long time gone

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as i was talking to my mom this morning, i realized that i hadn't updated this thing in a real long time, so here are some snippets:

a week and a half ago one of my students punched through one of the windows of the classroom next door to mine (long story) and ended up losing over 2 pints of blood. that's a lot of blood. it was super scary and he has missed 6 days of school because of it.

on monday, there was an island-wide blackout for an hour and a half. we were doing the baking soda and vinegar lab that day, and with no a.c. and 33 smelly 7th graders, it smelled really bad in my room. luckily, the school decided to let everyone out early, so i didn't have to put up with it all day and i was really excited to hit up the beach for the afternoon, but they made us sit through meetings instead.

right now erik and i are housesitting for the neighbor. they have a tv, a microwave, air conditioning, and an eliptical machine. it's awesome. i kinda don't want them to come home.

two weekends ago, we had a barbeque at our house and a lot of people from school showed up. after a while, the barbeque moved to my favorite tavern with the great reggae and i ended up dancing the night away with the vice principal, john. haha

the roads are covered (and sometimes made out of) crushed coral instead of gravel, and when it rains a lot like it has been, they get super slippery. it's like driving on ice with fishtailing and skidding and stuff. i was dropping my friend off at her house and she lives on the top of this crazy hill. i tried to drive up it but my tires would just spin once i got close to the top so i backed down to the bottom again. erik tried next with no luck so he backed down and gave it another go. still couldn't get to the top, and as he was backing down, ran smack dab into a tree. now my car's bumper is all bent up and falling off, and a lot of paint is missing. i still haven't tried to get into the trunk because i'm worried it won't open.

it's super easy to become really lazy living on this island. when you get gas put into your car, you are not allowed to pump it yourself. a friendly man comes over, asks you how much to put in, runs back and forth from the building, and you are off without even stepping on the ground. drop off laundry only costs 50 cents more than sitting around in the hot laundromat and doing it all yourself. they even iron for you.

i finally found a book store last weekend so i have books again. i was going through serious withdrawls without haivng anything to read.

we get this next thursday off for all saint's day, but some silly person decided that there should still be school on friday, so a bunch of my friends and i decided we were going to take friday off, make it a 5 day weekend, and go to guam. yesterday i got to school and in my mailbox was my request for the day off and it was declined. i am one of the less than 10 employees at that school with perfect attendance. i come in early, i leave late, and they can't even give me one stinkin day off. i understand that the school needs to be staffed and a lot of people are going to want it off, but i was the first one to put in a request for that day! i went and talked to the principal about it, trying to change her mind, but she still said no because if she gave me the day off, she would have to give everyone that day off if they put in a request for it. but she also told me, indirectly, that she couldn't do anything about it if i called in sick taht day. doesn't that seem funny that i try to be honest and they can't give me the day off, but if i lie, i will get what i want? hmm... quite a moral debacle, huh?

i still haven't decided what is going to happen for christmas. all along, i have been planning on going to prague, but one of the 3 friends i am meeting there can't go anymore. i was looking online for tickets and i can't find anything for less than $2300, which is insane. some of my friends here are going to bali during the holidays, and that is another option i am considering because it is way cheaper, although my heart is set on prague.

well, that is all the news i can think of right now, but i promise i won't wait so long to write the next one...

love you all!

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