Monday, February 26, 2007

Teaching, the kids and a day in the life...

Teach and

teach

and

teach and teach.

Same student stood me up again, I am not sure I will recognise her anymore....four back to back hour and a half classes tonight. Can you say numb tongue? I won't be able to by 9:45 tonight...*pant*.

It's hot and sunny, the horizon is crisp and the sea is shining...the little old ladies and men on my street are out sunning themselves, and there is a bumble bee around the wild poppy I stole from a waste field and planted in my balcony planter.

The washing machine did a mystery load...put it in, the machine finished, but the laundry was dripping wet. Hmmmm, off balance?

Let Chuck walk along off the lead today, he did fine. He came when I called, and showed every inclination of sticking with me. It was in an area with lots of interesting new scents, but no cars, dogs or people. 'Poc a poc', which is 'slowly slowly', or little by little.

The kids went off to school this morning happily, although the younger one had a panic when she realised that she had not done her homework for the weekend. We got it done, one of those magical days when it all comes together in the morning. (Good thing I showered last night.) I am confident that we did the math right, the other work...social sciences I guess we would call it, I really didn't understand the directions, so I guessed, and as she had to write a paragraph in Catalan, well, the teacher will be able to tell which parent helped her with it. It got done anyway.

Major delight at one point, the elder child commented that school is actually pretty fun most of the time, but she also said that by the end of the day, after trying to listen to Catalan all day, well, her brain is just about mush. I can see how it would be. You have to use the most ferocious concentration.

This time last year we were in George Town in the Bahamas. How do I describe George Town..well, obviously it is a little burg on an Island, and it has a series of islands around it, creating a big beautiful harbour. It also has free pure water, good internet hook-up, a grocery store, an airport, and a chandlery. There is even a library. In other words, heaven for a cruiser. Right about now there are probably about 400 boats anchored there as they are building up to the Cruisers Regatta. If you click on the 'buy a DVD image', there is an album of photos you could look through and get an little bit of an idea what it is like.

The Cruisers Regatta is a week of fun and silliness. The rest of the time George Town can sound kind of repulsive if you are not naturally a joiner. There are activities on every day, from Bridge, to Yoga, to walks on the beach. It is sort of a DIY club med. If you get in the right head space it is a LOT of fun. We went every year because everyone with kids anywhere nearby shows up. You also usually manage to run into any friends you have made on the way out, and you make new friends there. Overall, it is a lot of fun. Just thinking about all the folks we know that are there right now. Ah well. Life is good here too.

I may order the DVD though. We did pretty well in a bunch of the races, so we would be in it.

5 comments:

Beth said...

Re: your kids and school. They are amazing. Did you know that young children who are bilingual end up with an advantage later in life in terms of learning ability, brain function? I forget all the details but I've read about this a few times and was impressed (and thrilled) because my youngest is bilingual. And when you add in a musical skill, it's even better for them!

Anonymous said...

Glad things are turning around with the kids and school. They'll be bilingual in no time...it's amazing how kids are like sponges

Angel said...

tell me, why are you not "cruising" now...hubby's job or what? I don't know that I could leave the Bahamas behind, but Spain doesn't sound too bad either!

Unknown said...

I haven't been either to Spain or the Bahamas, but for some reason Spain seems to entice me more ... yup. I'm definitely in the pro-Spain camp.

oreneta said...

Beth: I did know about the neurological benifits...part of why we're here honestly...how did you end up with the youngest bi-lingual?


Trish: I hope so, I know they will, the elder child is already starting to blow past me in comprehension.

Beth: We're here because it is too good an opportunity to give up. It was honestly hard for me to leave cruising and the boat, but the chance to live in another part of the world, and to expose the kids to that and another language, well two, plus getting their EU passports...well, it was a no-brainer, which doesn't say that it isn't hard at times, but overall, there was no question about it. We can go cruising again if we want to, this opportunity may not appear again though.

DD: Cruising isn't for everyone, there's no question there. The Bahamas are way cooler with your own boat than on a fly in tour, but they are still pretty amazing on land. Expensive though if you don't sail in.