General Adventures ...
I’m in a creative mood, so I thought I’d write another quick blog, that’ll probably end up being a big long ramble.
Right now, it’s Monday evening, and it’s raining. We’re happy about this, because our water supplies are getting low, and hopefully our water barrel will gather a bit … so long as the wind isn’t blowing the drips away.
Yesterday, whilst out for a walk, I slipped and fell over on some rocks, so my left big toe, knees and hands are a bit battered. This isn’t really a problem, but I somehow knocked my watch when I fell and set an alarm and programmed it to beep every hour. No idea how to turn this off. I also discovered a chigger in my foot … my first one. It was pretty tiny, but as I have quite sensitive feet, getting it out with a safety pin wasn’t overly comfortable. My body was further destroyed this evening when I accidentally poured boiling hot soup over my hand and so spent dinner with my hand in a bucket.
The Kato boys came over in the weekend. We didn’t do much, though Calum and I played Scrabble on the roof whilst listening to Amy Winehouse, and Xander and I picked some lemons from Miss Jellyne’s tree. I’m planning to make some lemon wine this week.
There’s been a lot of deaths recently, which is a bit odd. There hasn’t been many deaths at all this year so far, but suddenly there’s been loads. The deaths include the death of our friend’s father, and a thirteen year old boy who was accidentally stabbed to death on Mother’s Day. A woman also died in Georgetown, and her body was flown back to PK on Sunday. I watched the coffin being taken on the back of a tractor to the playing field where they were going to have the funeral. My students told me that they didn’t want to go because they didn’t want to see a body. I wasn’t too keen on that either, so I stayed at home and chatted to them.
Our box of food from Lethem arrived today. It contains vast amounts of tins (including more tins of sardines than I think we can eat in 10 weeks), a tub of parmesan, a weird cheesecake thing that belongs to Rosie, some whiteboard pens (thankfully!), a bottle of exploded bleach, numerous bags of oats, seasoning and some cherry flavoured coolaid … so I can have a break from bucket-flavoured water and gritty guava juice powder. Happy days!!!
Tomorrow, my Grade 11s will be sitting their CXC English exam. I’m quite scared for them, as their general quality of English is appalling, and it’s fairly unlikely that anyone will pass. This is slightly depressing, and I wish I was a better teacher at the beginning of the year. I am pretty sure I’m an okay teacher now, but I look back and realise just how hopeless I was at the beginning. Hopefully this won’t have had much effect on them. Still, I’ve got very high hopes for my beloved Grade 10s in their exams next year. My teaching this term is meticulously organised and I feel very much like a proper teacher. It’s going to be really weird teaching my last lesson in a few weeks.
Today, I went to the school dorms to say good luck to the Grade 11s and remind them to come to me if they need any help. We chatted for a bit, and then I went to see the ladies in the dorms kitchen. Immediately, they offered me dinner, and when I refused, saying that I had a meal planned for tonight, they forced four bread buns into my hands.
Life is wonderful. I say this every time, but it really is. I love the challenges of teaching. I love the challenges of life. I love drinking a cup of water and knowing that I’ve carried it in a container on my back across the airstrip from the spring. I love knowing that everything I have, I’ve worked for. I love it when my students learn something new. I love it when they use a new word. I love how just walking to see your friends, you will probably get offered something to eat. I love seeing the fireflies on the airstrip. I love how excited we are when we turn a light bulb on. I love picking lemons. I love it when I cook something nice. I love the mountains, and the sunshine and the rain. I love the palm trees and the stars behind them at night.
Sometimes, my students ask me if I like Guyana. I honestly don’t know how to reply.