FYI: I woke up this morning and have finally mastered the art of killing flies with rubber bands. I must say, it is quite an accomplishment.
At first my fingers would sting all the time, from the release of the rubber band, or my aim would just be completely off and I was pretty much just making the group of flies disperse, but now it's a different story!
Me and the Ollie have contests. This is how I spend my Sunday mornings.
Peace, Love and Rubberbands!!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
If you love life, life will love you right back :)
I started keeping a track record of the times I was called fat or chubby in a day. Its 3pm and its up to 8. Not too bad.
I woke up this morning with a completely different mindset.
Which is basically how i start every one of my mornings,l so no surprise..haha
But today I really felt an urgency to start.
Start a project, start teaching, start writing a grant, start taking care of myself, start putting in all my effort and enthusiasm into this school I have been assigned to.
The first week(last week) was a bit, lets say, hard to swallow.
Here was the headmistresses (the principles)week:
Monday: Nails done for 3 hours
Tuesday: work with another teacher on her assignment for college to be a teacher? weird, 4 hours
Wednesday: play Kangaroo, 2 hours
Thursday: Came in at 1:30, school ends at 2. (it was raining)
Friday: came in at 10:30(it was raining again), get hair done.(2 hours)
It brought me down, seeing this, but lucky for me I had the 53 kids at the special needs school to brighten each and everyone of those days.
I spent last week in the deaf classroom. I worked with a 8 year old that didn't know how to hold a pencil. By Friday she had it down, and was tracing circles.
I also started to work with her on signs. It begins of course with the alphabet and repetitions of signs that guide her throughout the day, such as wash your hands, take a rest, sit down, stand up, color this, trace this etc..
My favorite part of the first day with her was getting her to make the correct hand for the letter "f". She flipped me off for a good 3 minutes during this drill. I couldn't help but laugh.
The other kids in the class are awesome, ages range from 7 to 14. Its hard to see their abilities at the ages they are at. In the states at age 14 a student would be starting algebra, here they are still dong subtraction and addition. So I had them work on keeping the environment clean posters. I read most of them and they had good illustrations of trash cans, picking up trash and not littering. Then I got to this one kids picture and it said :" do not throw hot water on animals" with a bucket and a dog on it. awesome.
There are many things at the school, people would view as downfalls, but the kids seem to put a positive spin on everything(isn't this one of the keys to life?) I view it more as me needing to start to get to work!!
It a different world than I thought, teaching and creating curriculum with zero resources. It challenges me to be better and think further outside the box.
My walk to and from school(its 40ish mins each way) consists of greeting people and admiring the beauty of this country, as well as trying to dodge smoke coming from garbage piles and minibuses speeding on by 2 inches from my body. I give countless kids high fives, which pretty much makes any day better.
But honestly, my day is completely satisfied when I walk into The Alpha House, An orphanage, or really a family, consisting of 30+kids. I started tutoring/teaching them on monday and im not sure if my heart has soared any higher. I have found complete reason for being here with these kids, and two of them are actually my students at the special needs school. I'll describe this place in more detail once i get a moment..because it deserves far more explanation than the last three sentences.
I am so grateful for these feelings, the beginning feelings, when everything seems possible and I have a child's like dreaming ability. I'm hoping I can keep that, and I'm hoping that whoever is reading this can challenge themselves to hold on to that dreaming as well...oh the thinks you can think!!!(yeah i just quoted dr. seuss :))
Peace, Love and New beginnings!
I woke up this morning with a completely different mindset.
Which is basically how i start every one of my mornings,l so no surprise..haha
But today I really felt an urgency to start.
Start a project, start teaching, start writing a grant, start taking care of myself, start putting in all my effort and enthusiasm into this school I have been assigned to.
The first week(last week) was a bit, lets say, hard to swallow.
Here was the headmistresses (the principles)week:
Monday: Nails done for 3 hours
Tuesday: work with another teacher on her assignment for college to be a teacher? weird, 4 hours
Wednesday: play Kangaroo, 2 hours
Thursday: Came in at 1:30, school ends at 2. (it was raining)
Friday: came in at 10:30(it was raining again), get hair done.(2 hours)
It brought me down, seeing this, but lucky for me I had the 53 kids at the special needs school to brighten each and everyone of those days.
I spent last week in the deaf classroom. I worked with a 8 year old that didn't know how to hold a pencil. By Friday she had it down, and was tracing circles.
I also started to work with her on signs. It begins of course with the alphabet and repetitions of signs that guide her throughout the day, such as wash your hands, take a rest, sit down, stand up, color this, trace this etc..
My favorite part of the first day with her was getting her to make the correct hand for the letter "f". She flipped me off for a good 3 minutes during this drill. I couldn't help but laugh.
The other kids in the class are awesome, ages range from 7 to 14. Its hard to see their abilities at the ages they are at. In the states at age 14 a student would be starting algebra, here they are still dong subtraction and addition. So I had them work on keeping the environment clean posters. I read most of them and they had good illustrations of trash cans, picking up trash and not littering. Then I got to this one kids picture and it said :" do not throw hot water on animals" with a bucket and a dog on it. awesome.
There are many things at the school, people would view as downfalls, but the kids seem to put a positive spin on everything(isn't this one of the keys to life?) I view it more as me needing to start to get to work!!
It a different world than I thought, teaching and creating curriculum with zero resources. It challenges me to be better and think further outside the box.
My walk to and from school(its 40ish mins each way) consists of greeting people and admiring the beauty of this country, as well as trying to dodge smoke coming from garbage piles and minibuses speeding on by 2 inches from my body. I give countless kids high fives, which pretty much makes any day better.
But honestly, my day is completely satisfied when I walk into The Alpha House, An orphanage, or really a family, consisting of 30+kids. I started tutoring/teaching them on monday and im not sure if my heart has soared any higher. I have found complete reason for being here with these kids, and two of them are actually my students at the special needs school. I'll describe this place in more detail once i get a moment..because it deserves far more explanation than the last three sentences.
I am so grateful for these feelings, the beginning feelings, when everything seems possible and I have a child's like dreaming ability. I'm hoping I can keep that, and I'm hoping that whoever is reading this can challenge themselves to hold on to that dreaming as well...oh the thinks you can think!!!(yeah i just quoted dr. seuss :))
Peace, Love and New beginnings!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Infestations cant stop me
I spent the last night killing approximately 95 beetles( by spiking them like volleyballs) and 7000 ants that have attacked my house because of the rain..cockroaches were all up in my bed....and trying to cook dinner was harder because I kept getting bitch slapped by flying insects…. yummmy
Cooking dinner infact is a new adventure for me. Using a gas stove is quite a trip because
A. i didn’t know how to hook it up at first so gas leaked everywhere. I was nervous I was gonna blow myself up and
B.I bought crappy matches so it takes me about 9 to get it to light and
C. every time I go to light it I’m afraid I’m gonna light my hand on fire
= it’s a fun game that I recommend everyone try at least once.
OHhhh Guyana…..
So I have the rest of this week off to go explore the city!!!..New Amsterdam isn’t too big to get around in a day and there are always people out and about.
As I was walking down Strand Street today however, I got spanked by a 70 year old woman with 6 teeth….literally she wound up and palmgrasped my ass….that was not part of integration I thought to myself as it was happening ..but what can you do?
On Easter Sunday Kirsten and I woke up and planted eggs for the kids upstairs to find! It was something they have never done, and it was sooo cool to play the Easter bunny for once!
Then at night I got to go to a amateur body building competition!!!! It was the most hilarious thing I have done here so far...totally took my mind off of not being at home....and not gonna lie, I have never seen so many grown ass men in baby oil!!! Delicious!
. One looked like Frankenstein.. and their faces were priceless with every new pose. One guys theme song was a track from the lion king. It rocked my world...although i think aladdin
"magic carpet ride" could have been better choice…should have told him that, but his bulging biceps were a bit intimidating.
Yesterday I got to fly my spiderman kite. best purchase ever when waiting 25 minutes to cross the bridge…it was either that or a steering wheel cover…tough decision.
Speaking of purchases… I went to buy a rope for putting up my hammock. I wasn’t sure how much I would need so I asked for a few yards....but low and behold in Guyana you can only buy rope by the pound....and just so you know, it only takes 1 pound to hang a hammock and still have some left over :)
Peace, Love and Rope by the pound!!
Cooking dinner infact is a new adventure for me. Using a gas stove is quite a trip because
A. i didn’t know how to hook it up at first so gas leaked everywhere. I was nervous I was gonna blow myself up and
B.I bought crappy matches so it takes me about 9 to get it to light and
C. every time I go to light it I’m afraid I’m gonna light my hand on fire
= it’s a fun game that I recommend everyone try at least once.
OHhhh Guyana…..
So I have the rest of this week off to go explore the city!!!..New Amsterdam isn’t too big to get around in a day and there are always people out and about.
As I was walking down Strand Street today however, I got spanked by a 70 year old woman with 6 teeth….literally she wound up and palmgrasped my ass….that was not part of integration I thought to myself as it was happening ..but what can you do?
On Easter Sunday Kirsten and I woke up and planted eggs for the kids upstairs to find! It was something they have never done, and it was sooo cool to play the Easter bunny for once!
Then at night I got to go to a amateur body building competition!!!! It was the most hilarious thing I have done here so far...totally took my mind off of not being at home....and not gonna lie, I have never seen so many grown ass men in baby oil!!! Delicious!
. One looked like Frankenstein.. and their faces were priceless with every new pose. One guys theme song was a track from the lion king. It rocked my world...although i think aladdin
"magic carpet ride" could have been better choice…should have told him that, but his bulging biceps were a bit intimidating.
Yesterday I got to fly my spiderman kite. best purchase ever when waiting 25 minutes to cross the bridge…it was either that or a steering wheel cover…tough decision.
Speaking of purchases… I went to buy a rope for putting up my hammock. I wasn’t sure how much I would need so I asked for a few yards....but low and behold in Guyana you can only buy rope by the pound....and just so you know, it only takes 1 pound to hang a hammock and still have some left over :)
Peace, Love and Rope by the pound!!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I love you baby=my new name
MAN, GUYANA IS HOT! I think I am going to start counting the bottles of baby powder I go through here because I feel like its the only thing that keeps my skin semi dry.....:)!!!
So big changes…= I got on a speedboat from Supenam to Vreed en hoop singing "Mi Got one coal pot in mi belly tak em out lemme see" Its pretty comical to dance to and it involves lots of belly rubbing. We had our last few days of training at Aracari and this was the time I met my counterpart, Zoya. She is the headmistress at the Special Needs school and is FABULOUS. After training we went to a theater in Georgetown where the swearing in ceremony took place. We read an oath out loud with our right hand up and then
ITS OFFICIAL!!! after shimming across the stage(literally) I am now a Peace Corps Volunteer.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...which means I’m going to get really good at killing cockroaches and waking up to tarantulas on my pillow. It was hard leaving the other volunteers but I cant even explain how happy I was to be on my way to work in a school and train teachers...its been quite a mind trip going from student teaching...to teaching....to training teachers all in a years time..
Then, the next day(Wednesday)I traveled from Georgetown to New Amsterdam...my home for the next two years. Its the best of both worlds here. Driving in every 15 feet you feel as if you are in a different place. The homes vary door to door ;rundown wooden "shacks" to cement beautiful houses. Cows are on the sides of the streets and goats awkwardly try to cross without getting hit by a car...or horse.
I got to my place and I walked up to the gate and from the outside it seemed like it could be home...but when I walked in all I saw was a door being locked by a 2x4 and a broken chair. I walked around and noticed that the walls literally looked as if someone pooped on their hands and spread it on the walls. It was empty and unsafe and for the first time I felt not so ready for this life here.
So I made my way up to look at my bed frame and as I moved it 17 cockroaches came scurrying about.
I didn’t know how to react. I felt alone and I couldn’t find a stick big enough to kill all of them.So I sat on my suitcase and thought to myself " this is your life. this is what you always wanted, do not let this break you."
So I didn’t let it. I called another volunteer and her place had two rooms. She welcomed me without hesitation. With that I realized the true beauty of this world lies in people.
I couldnt have been more thankful at that moment. I just breathed in deep and opened my eyes to the wonderful that really is here. The people are so welcoming(and curious) and even though I can’t walk down the street without a cab driver whispering “chubby” at me, or hearing "baby i love you" yelled at me, I truly do believe that this is where I am meant to be…atleast for the next 2 years.
The next day I saw the school I’ll be teaching at!!
The minute I walked in the gate I smiled. The "playground" was covered in broken swings and long green grass. The school itself is this bright baby blue building with 6 classrooms inside, that each have chalkboards and quite a few desks..some are broken The library is one bookshelf. There is no running water, and there are 5 computers that sometimes work…but to tell you the truth its more than I expected!
Its been an emotional rollercoaster over the last few days...and its crazy to think that if I never came here…I never would have felt these things or experienced how challenged I can be.
I feel as if my future could be anything and that I can direct it whichever way I choose. It’s the most powerful I have ever felt in my life...to take charge of my own world and reality. I wish everyone could have the ability to experience life in this view point. I really do believe that the world would be a more giving place if we were all forced outside our comfort zones.
I think I have encountered enough unexpected surprises to hold me over for now....but man I would love to go on an Easter egg hunt right about now.
Peace, Love and New Begginings!
So big changes…= I got on a speedboat from Supenam to Vreed en hoop singing "Mi Got one coal pot in mi belly tak em out lemme see" Its pretty comical to dance to and it involves lots of belly rubbing. We had our last few days of training at Aracari and this was the time I met my counterpart, Zoya. She is the headmistress at the Special Needs school and is FABULOUS. After training we went to a theater in Georgetown where the swearing in ceremony took place. We read an oath out loud with our right hand up and then
ITS OFFICIAL!!! after shimming across the stage(literally) I am now a Peace Corps Volunteer.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...which means I’m going to get really good at killing cockroaches and waking up to tarantulas on my pillow. It was hard leaving the other volunteers but I cant even explain how happy I was to be on my way to work in a school and train teachers...its been quite a mind trip going from student teaching...to teaching....to training teachers all in a years time..
Then, the next day(Wednesday)I traveled from Georgetown to New Amsterdam...my home for the next two years. Its the best of both worlds here. Driving in every 15 feet you feel as if you are in a different place. The homes vary door to door ;rundown wooden "shacks" to cement beautiful houses. Cows are on the sides of the streets and goats awkwardly try to cross without getting hit by a car...or horse.
I got to my place and I walked up to the gate and from the outside it seemed like it could be home...but when I walked in all I saw was a door being locked by a 2x4 and a broken chair. I walked around and noticed that the walls literally looked as if someone pooped on their hands and spread it on the walls. It was empty and unsafe and for the first time I felt not so ready for this life here.
So I made my way up to look at my bed frame and as I moved it 17 cockroaches came scurrying about.
I didn’t know how to react. I felt alone and I couldn’t find a stick big enough to kill all of them.So I sat on my suitcase and thought to myself " this is your life. this is what you always wanted, do not let this break you."
So I didn’t let it. I called another volunteer and her place had two rooms. She welcomed me without hesitation. With that I realized the true beauty of this world lies in people.
I couldnt have been more thankful at that moment. I just breathed in deep and opened my eyes to the wonderful that really is here. The people are so welcoming(and curious) and even though I can’t walk down the street without a cab driver whispering “chubby” at me, or hearing "baby i love you" yelled at me, I truly do believe that this is where I am meant to be…atleast for the next 2 years.
The next day I saw the school I’ll be teaching at!!
The minute I walked in the gate I smiled. The "playground" was covered in broken swings and long green grass. The school itself is this bright baby blue building with 6 classrooms inside, that each have chalkboards and quite a few desks..some are broken The library is one bookshelf. There is no running water, and there are 5 computers that sometimes work…but to tell you the truth its more than I expected!
Its been an emotional rollercoaster over the last few days...and its crazy to think that if I never came here…I never would have felt these things or experienced how challenged I can be.
I feel as if my future could be anything and that I can direct it whichever way I choose. It’s the most powerful I have ever felt in my life...to take charge of my own world and reality. I wish everyone could have the ability to experience life in this view point. I really do believe that the world would be a more giving place if we were all forced outside our comfort zones.
I think I have encountered enough unexpected surprises to hold me over for now....but man I would love to go on an Easter egg hunt right about now.
Peace, Love and New Begginings!
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