The first weekend in Bermuda was very eventful. Friday was a nice day at school. The students were allowed to wear bermuda shorts for bermuda day. One of the teachers wore pink flamingo printed shorts with a green dress shirt, a grey vest, and a plaid red/green/yellow tie. She looked a little loud...ekkk It was quite funny. The students mostly wore jeans as they are all complaining that it is cold here.
A speaker came to school to address all the students and entice them to attend a "Theology of the Body seminar." The speaker's name is Damon Owens, he is the founder of this new movement created by Pope John Paul II. So let me paint you this picture...
This man has an Mechanical Engineering degree from Brown, and he did his masters at Berkeley. He worked for 15 years as an engineer and then he decided to give up his career to spearhead this cause. So he is a 40 year old black man from New Jersey. He has 7 daughters from age 2-14, and yes they are all two years apart.
He takes control of the crowd and tries to sell these 14-18 year old kids on coming to this seminar. So he asks the students what are you going to do after high school. And they answer, "College, University, Work." He replies with, "why?" The students answer, " So I can get a good job, to make money and buy things that I need and want." He replies with, "why?" And they say, " So I can have my own place, so I can support my family, so I can have success" He replies with,....(you guessed it) "why?"
Now I don't know how many of you are familiar with a teenager in this age group, but these kids were LOST!!! What is this guy getting at... Truth be told my patiences were being tested as well.
So one kid says, "To be happy" So he exclaims.... YES!!! Happiness everything we do in life is for an ultimate goal of happiness. I have taken existentialism, and classes in asian philosophy. This guy was out there. The students were perplexed, they didn't know what to think.
Once school was finished for the day, I ran back to the hotel and had dinner. Then I returned to school for a mandatory teacher attendance to the introductory session of the "Theology of the Body"
The seminar began by Mr. Owens recounting the story of Adam and Eve. He started with this analogy:
Do you have a dog? Have you ever taken your dog and grabbed both sides of his head and look deep into your dogs eyes. ....(Uhhhh NO, who does that) well try it sometime. Gaze into your dogs eyes, and you know what you'll see.... (you tell me mister I don't have that close of a relationship with my dog...) You will see that your dog will not gaze back. Adam was running around looking for something to gaze back at him. Staring into all these animals eyes, and nothing they were all empty.
Okay as if this wasn't bad enough...
He went on and on for two hours, and then he started to push a "Natural Family Plan." Now I am going to spare the details of this one... you can all figure it out, the guys has 7 daughters.
Once this overly pushy religious assembly had concluded, all the teachers gathered outside. Needless to say, they all invited me out to a social. So I went with the three east coast teachers, plus two bostonians, one bermudian and one portuguese teacher out to a pub for a beer (or three). I wanted to make sure it tasted the same as at home. And it does (please note earlier notions of soberty have been voided) ---gee that was quick.
Saturday was an absolute right-off. Somehow I was able to get the stomach flu on my first official day off. I spent the better half of the day in bed, and I only left the hotel to track down some soup.
Sunday (Today), however has been much better.
I started the day off by going(walking) to a Portuguese Mass, at the church which is affilated with the school. I felt that it was appropriate, and I can brush up on my portuguese while i'm here. The priest however is brazilian. Brazilian portuguese sounds very different from the portuguese I know. So I only understood every third word that he said. I didn't know any of the songs, and they sang the prayer so I was even lost during the one part that I thought I was sure to know. Figures...
After church I faught the wind on the way back to the hotel. I grabbed some lunch, thank you campbells, and I hung out for a bit. At 1 I was picked up be Maria, and her husband Steven to go apartment hunting. (For those of you who know them, Maria is Liz Kelly's cousin) They have all been extremely nice to me.
So we went to this place on the ocean. This apartment was up on a steep hill, that curled into a cliffside house overlooking the ocean. Very picturesque, if you were to cut down all the brush that I would have to look through to see it :P. Oh well at this point I was thinking, how can I complain. This is still the #1 place for me right now I think. It was a studio so tiny, but had all the right things in place. It was private and secure from what I could tell. There was a small kitchen(the size of two recliners), a washer/dryer, a large red shower, and a walk in closet. The tv is as big as my computer screen, and there is cable/phone hookup. At $1800 +++ The landlords were very nice and lived in the remainder of the house, as with all apartments here.
The next place was in the center of the island. Close to the apartment share that I turned down earlier this week. This one was in a safer area apparently because there are more houses on the street. Just my luck, yes it was at the top of a hill again. So this place was about the same size as the earlier one. Cheap furniture, a rusty fridge, a stove as wide as my waist maybe, and no laundry. The laundrymat is at the bottom of the hill, and this place is only $1250. I wasn't all that impressed, but they had a nice looking kitty. There were also four roosters and one hen running around the driveway - "parkway."
So after apartment hunting I was invited over to see Maria and Steven's place. It was pretty nice, and they have many renovations planned. They have two dogs, a pitbull and a german sheppard.
They invited me to their parents place for dinner. The food was enough to feed twelve and six of us were at the table. WOW. I went home with food for the next two days. Soup, chicken, chorizo, potatoes, salad. Plus dessert, lemon meringue pie and tea. All very filling, but that's okay i'm getting plenty of exercise walking a hill for 40 minutes a day with my computer in tow.
During dinner Maria's father (who is a major story teller) decided to give her husband a hard time. He said, " AY, Steven... do you know that the people in africa when they get married they give the father of the bride 200 cows... man you owe me two hundred cows!!!" When it was time for tea Maria was making the tea. She made enough for three cups, for the ladies at the table. While she was getting the milk from the fridge her mom noticed that the kettle was empty, so she refilled it. At this point Steven asked for some instant coffee. So Maria made it, of course not knowing that the water in the kettle was not boiled. "Maria!!! This is cold, you made me cold coffee. -- And you wanted 200 cows, she can't even boil water. Classic. So I feel somewhat at home here, but there is no place like home.
I miss you all.
Love,
"Lisa Michelle"
So there we are you are all up to date. Stay tuned for this weeks adventures, remember there is an upcoming lockdown drill on Tuesday. Plus the apartment hunt will continue. Ciao for now. :)
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Beginning...
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to my blog, where I will be documenting my adventure teaching in Bermuda. I will try my best to summarize my working experience, and social adjustments. I will tell you all about the exciting twists and turns that I encounter. Hopefully, I will give you some insight into the culture, education, and lifestyle here in Bermuda.
I arrived in Bermuda five days ago. I travelled first class on a direct flight from Toronto. I had the banana french toast for breakfast which was quite good. I watched half of a not so good movie called the new grad or something along those lines. The flight was quick only two hours in the air. Once we landed I went through customs and I had to pay for every electronic item that I own. After I was interviewed, I was attained and had to wait for my work permit to arrive. Twenty some minutes later the principal arrived with the paperwork that I needed. So then I was able to get my things and enter the country. No one searched me or my things which is quite weird I think.
So the principal and another advisor took me to a restaurant for lunch after that. We went to a place called Rustico. This place is a Mediterranean/Italian spot with a nice outdoor "heated" deck. The food was alright, and the patio was packed on a Sunday. I had a cranberry/ginger beer which has become my favourite drink of choice. I think I will be sober the entire time I am here. Which means i'll have to make up for it when I get home. :P
The weather hasn't been all that appealing. Cold and rainy mostly, but it's a lot better than snow. I have yet to use the pool at the hotel, but the place is clean and I'm on the second floor or two so it's pretty quiet. Except for the mornings, there is this type of yellow bird that is absolutely annoying with it's a.m. squacking.
The first two days of school I spent planning, and frantically preparing for classes. On the monday, a handful of ladies invited me out to dinner with them. We went to a place called The Specialty Inn that looked like a diner. I had homemade extra large meatballs with rice and coleslaw. This was served with a sweet and sour sauce on top. The meal was quick good, and the pizza that they served there looked pretty tasty. Dinner was around $17 with my pop, but the nice teachers paid for my dinner.
The school is an interesting place, the students feel entitled. Most of the teachers are Canadian, and that's the neat part. During lunch I've been having conversations about home, and the teacher's lounge is gossip central regardless of what country you're in.
Yesterday was my first day of teaching. I met a gentleman on my way to work from England. He is here for a three months stay to work for a telephone company. We had a chit chat while walking into town. He was quite nice probably in his 50s. Everyone in this country says hello when you walk by, and they all make eye contact. It's very intrusive at first, but now i'm starting to initiate it. Even the homeless people say hello. There is more poverty here than I have ever seen before. I think that is because they don't have a place to go, they are stuck on the island. There are no options for them, and it is very sad...
Back to my first day at school. I thought that it went fairly well, and the way my schedule works I have a spare that is about 1.5 hours. This is unheard of anywhere else in the world, and you pay would normally be based on hours of teaching, but apparently not here. So I feel pretty comfortable teaching, but the two classes of grade 9s will definitely test me repeatedly.
As for the apartment hunt; I have seen three now and I still don't have a place to live. The first place was about a ten minute drive from the school. The apartment was a two bedroom unfurnished, without any utilities. Negative--- The second was an apartment share in the middle of the island. This is near a not so great part of town, and although I thought the apartment was the right price, and had all the things I am looking for.... I don't feel comfortable. The bus only goes through that area of town once an hour. The woman who I would be living with is very nice. She is an English woman in her late 40s, who is recently divorced and just looking for company. She seemed harmless, but I think I should live alone. $1600/mo. -- includes everything.
Today I went to go see an apartment that is literally on the side of the road. The place was about the size of my hotel room. The bathroom was the size of my closet at home. It only came with a sink, stove and fridge that are all against the same wall as the door. It is an unfurnished place, that is fully tiled. Nothing was included with rent, and it was about a 10 minute walk to work. So no real need for transportation. That was at $1800/mo.
Class today was a breeze. I had a new group of grade nines and I had to be quite firm with them. The girls thought they could talk through my class, and I quickly put them in their place. I think the other teachers are walkovers. I had a great class with 5 students who are taking the multimedia class. They seem excited to create things so that is good. We had a fire drill today and we all went to the public park near by. Next week will be a lockdown practice and then the week after a rain/firedrill. We all go to the church. I guess this is a learning process.
I definitely need to catch up on my sleep. So I hope this gives everyone an idea of what I am doing. Hope all is well at home.
Good Day,
Miss B
Welcome to my blog, where I will be documenting my adventure teaching in Bermuda. I will try my best to summarize my working experience, and social adjustments. I will tell you all about the exciting twists and turns that I encounter. Hopefully, I will give you some insight into the culture, education, and lifestyle here in Bermuda.
I arrived in Bermuda five days ago. I travelled first class on a direct flight from Toronto. I had the banana french toast for breakfast which was quite good. I watched half of a not so good movie called the new grad or something along those lines. The flight was quick only two hours in the air. Once we landed I went through customs and I had to pay for every electronic item that I own. After I was interviewed, I was attained and had to wait for my work permit to arrive. Twenty some minutes later the principal arrived with the paperwork that I needed. So then I was able to get my things and enter the country. No one searched me or my things which is quite weird I think.
So the principal and another advisor took me to a restaurant for lunch after that. We went to a place called Rustico. This place is a Mediterranean/Italian spot with a nice outdoor "heated" deck. The food was alright, and the patio was packed on a Sunday. I had a cranberry/ginger beer which has become my favourite drink of choice. I think I will be sober the entire time I am here. Which means i'll have to make up for it when I get home. :P
The weather hasn't been all that appealing. Cold and rainy mostly, but it's a lot better than snow. I have yet to use the pool at the hotel, but the place is clean and I'm on the second floor or two so it's pretty quiet. Except for the mornings, there is this type of yellow bird that is absolutely annoying with it's a.m. squacking.
The first two days of school I spent planning, and frantically preparing for classes. On the monday, a handful of ladies invited me out to dinner with them. We went to a place called The Specialty Inn that looked like a diner. I had homemade extra large meatballs with rice and coleslaw. This was served with a sweet and sour sauce on top. The meal was quick good, and the pizza that they served there looked pretty tasty. Dinner was around $17 with my pop, but the nice teachers paid for my dinner.
The school is an interesting place, the students feel entitled. Most of the teachers are Canadian, and that's the neat part. During lunch I've been having conversations about home, and the teacher's lounge is gossip central regardless of what country you're in.
Yesterday was my first day of teaching. I met a gentleman on my way to work from England. He is here for a three months stay to work for a telephone company. We had a chit chat while walking into town. He was quite nice probably in his 50s. Everyone in this country says hello when you walk by, and they all make eye contact. It's very intrusive at first, but now i'm starting to initiate it. Even the homeless people say hello. There is more poverty here than I have ever seen before. I think that is because they don't have a place to go, they are stuck on the island. There are no options for them, and it is very sad...
Back to my first day at school. I thought that it went fairly well, and the way my schedule works I have a spare that is about 1.5 hours. This is unheard of anywhere else in the world, and you pay would normally be based on hours of teaching, but apparently not here. So I feel pretty comfortable teaching, but the two classes of grade 9s will definitely test me repeatedly.
As for the apartment hunt; I have seen three now and I still don't have a place to live. The first place was about a ten minute drive from the school. The apartment was a two bedroom unfurnished, without any utilities. Negative--- The second was an apartment share in the middle of the island. This is near a not so great part of town, and although I thought the apartment was the right price, and had all the things I am looking for.... I don't feel comfortable. The bus only goes through that area of town once an hour. The woman who I would be living with is very nice. She is an English woman in her late 40s, who is recently divorced and just looking for company. She seemed harmless, but I think I should live alone. $1600/mo. -- includes everything.
Today I went to go see an apartment that is literally on the side of the road. The place was about the size of my hotel room. The bathroom was the size of my closet at home. It only came with a sink, stove and fridge that are all against the same wall as the door. It is an unfurnished place, that is fully tiled. Nothing was included with rent, and it was about a 10 minute walk to work. So no real need for transportation. That was at $1800/mo.
Class today was a breeze. I had a new group of grade nines and I had to be quite firm with them. The girls thought they could talk through my class, and I quickly put them in their place. I think the other teachers are walkovers. I had a great class with 5 students who are taking the multimedia class. They seem excited to create things so that is good. We had a fire drill today and we all went to the public park near by. Next week will be a lockdown practice and then the week after a rain/firedrill. We all go to the church. I guess this is a learning process.
I definitely need to catch up on my sleep. So I hope this gives everyone an idea of what I am doing. Hope all is well at home.
Good Day,
Miss B
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