Term 2

Hello again. A few, quick words on the new school term. We're three weeks in, and I'm working a little more than I was last term. That's actually a recurring theme in my life here. As I slowly get my bearings, I am able to take on more and more. This is fine for a Peace Corps Volunteer, but I really feel for first year teachers, who walk head-on into such an overwhelming situation. I'm finding that I really am getting better at the whole teaching thing. My lessons are more interesting, I relate better to my students and I even have an easier time with classroom control. This term, my students are focusing on the elements in a story, specifically 'setting,' 'characters,' and 'main event.' We're reading a lot of different types of stories and then dissecting them: discussing themes, answering the 5 Ws and 1 H, relating them to our lives. My students are especially enthusiastic about the last part - they really like finding a relationship between the books they read and their own lives. I'm really excited about this unit, because it's something that all my students can do, from the absolute beginners to the most advanced. It's also a way for me to teach a complete reading course. We look at the words, of course - we sound them out, spell them, practice them - but we also look behind the words, at the meaning they hold for the story. I hope it will be a successful and busy term, despite the looming sports interruptions.
I've also changed things up a bit in my music class. Instead of learning new songs this term, we'll be writing them. That's right, we've started a unit on composing. It's a pretty big change from what we've been working on, but it's in their music curriculum (which I finally got a copy of), and it pushes creativity, so I'm 100% for it. We had our first lesson on Monday - some get it, some don't, but they all seem excited by the change. Let's hope it lasts.
Finally, I'm working on a big project with the Adult and Continuing Education Office. We're going to host the first ever Career Fair in our community. I got the idea at a meeting I attended last year. One of our program participants mentioned that while the office helped people attain higher education, it didn't provide any job support to help them use the higher education. So, I suggested a Career Fair to the Zonal Coordinator and we're running with it. We're inviting local businesses to come conduct informal interviews, college representatives to talk to people about getting a degree, and of course, unemployed community members. This is a real first for the area, so I'm excited to see how it turns out. We're planning for sometime in late February.
On a unrelated note, I just finished a book that I'd like to recommend, The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst. It's a really beautiful, original and truly haunting love story. It's a quick read, too - I finished it in about a day, although that might be because I couldn't put it down! If you're looking for a new book, I definately suggest this one!

Holidays/New Year

Sorry it's been a while. My life starts to feel so normal here that I don't register change as much. I forget not everyone lives on a Caribbean island. Fortunately, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to update more often. And take more pictures. Happy New Year!
I just returned from a 3 week vacation in the US. I visited a bunch of cities(Kansas City, Houston, St. Augustine), ate tons of delicious food and went into total sensory overload in places like Target and Wal-Mart. The superstores in Kingstown take up about 500 sq feet, smell like moth balls and sell everything from flip flops to matresses, but they just don't compare. It was a complete whirlwind of a vacation and I was surprised at how quickly I re-adapted to America. To be honest, it was hard to come back to SVG, but my first day back, several of my neighbors and friends stopped by to chat and hang out on my porch, and I remembered why I like it here. Even without a Target.
School starts back on Monday. It's the dreaded "Sports Term," which, you may recall is about as conducive to learning as cartoons. There will be lots of missed school over the next 2 1/2 months, but at least the students will be getting some exercise. My schedule looks about the same - reading classes, music classes and after school tutoring. I might throw in some chemistry, but I have to talk to the teacher first. This week, we have a couple of teacher planning days and grades are given out, so I still have some desperately needed time to transition from 'vacation mode' to 'work mode.'
Let me backtrack a bit. In December, another Peace Corps volunteer, a local volunteer and I took 5 Vincentian students (aged 10 - 17)to a running event in Barbados, Run Barbados (clever name)! We'd been planning the event for months, but it definately came together at the last minute. Our funding proposal was accepted about 1 1/2 weeks before the event, so you can imagine how hectic that time was (buying plane tickets, getting passports, reserving hotels, registering for the race, etc!). We made it and it was an absolutely incredible experience for everyone. We were so happy to get the opportunity to introduce the students to another culture, and even happier to do it in a way that played to their strengths (running). Three of the five hadn't travelled outside of SVG, so it was neat to watch their reaction to things we consider ordinary, like malls and movie theaters and swimming pools. We all competed in the 10K race on Saturday, December 5th. I finished in 1 hour and 42 seconds, and our oldest student, Linda, WON the race for her age group! The whole group did really well and had a lot of fun!
In other news, the Great Peace Corps Read is still going strong. I just finished "The Geography of Bliss," by Eric Weiner, which I highly recommend and "Snow," by Orhan Pamuk, which I don't (unless you're into slow reads). Next up: "The Winemaker's Daughter," by Timothy Egan, followed by "Memoirs of a Geisha," by Arthur Golden. Read any good books lately? I'm open to suggestions, assuming we have it in the Peace Corps library.
That's all for now. If you trust me to keep my resolutions, you should hear from me again in about a month.