Rainy Season and Fung Shui

Monday had both of my classes work on some individual notes while reading the textbook - good practice for them. This actually ended up being a perfect plan for the day as a thunderstorm was present practically all day. Really loud rain, big thunder booms, and great lightning strikes. No way my students would have heard me even if I tried teaching a lesson at the front of the room. It was easier this way. For the Life Science class I am subbing for during my prep period, we watched part of an episode of Planet Earth - the intro episode. They have some really good footage.

I did have a little writing project for my classes before they worked on notes.Writing about thoughts on the universe, one of my students talked about conspiracy theories - that the government is hiding stuff from us. Interesting... I asked him if he ever watched National Treasure. It's cool to see his brain thinking. I never would have guessed he would say something like that. Then, I had the seniors write about the elections and why they are important. Most of them seem to have a good grasp on the general concept.

So all of this rain. There were students soaking wet when they made it to class, and some asked if it was okay if they came in wet. Uh, of course. Lots of rain is part of life here, why wouldn't I let you into my classroom? Found out later in the day that there are some teachers who did not allow wet kids into their classroom. Seriously? Just some water. Sure I had to sweep my floor really well on Tuesday as a lot of dirt came in with that water, but come on. I could not believe how many students were out running around in the water in the afternoon or went home because it was raining. Raining. Raining in the rain forest. I also find it interesting that they do not have better drainage systems here since they do get a lot of rain. There was a lot of standing water on campus, and parts where it seemed like a foot of it was sitting. The roads are like that too in places. Oh well. The rainiest and stormiest day we've had so far since I've been here. Must have been our official greeting from the rainy season.

Rained all through the night and was a bit cooler than usual. Felt good. Several of my roommates said they even slept under a blanket - it wasn't that cool for me. haha I just had the sheet over me. I also rearranged my room a bit Monday night. Sleeping on a foam mattress on a sheet of plywood isn't doing it for me. I decided I almost slept better when we were just on the mattresses on the floor at orientation, so I figured I would give it a shot. Tipped my bed frame up against the wall, where I am still able to have decorations on it; this leaves my mattress on the floor in the center. Feels very fung shui and open. I was inspired by Hannah doing something similar. Slept really well Tuesday night. I could just feel the hard plywood too easily but not the floor so much. Cheers to sleeping on the floor :)

Hannah and I were discussing on Wednesday that our new fung shui rooms felt very peaceful. Nice to change it up.

No afternoon classes on Tuesday so teachers could go vote, and I just spent some time in my classroom working on a few different things before Zumba class. It's going to be weird when all of the campaign posters come down since there are so many, and they have been up since I arrived on island I feel like. Rained that afternoon again and some through the night. I walked to KFC for a soft serve ice cream cone and ended up waiting there for a bit before I walked back to school as it had begun raining a decent amount. Getting a ride home with Erica (Zumba instructor) and her husband Nate after Zumba class has become pretty regular. They're a cool young couple that exercises regularly together.

Wednesday was a bit of a long day, where I had a few students were giving me some attitude I had not faced yet. Oye, but we had a nice little chat about it outside the room and left the situation in decent moods. I did some ab exercises at home before heading to church. After church Lillian, Richard, and I had trio practice with Miss Heidi. She asked us to do a special together, as we are the three younger adults. It will be fun singing with two of my good friends. I'm singing harmony, and we are singing it at church the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Thursday - another somewhat long day. I don't feel like I should have to stand up and lecture the students all the time. You would think they would enjoy having a fe days to work on a project where they don't have to listen to me or take notes, but man do they just waste that time (a majority of them do anyway). Disappointing, but I've warned them many times that I will be grading hard on this project so they better come prepared. I'm continuing to sub. Not quite sure where we are at with the teacher returning. The office doesn't know if she's had her baby yet or not. My DH said last time she only took a few weeks off for maternity leave. . I gave a presentation on some photos from my summer working at the Blank Park Zoo, giving them some fun facts about the animals. Went really well.

I did get my hands on some Life Science textbooks so I have some topic ideas to discuss with them. He said not to stress out about it and just give them some work to keep them busy, but I feel since they've been with me a lot that they should be getting some Life Science. Plus, I hope these weeks they have spent with me have maybe shown them why I enjoy science and learning. It's a bit hard to make them undersand that I am holding them accountable for the information I am presenting them, we aren't just doing it to waste time. No one asks me to submit grades for these weeks I've been subbing - just the attendance, so I understand why it doesn't seem like they should be held accountable from that perspective (a bit sad that it is that way). They paid pretty good attention today, and I said they might be with me for a while. Definitely one major difference of the system here when comparing to the system back home - substitution. Ready for my Zumba workout by the end of the day Thursday to reenergize, that's for sure :-)

I also had an interesting conversation with a few of my students on Thursday - like I said despite bad moments, they do not overpower the good ones. They were asking me all sorts of questions about how I manage to live here on my small stipend and make do with what I have. I told them I signed on for being a volunteer, and what more do I need? I'm content with the food I eat, we experiment some, and I have plenty of adventures. They also commented that I have gotten skinny since I've been here. haha Yes, I've lost some weight. I'm bound determined to keep it that way, too. Not that I was unhappy before, but I really do enjoy a healthy lifestyle.