Every night as I go to sleep I have been thinking of so many things to talk about but then I say hello to a friend via Skype or vegetate on the chair and watch TV or have a dinner engagement and all t.he other excuses I could give. Tonight I am going to attempt to put all these thoughts together and talk about the past few days. Here we go....
First and foremost, well actually there is no first and foremost... The language here is English and Samoan, I speak a little Spanish but I by no means understand any part of the language, except I know the color red "noah noah" (pardon misspelling) and "talofa lava" or "hello to you". The men and women wear lava lavas or a wrap around skirt if you will and sometimes flowers in their hair--yes even the men. It will typically each day be sunny then monsoon, but people here are used to it... and cool with me as my dad would say, "closest thing to a shower, right?"
Today was the last day of the 2ND quarter at Pacific Horizons and I am officially the 2ND and 3rd grade teacher. Pacific Horizons is a small private school. I have 11 kids in all and from many different countries: Samoa, United States, New Zealand, Fiji, and many from parts of Asia. I think it is awesome and will emphasis their diversity. I also plan on having them have pin pals with a class in the US...ahem Mrs. White...
There is a problem with "wild" dogs here and it is not unusual to see dogs wandering the streets scrounging for food. I carry mase in case they attack (they have been known to). I have been "house sitting" for the director of Pacific Horizons but will be moving into our apartment next week as it is closer to the school and I don't have to pester my father to soccer mom me around. I like not having a car, because I don't have to maintain a vehicle because in the United States that is where much of my money went.
The people on the island are in no big hurry and that tends to drive some of the white people other -non Samoan, "papaalagi" nuts because we are used to having to be at a certain place at a certain time. Here it is more like Central and South America...you get there when you get there and I can certainly appreciate that. I could get used to this pacific islander living =)
I have the next three weeks "off" and I use that term loosely, because off would mean lounging around soaking up the sun but instead I will be writing curriculum, organizing, and establishing my classroom. With that being said I have decided that the kids will call me Miss B. and not because I am trying to be some hipster (if I was trying to be cool then working awfully hard to impress 8 year old) but simply because some of my kids do not speak English as their primary language.
Anyway all for now...Pax,
-Jeannine
First and foremost, well actually there is no first and foremost... The language here is English and Samoan, I speak a little Spanish but I by no means understand any part of the language, except I know the color red "noah noah" (pardon misspelling) and "talofa lava" or "hello to you". The men and women wear lava lavas or a wrap around skirt if you will and sometimes flowers in their hair--yes even the men. It will typically each day be sunny then monsoon, but people here are used to it... and cool with me as my dad would say, "closest thing to a shower, right?"
Today was the last day of the 2ND quarter at Pacific Horizons and I am officially the 2ND and 3rd grade teacher. Pacific Horizons is a small private school. I have 11 kids in all and from many different countries: Samoa, United States, New Zealand, Fiji, and many from parts of Asia. I think it is awesome and will emphasis their diversity. I also plan on having them have pin pals with a class in the US...ahem Mrs. White...
There is a problem with "wild" dogs here and it is not unusual to see dogs wandering the streets scrounging for food. I carry mase in case they attack (they have been known to). I have been "house sitting" for the director of Pacific Horizons but will be moving into our apartment next week as it is closer to the school and I don't have to pester my father to soccer mom me around. I like not having a car, because I don't have to maintain a vehicle because in the United States that is where much of my money went.
The people on the island are in no big hurry and that tends to drive some of the white people other -non Samoan, "papaalagi" nuts because we are used to having to be at a certain place at a certain time. Here it is more like Central and South America...you get there when you get there and I can certainly appreciate that. I could get used to this pacific islander living =)
I have the next three weeks "off" and I use that term loosely, because off would mean lounging around soaking up the sun but instead I will be writing curriculum, organizing, and establishing my classroom. With that being said I have decided that the kids will call me Miss B. and not because I am trying to be some hipster (if I was trying to be cool then working awfully hard to impress 8 year old) but simply because some of my kids do not speak English as their primary language.
Anyway all for now...Pax,
-Jeannine
1 comment:
Pen Pals...totally on! And we can exchange postcards that the kids design that shows where they live. I'm so excited!! I will email you a ton of stuff over my break. <3 Mrs. White
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