie night.  I am so glad that these have started up again.  I’ve missed heading over to their house.  

Razmataz with Najma :)