Away
from Home
Bon Dia on a rainy weekend in Curacao,
The rainy season is here as squalls are
running across the island every few hours. When the rain
comes the heavens open up and twenty minutes later the
sun pops back out. The only movie theater on the island
does a bang up business. The girls just watched
Elizabethtown with 30 other middle schoolers. Can’t
believe I missed Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.
Michelle is off getting certified as a
Tai Bo instructor. Me, I’m just reviewing a DVD called
Super Size Me for clips to use in my nutrition
curriculum next week. Last week we modeled the digestive
system in a plastic/nylon model…and by the way the end
product is called waste. The class really enjoyed the
part where I chewed up the food, spit it out and pushed
it through the artificial throat.
The school is starting to pick up the
pace as we enter the holidays. This week was Diwali —
the festival of lights-a big Hindu holiday for the year.
This week we celebrate UN Day which hows off the many
nationalities in the school but more importantly, all
kinds of great food. After that it is 2 weeks to
thanksgiving then a long stretch of holidays with
basically 2 separate Christmases — SinterKlass Day 12/6
and Christmas. Thus, I try to sneak in Nutrition for the
next two weeks.
Did our first dive of the season after
Anna’s layoff with whooping cough and it was a mixed
bag. On the plus side Michelle didn’t throw up and Anna
did get down to depth but Michelle ended up with a
severe middle ear infection. Fortunately a doctor visit
is 18 bucks. She is definitely fixed and we’ll sneak in
a few dives before the holiday season slows us up.
Last week was parent teacher conference
week and with 14 students it was just a little over ˝ of
what I had last year (26). So everything seems like a
vacation. I used a few of the self-assessments and
portfolio ideas I learned at Gordon Elementary and the
parents all seemed to appreciate a conference where we
actually talked to, not over, the kids. Culturaly there
is very little difference between a parent in the US and
here. For the most part they all want what is best for
their kids and do not claim surprise that their child
may not be perfect.
Took Keyla out for her first driving
lesson today — now I know what my folks went through.
She was very serious and did fine. I have a few more
grey hairs.
Best wishes from Curacao and te mayan.
Bon Pase,
Keith
