A 3rd Birthday party and other interesting tales

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Well my second week is gradually drawing to a close. I cannot believe i've been here that long, it seems like only yesterday that i was holding back the tears saying goodbye to everyone. Strange how quickly you settle in somewhere, and i am definitely starting to settle in.

On Friday, the 3rd birthday party was incredible!! We had a 40 minutes journey out of the city, heading through a military zone and ending up by a golf course in a really lush area of Chittagong. We turned up at the Play Park, where there were 120 poor children all dressed up very beautifully waiting to greet us. The whole place had been spectacularly decorated for little Isa's birthday party, with balloons galore. We played pass the parcel with the children, 20 at a time, and then gave them a food box that had been made up with lots of tasty snacks. The kids were wonderful, really funny and sweet, and seemed so happy to see us! I spent my morning being the music man, and helping organise the games. It was lovely to get out of the city and see some of the country. I even saw my first rice field!!!

Saturday i went to one of the teachers' houses with lots of other Library teachers and she cooked us an incredible meal. It was so wonderful to be made very welcome, and i loved tasting some traditional dishes. I ate FAR too much, though i could have eaten more if i'd wanted to!! I then went along to the Upper School awards ceremony, just to see how it worked, and began to reminisce about my school days. It was fun and i met a lot more of the staff.

The rest of the week has been filled with teaching (this week i have been talking about Heroes and getting my creative writing classes to write me a Mystery story!!) and exploring. I went out for fast food (similar to KFC), have been along to the war cemetary, enquired about joining the gym, and had a lesson in accupressure!! Today i had my first experiences of marking, oh so much marking, but with my free time i should get through it. Apparently we are starting the drama festival next week, which will be very exciting! I can't wait to get my teeth into it, although i am worried that i'll be the only one working on it... The school seem to want to give me lots and lots to do, which is nice as it fills my time, but i don't want it to be filled too much. Most of the other staff have so many frees as they don't teach very much...i teach loads and have far fewer frees.

I've started planning my holidays - looks like i will be able to go to Cox's Bazar (the longest beach in the world apparently) with an Indian family that teach at the school, and will be able to go to Sylhet and the tea gardens in November. As i'm now starting to settle into Chittagong, i can't wait to start exploring the city and the rest of the country. This friday i'm off to a charity school and hospital, which i may volunteer at once a week. Its apparently going to be hard to deal with, but the kids are also so eager to learn that it will be very rewarding. I can't wait!!

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Photos

Pass the Parcel
This is just one batch of the children that we played games with,

Music Man
I spent my morning organising the music!

Lunch
Me and Nihad after enjoying a fantastic meal