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. 

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.