Sarah goes to FIJI: YES MADAME!

Wednesday was fantastic. Meghan and I woke up super early to start our day at the schools. But first! I made pancakes. Va (our morning cook) has been sick this week so we've been handling breakfast on our own, and since I woke up early, I thought I would make breakfast for the other 3 girls. So cooking here is a bit different. We're lucky because we're staying in such a nice house that happens to be a catering business as well, so we have a microwave, toaster, oven, etc. But they don't have cooking spray.... so I used oil. The pancakes turned out to be more like fritters, but they were super delicious (I added oats in there to thicken them up a bit too). The downside to cooking with oil- I got burnt approximately 10 times from oil splashes. Boo. But sacrifices must be made! And they were fantastic pancakes. So Meghan and I ate quickly and then left for our first school, Nabua Primary. Meghan did a workshop with some of these teachers last week, so we were going there to see some of the teachers in the classroom trying out some of these ideas. I went to a class (grade) 3 room. OMG. I ABOUT DIED FROM CUTENESS. These kids were seriously adorable and SO polite. They were doing a maths (short for mathematics, and they call it maths. it's cute) review for their upcoming exams. So I went around and helped a few of them, and anytime I asked "does that make sense?" or "do you understand?" they always reply with "YES MADAME!" It was literally one of the most adorable things I've ever heard. I may or may not have made sure to ask questions so they would reply just like that. I should have recorded it. Ah well. Can't have it all. Anyways, after our review, I taught them a song to remember the 3s times tables. You put the numbers to the tune of 'Jingle Bells'. 3 6 9- 12 15- 18 21- 24 27 30 33. It works. THEY WENT NUTS. They absolutely LOVED it. We did it a few times, and then I would cover the numbers so they could try to remember it (just like scripture mastery!). It was so fun! And then we had to leave and I was so sad. So I thanked them and said MOCE! and they all started to giggle. So funny.

Then we went to a school for a PD (professional development) during their afternoon tea (a break they have everyday- no idea what the students do during this time). These teachers were GREAT. They were super interactive and responsive and it just went really well. And they had a ton of food for us, which was great. We stayed and talked for quite awhile after. Then we went home and relaxed for a bit. Then we headed out to another school- trying to take a bus because our taxi runs were starting to pile up and cost far too much. Well the bus we took ended up stopping at a zillion stops and then headed to the main hub and it was just crazy so we hopped off and grabbed a cab. Got to the school late, but they were running late anyways, so it's ok. This was one of the worst PDs we've done. The teachers just gawked at us like we were zoo animals and didn't respond to ANY of our questions or examples. When we finished, the principal stood up and said "this has been an interesting presentation, but as you can see our teachers are far too busy to implement any activities or games in their lessons." ARE YOU KIDDING?! They missed the WHOLE point of the presentation! UGH. Thanks for having us waste an hour of our lives. THEN. Everyone was leaving and the principal looked at us and said "so you're going to leave now right?" as if she wanted nothing more than for us to be out of her sight. No problem lady, we're gone! Oh well. We just focused on how well the morning went and we were happy.

Took the bus home (have I mentioned how much I love riding the buses here? I'm being serious. I love it). We went shopping downtown (it was Meghan's last night here, so she wanted to get a few things). And then came home for dinner. Then we watched a movie and Grey, Natalie, Lucy and Alex came home! YAY FOR MORE PEOPLE! It was too quiet without others here :) Then bed.

Slept in a bit this morning. Got ready for my exercise class lesson. Did some reading. Then went to my class. And.... well. It didn't really happen. The kids were all out playing all other things, and the teachers didn't really call them in to come to my class. So I taught the 5 that were there listening to me and we played Red Light, Green Light for about 10 minutes, then joined the other kids in different games. It was kind of frustrating, because I planned and prepared all this stuff, and then didn't do it. Oh well. It's how Fiji kinda goes. Plus I got to play Touch (Rugby) so that was fun.

Went home and went into town with Audrey, Natalie, and Poasa. We were on a mission to find some specific souvenirs and to go to the post office to figure out how Natalie was going to mail a rather large souvenir home. It was fun being there with Poasa- he knew basically everyone. It was fun. Plus I gots some good stuffs :). Went home and got ready for tutoring. Went to tutoring, but none of the kids were there yet. We waited and talked to the staff for a bit, and then the kids showed up. I worked with Louisa again and this time she was studying for another test about ears! So we studied the way that sound travels to our brains. It was super fun. Then we practiced her times tables, and more kids showed up, but we had quite a few people there helping, so I stuck with Louisa and we did a lot of maths.

Then we went home and had an amazing dinner (Tiko strikes again!). Then we made some reservations for this weekend! I'M SO EXCITED. We're going to Nadi, and on Saturday, Audrey, Natalie, and I are going on a half day island tour to South Sea Island where we'll do some snorkeling and lay on a bit nicer of a beach and possibly some other fun activities! I'm so excited! It's only a few hours, but I'm stoked. Plus we're going right back to Nadi for more stuff. Then we'll be there for a bit on Sunday and then we'll take a bus back to Suva (I think it's about a 5 hour drive? Woof, but hopefully worth it).

After that, we all went to Jody's (the most Americanized food place here) and got brownies and ice cream (delicious, but SO rich). Then home for some Taboo and a movie. It's a good life here in Fiji :)

Moce and much love,

Sarah

PS some more pics

1- The buses are super colorful, and the norm for transportation (besides walking). I LOVE THEM. Honest to goodness I do. Go buses.