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Published: January 17th 2008
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"I'm SO white!"
Matt in the pool last week during special olympics swimming lessons-- he saw this picture and the first thing he said?...."I'm so white!" =) We may live on a hot and sunny island, but you'd never be able to guess by looking at us. Thursday, January 17, 2008
The things kids tell you during reading assessments....
Yesterday I was finally able to begin reading assessments with all of the 1st and 2nd grade students at the primary school where I work part time. I’m really curious to see how the results come out overall, and also excited to start the reading program with those who need the most help. I had a couple of interesting conversations in the process though….
Some of the kids came in pretty nervous or really quiet(we pulled them out of class one at a time), so I would talk to them a little before we started, asking questions like “Do you like to read?” “Do you have a favorite book that you’ve borrowed from the library?” (Matt and I set up a library at the school last year) “Do you have any big brothers or sisters at home?” ….all questions that I thought were fairly neutral, until, in response to that last question I had a little 7 year old boy say yes…then look uncertain, then say, “But he gone jail now”, and proceed to tell me how he saw his older brother and 2 best friends
Lauren at swimming lessons
Also from last week...and I would probably have the same comment as Matt did except that I've taken to wearing a rash guard almost any time I'm swimming. Why? Well, it's easier and faster than messing with sunscreen, it doesn't wash off after 20 minutes in the water, and ....brace yourself....I've been here long enough that I actually feel a little "cold" when I swim in the morning this time of year. Never in a million years would have thought I'd be saying that. (Oh yeah-- the paper man in my hand is a 'flat stanley' sent to us by one of the students in Matt's mom's class at school-- he's been 'hanging out' with us lately :)!) get arrested the day before when they were caught carrying a knife, gun, and bullets (all illegal here, and there is a lot of gang activity and violence developing in the neighborhood near the school lately). How difficult that must be for a little boy who so clearly looked up to his big brother, and although he can't entirely understand, he seems to sense that things have changed.
There were some kids who wouldn't make a peep, even when I asked them the 'regular' questions, so I started asking them things they weren’t expecting, usually surprising them enough that they’d start to talk— “What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” or “Do you have any pets at home?” ….but the last question back-fired as well, when a little 6 year old told me he had 2 dogs, and his favorite dog’s name was star. I smiled, asked him if he helped take care of the dog….he said “No, me mum dun trow it away.” I was afraid to ask, knowing from past experience what people often mean here when they say they’re going to “throw away” a pet they no longer want. But I didn’t have a chance to
Peninsula Excursion, 1
As we walked along the first beach, we kept coming across star fish that were washed up on the shore or right by the edge in only a few inches of water. Curious if they were still alive we picked a couple up... decide whether or not to ask before he proceeded to tell me that she didn't like it any more so she took it out, tied it up, and “trew it in da sea” so it couldn’t come back home again.
Hmmm….I feel like I should stop with the depressing stories now, it’s making me sad just to write them. I wasn’t intending to make whoever is reading this sad! I have just been thinking lately how most of our blog entries are fairly 'surface level' and that we haven’t done a very good job expressing the little daily encounters that play a big part in shaping our experience here, so I'm going make an attempt to do better with that from now on.
Matt….
In happier news, Matt has been working to secure jobs for any of the adults with disabilities he works with that he can, and just this week one of the ladies was able to start a new job! (her first ever, I believe) He went to work with her the first couple of mornings, then received a call on the 3rd day saying that even though she was only supposed to
Peninsula excursion, 2
At first when we turned them over there was no sign of life, but after a few seconds their little 'suction cups' (forgive the lack of technical terminology here!) slowly started popping up! work 2 days/week for the first couple of weeks as a sort of “trial period”, she was doing such a good job that she could go ahead and start working all week! He was pretty excited about that 😊
For the past couple of months, Matt and I have also been taking groups from where he works (the workshop for adults with disabilities) every Friday to a local hotel that has very kindly allowed us to use their pool for “Special Olympics Swimming” practice. Most of the people we’ve taken had never been in a pool before, which resulted in some initial confusion and humor as they discovered that the “fish” in the bottom of the pool were really just strange shadows, and that the water didn’t taste salty like the ocean! It’s been a lot of fun, and last week was probably one of our most successful weeks so far! There are people who have gone from being afraid to get in, to refusing to move away from the edge of the pool, to slowly walking along holding the edge of the pool, to - this past week—trying to float with help and allowing us to pull them
Peninsula excursion, 3
This one started getting a little spunkier once turned back over, so after a couple quick photos he was tossed back into the ocean....not sure whether they were all on their last leg anyhow, but we walked along throwing them all as far as we could back in. around the shallow end of the pool! =) wow!!
Where's that music coming from?......
Yesterday I was walking back to town from the Peace Corps office when I heard drumming coming from the other side of a big concrete wall. At first I thought it sounded like the youth hand drum group I sometimes practice with, but then decided it probably wasn’t since I’d never heard them play any rhythms like that before. I decided to see if I could find the source of the music anyway, just in case it was them—and it was!! They are having a week-long drumming workshop with a very vibrant man from Tobago. The man who usually teaches the drumming and heads up all the drum groups on the island saw me and came over to invite me to bring my drum join them today, which I’m definitely going to! I’m psyched!! Yep, I’m excited enough that I just shamelessly used the word ‘psyched’…first time since middle school perhaps? 😉
After I heard them playing I couldn’t bring myself to leave…. So I sat and watched them play for about an hour, trying to pick up some of the more difficult
Peninsula excursion, the goats!
For some reason, this scene made me feel like a shepherd in biblical times....do you see it, or is it just me? Wait until you see the view the other direction though! rhythms as much as I could since I know they’re building each day on what they’ve learned the day before, and I didn’t want to be hopelessly lost when I go today! (Most of the youth in the group pick things up sooo much more quickly than I do, but it was great watching the guest instructor as he went through all different sorts of strategies to help the ones who were having trouble figure out the tricky parts. He would get them all to clap the part, then sing it, saying “if you can sing it and clap it, then you can play it!” Which I am CERTAIN will be very beneficial for me when I go today!)
The search for hawksbill hatchlings….
One morning last week I went out to the end of the peninsula with the St. Kitts WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network) coordinator to look for any recently emerged hawksbill sea turtle nests. While we didn’t find any hatchlings or recently hatched nests, we did see some other very interesting things! ….see “Peninsula excursion” pictures.
Alright, I think that’s it for now. We’ve been meaning to update this
Peninsula excursion, goats-- the other view!
This baby was taking a stroll along an old sidewalk that leads to .... no where, except more grass and sand! for a long time and once again haven’t gotten around to it….then we start to feel like there’s so much we’ve missed that we can never catch up, and the cycle continues. So there is probably a lot that’s been missed, but at least this is something current, and as we go through pictures from Carnival (which is over Christmas/New Year’s time here), etc. I’m sure we’ll add some and include good captions that will help at least a little with filling in the missing months! We hope you are all well and we miss you!! Our half-year countdown is almost on…. the time feels like it’s really flying by now!
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