First Impressions

I am back from Ethiopia! There is no way I can get everything I want to say in one post so this is going to be the first of several. I've tried to think of the best way to explain and tell everyone about my trip but I'm not sure there is one. There are just too many pictures, movies, stories, and thoughts to break up in a way that makes sense. I'll do my best but be patient since it's going to take a week or two. I only plan on putting a few pictures here. If you want to see them all, check out Facebook and besides mine you can see the ones our team took if I am tagged in them. First thing is first impressions. I tried to write and journal about them so here's a first glimpse.

-Right next to the runway when we landed, there were old hollowed out junk planes. They were just abandoned where they broke.
-There is a haze that hovers over the city from the pollution. I've never seen anything like it. This is gross, but my snot was black from breathing and processing the smog within hours of being there.
-People walk everywhere. Very few people own cars for a city of 5 million so they just walk. If you are lucky, you might be able to ride a bus, van, or taxi. But mostly you just walk.
- Driving doesn't have any rules. Busy streets have a median down the middle and that's it. You have to have the perfect combination of patience and aggression to avoid accidents, people, animals, and other cars.
- There are very few economic divisions. There are mud huts across the street from nice well kept homes. A person wearing rags is waiting for a bus next to a businessman. The goats are herded through the city streets. The businesses are next to the homes. Everyone just lives and works together no matter what economic or social status.
- There is very little personal space. Everyone greets one another by doing a handshake, half hug. There are 60 people literally sitting on top of each other on a bus.
- Each home is in its own compound. A nice compound would have brick or concrete walls and a large gate. A smaller personal home compound would have tin walls and a small door. Usually there is barbed wire along the top of the wall. A compound may have one building in it like our guest house or 4-5 homes like the ones around us.
-How to build a building-Ethiopian style. You use stick scaffolding to literally hold up the building while you build. It's so hard to describe and completely fascinating that it works.
-Pollution is huge problem and not just the smog. There is trash everyone but surprisingly it doesn't smell very much. At least, not that I noticed.
-What you think is an alley is probably actually a road. Just honk if you want the horses, goats, or sheep to move.
-Honk is actually the second language of Ethiopians. Move. Coming through. Scoot over. Watch out.
-It is impossible to tell how old the children are. Very few people are over 6 feet tall and the children look at on average about 2 years younger than they actually are. I was constantly shocked to hear a tiny little boy or girl tell me he or she was 7.

This really just covers the tip of the iceberg but it's all I have for now. Until next time, here is a video of one of the greetings at ET 566.

Shot Up

I've been vaccinated for practically everything under the African sun. Seriously. 6 shots total. 3 in each arm. 2 minutes tops. Tetanus, yellow fever, typhoid, meningitis, Hepatitis A, and a polio booster. The only lasting side effect thus far is that it feels like I did a few too many push ups yesterday. I'll probably be sleeping on my back tonight but I've been practicing the last few night anyway due to a little sunburn I've acquired while enjoying my first days of summer vacation. Despite my best attempts, I have unsuccessfully been able to sleep past 8 so I've just been getting up and going for a walk. Then, I go to the pool to get at least a little bit of a tan as a preemptive strike against getting sunburned in Africa. So far it's going pretty well. I'm not seriously bored yet and with all the packing I have left to do I'm pretty sure I won't be.

We leave for Ethiopia in just three short days. I can't believe it's here already. It's going to be a great trip. Prayers are appreciated. Look for photos here and on Facebook upon my return.

Stop and Smell the Flowers

Well, year two is all neatly boxed and packed away. It's amazing to think it's all gone by so fast. Time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak and write a little bit about some of the mini successes from the 2010-2011 school year.

1. A fantabulous parent who came on trips, sent encouraging notes, supported her son, offered to cut things out, and basically just was awesome in every facet.
2. That my students didn't pick at the tape and their name tags. Last year, I had to replace them almost every month and this year I think I redid them three times total. Sweet money I doubt that will ever happen again.
3. Students that ignored the chaos and just kept on listening. They rock.
4. The improvement of some really low kids who are now ready for first grade.
5. A closet that started and ended organized. Next year, I'm shooting for during the year too.
6. A really great Kindergarten team that worked well together and survived a pretty rough group of kiddos.
7. Air conditioning in June which happened to be 90 degrees plus.
8. Leaving at or before 4 about three quarters of the school year.
9. Only going in to school 3 or 4 weekends ALL YEAR.
10. Not procrastinating packing my room so that today on the last day I didn't have to do a thing but walk in and walk out.

Good thing I was ready too because they painters are EXCITED to paint in air conditioning and were already working at 8 this morning. It stunk like paint so much we didn't even sit outside our rooms to pass out report cards but instead sat in the commons together. We were supposed to have today to finish our rooms but apparently when the painting company found out we had air conditioning every single painter they employed jumped on the bandwagon and came to help. They were funny, talkative, and raring to go. They'll probably be done by the end of week. We're getting three slightly darker grayish walls and one accent wall. I chose blue for mine. Hopefully, it will be calming.

I know I didn't post as much this year as I did last year but I hope I kept it up enough to keep everyone up to date. Next up is a busy summer with trips, book reading, relaxing, and softball at the end. First up? Ethiopia, Africa June 17-26. Prayers appreciated and updates to come!!

End of the Year Festivities

Zoo:
We can call our zoo field trip a success because nobody got hurt, lost, or had an accident. Definitely a success. The zoo was PACKED so the fact that no one got lost is definitely something to stand on. We had good parent help but it was also helpful that we left two of my most "spirited" friends at school in ISS. They had a chance to go but couldn't pull it together even for a trip to the zoo.

Fun Day:
At least 4 people got hurt and one person had an accident. On the plus side, no one got lost between the Youth Center and school so that was good. The walk there takes 15 minutes. The walk home takes 25. At one point, at least 4 kids were crying. 1 was sent home and at least 4 had to sit out different parts of the day. It was the first cloudy day in 2 weeks. It rained. I witnessed some shivering that was almost seizure like and I expect at least 8 kids to get sick in the next week. SMASHING SUCCESS. Always my favorite day of the year.

Best thing so far:
The looks on my students faces as they went down the water slide into freezing cold water at 9:45 this morning. They were SO excited to be there that at first they just went for it. But as they stood at the top of the slide it occurred to them that this might be a little scary. But everyone else was doing it so they took the plunge. The expressions were priceless as they went from excitement to hesitation to in-trepidation to terror to cold induced shock to giddy elation. Imagine all of that in an 8 second ride down a slide that ends in a foot in a half of freezing cold water and now you understand how it's my favorite day of the year. Let the shivering commence!

We have tomorrow as the last full day of the year and on Monday we'll take our well behaved (referral free) students to DQ. Again, we'll walk which takes FOREVER. However, we have 3 hours to walk a mile and a half and eat a Dilly Bar. Kindergarteners have short legs and they like to stop and smell the flowers. Literally. I'm not a big fan of slow walking but it's a good last day with my kids. It's sometimes a great idea to stop and smell the flowers. More on that later.

Wedding Pictures!

Rehearsal!





The Head Table


Getting Ready!






Friends are friends forever!

What I really mean to say is . . .

Tonight I am working in transition forms. These are passed onto the child's next teacher so that she can get a better handle on him or her. (That is if they don't already know them from hallway encounters.) I can never stop myself from smiling when a kid is shocked that I know his name. Hullo?? EVERYONE knows your name kid.

These can be helpful because I can tell a teacher that a kid is left-handed, reading at a high level, or should not sit by student X. It can also be a bad thing if a teacher doesn't want any predisposed opinions or ideas about a student. Us lucky K teachers don't get this advantage. Again, both good and bad. Anyway, I'm not even sure the first grade teachers read these but I'm doing them anyway. A big part of these are strengths and weaknesses. Please read between the lines.

Strong-willed=stubborn/defiant
Ornery=All out terror
Impulsive=NEVER stays in seat; NEVER stops talking
Attentive to details=In EVERYONE'S business but his own.
Fast worker=Schedule downtime at the risk of your own sanity
Perfectionist=Slow worker; Needs hand holding
Curious=Never stops asking questions
Assertive=Bully
Helpful=Bossy
Immature=Whiner
Low Confidence=Crier

The list could go on and on but I won't. It's mostly good stuff actually. It's better to keep things positive as not to overwhelm anyone. And who knows? Maybe they'll grow up over the summer. Stranger things have happened. Monkeys flew in Wizard of Oz didn't they??

May Happenings & Summer Plans

This is our principal covered in chocolate, caramel, cool whip, sprinkles, marshmallows, M&Ms and more sprinkles. At least this year he wore a jump suit over his shirt and tie. We do this to cap off successful fundraising for our annual Walk-A-Thon. It supports PBIS and our school's positive rewards program.

This week is normal except that I am taking a personal day Friday to go to southern IL for BK's (soon to be BL) wedding!! So very exciting. Next week, we are doing DIBELS testing and then the ZOO on Friday. I think the next week is normal but then it's a four day week with fun day and exactly one month from today I will be on summer vacation. I finally feel like the end is in sight. Just keep swimming-just keep swimming.

I'm not sure I've written anything about this on here but since I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm ready to update you my summer plans. First and the biggest part is that June 17-26 I will be going to Ethiopia, Africa! I'm VERY excited and blessed to get the chance to go on this trip. Seven of us are going to do a VBS, medical clinic, and support for the Compassion ministries around the capital, Addis Ababa. Through many generous family and friends my trip is fully funded and only the planning part is left. I am in charge of planning the VBS but still have lots of work to do!

After that, I'm going to spend time in Michigan and hopefully plan a trip to visit dear friends and a new baby in Wyoming. : D Softball tryouts are July 25th and school will start at a "normal" time this year on August 17th so summer will be here and gone before we know it.