Introducing.....the newest Power Ranger!

Today was very successful! I managed to add five more large boxes of school stuff into my storage locker, get two more shots and buy my motorcycle helmet. My Volunteer Advisor (VA) suggested we don't get black - because of the heat. There were no white helmets in my price range or size so I settled for the one below. It even has fancy sunglasses visors in it. What do you think?

To Ottawa One Last Time

I just returned from Ottawa for my second and final pre-departure training. It was called Skills for Working in Development or SKWID for short (and yes, it's pronouced squid). This followed my Preparing for Change (PFC) course last May. Again, it was a valuable weekend full of eye opening topics, practical skills, good conversation and the usual pre-departure panic! A few people from my PFC course were there and so it was nice to see a few familiar faces. Matt is an audiologist from Albecerque and going to Guyana in August. Rob is a doctor from San Francisco and he left for Uganda the last day of the course. I got to room with some great people too! Angie is a journalist from Toronto going to Nigeria and Raffaella is a strategic planner (I think...but I don't know much about the business world) from Boston who is going to Kenya. Best of all, I had some time to visit Parliament Hill before my flight on Monday.

Overall, the course content was valuable. There was a large focus placed on group facilitation skills and getting group participation in workshops and meetings. So, sort of like teaching 9th grade students who could care less about social studies and getting them to a point where they are the ones informing me of what's happining in Ottawa! (Like the time one of my students came to school and told me about the Governor General eating seal heart in Nunavut before I knew it!). I did gain some good ideas - especially with regards to cross cultural facilitation and working with adults.

On the pin cushion front....I am getting two more vaccinations today. One is my final Hep shot and the other is - wait for it - rabies. It sort of makes me laugh but apparently quite a concern for volunteers abroad. I've also decided that I think I'll bite the bullet and get Malarone for my anti-malarials. It's way expensive (like a paycheque expensive) and CUSO-VSO won't cover the cost. They will give me the cost of Mefloquine which is cheaper (like a days work, cheaper) but my plan will cover a large majority of it. The basic difference is the Malarone has few side effects - unlike Mefloquine which can lead to hallucinations and anxiety. So....we'll see!

4 years of teaching and all I have to show for it is $3.56!

Today was officially the last day of classes for students. I took some time in the afternoon to pack up my classroom. Officially I have a leave of absence and am coming back to my old position - but a lot can happen in a year and I don't want to leave my teaching treasures at the school lest they become displaced! I packed up a lot of things - many with great memories. One of the teachers I work with suggested, a long time ago. to keep a folder of notes and mementos to look at on the those days when you wonder why you joined the profession in the first place. I had some great things in there. It was sort of sad, actually. To know I won't be there next year. I'll miss those kids a lot. Here are some of the few things I packed away:

- a key chain in the shape of a chalk board that says "Teachers never erase students from their hearts". This was from a boy I taught my first year who had a tendency to swear and throw things across the room when angry. I taught him for two years and developed with him an "understanding" and a positive teaching experience. (He actually gave me a hug the year I left his school!)

-a picture taken by current grade 9 students during the last federal election. They went down to the local Liberal candidate's headquatres and each posed behind campaign signs, snapped a picture, posted it on Facebook (supposedly - we're not "friends") and then brought me a copy. The next week in class, I walked in to the room to find two more "aquired" signs on the black board. This time, one was Conservative and one was Liberal. I guess they sensed my neutrality and wanted to showcase both sides of the ideological spectrum. How mature they are in their political philosophies!! I then reminded them of Elections Canada regulations (I'm pretty sure they are also laws) that it is forbidden to deface or remove political posters and how lucky it was for them to have found the signs lying on the grass after that big wind storm. And how responsible they were for bringing them to me lest they litter our community.

-an Irish piggy bank that a colleague of mine got for me the first year I taught with her. I may have mentioned to her (and ALL my students) that St. Patrick's Day is my favourite day of the year. Since then I've had it on my desk and when I've found a dime or a nickle on my floor I've put it in. The goal was to have enough money to retire early. Curious students have also picked it up and asked, how much money was in it. My response was always "Not very much. But it's for my retirement if you're interested in contributing." Sometimes, they did! And so I empited it and found a whopping $3.56. Lordy, Lordy we're having biscuits tonight!

-a dream catcher. From a student (who claims he didn't make it but thought I would like it anyway) who is one of those students with whom you feel like you actually did make a difference.

- A note from a student who, when in Grade 4, told a teacher to "f*** off". Grade 4! He came to me half way through his grade 7 year. I taught him math. He did run out of my room once and hide in the bathroom. But he also wrote me a note telling me that I was the first teacher to make math fun

-Birthday cards from a half-dozen students

-A picture of me with some 9E girls who printed it off to give me because "Oh my God you, like, totally look like one of us!" and "You're hair looks, like, so good!" (Remember earlier post where I discuss how often my students and I talk about hair in class....)

-Picture from my student teaching days in Edmonton. The first group of kids I ever taught. I thought I knew everything then. All I'm realizing is that I don't know much and have so much to learn in this teaching career. And, the people that will teach me the most is my students. They are honest and discerning.

So, as I pack up my classroom before heading to Rwanda, I look forward to the years ahead of me and I'm thankful that I'm in a job that I love. There is a joke about teaching that says "This job would be great if it wasn't for the kids." I can honestly say that "This job is great because of the kids."

The Great Helmet Debate

I feel lucky that as plans change, I'm in Calgary not wandering the Inca Trail in Peru or getting screeched in in Newfoundland. I still have time to get things done. I got an email today that yes, I do indeed, need to bring a motorcycle helmet to Rwanda. The email was a forward that was between VSO staff and travelled the world between Ottawa, Dublin and probably Kigali. It was long. There was a lot of discussion, but in the end safety won out. I'll be travelling via "moto" a lot and so that I can have one that fits, and has some level of safety certification, it's recommended (ahem, required) to bring one with me. So, 25kgs and one motorcycle helmet. It will make for good conversation on the plane and if the plane's engines fail and we start a rapid descent, I'll be sure to unwrap that baby and hold on for dear life. I got thinking, though, how uneasy I might make other passengers feel if, during a bit of turbulence, I grab for the helmet in a mad panic. Or, turn to my fellow passengers, helmet in hand, and say "You really should have brought your own. I've heard Westjet is terrible!" (NB: Yes, I have a sneaking feeling that Westjet DOES NOT fly to Rwanda but their sunny attitudes are sometimes a bit too much and, quite frankly, a few of them would do well to have a motorcycle helmet shoved over their heads just to shut them up!) But I digress....

I will be looking at motorcycle helmets tomorrow. 

Tonight I went to see David Sedaris speak. For those of you who know me well, you know that I own (or used to own before I lost them) two copies of only one book. That book (listed in the About Me section) is called Me Talk Pretty One Day. It was the first book by David Sedaris that I read and so, even though I've read some since, it still holds a place in my heart. Krystal and Pat bought me his latest book, and I devoured it. I was even waiting for the C-Train one day reading it, when a stranger came up to me who had read it and we got talking about how great he is. (Not the stranger, but David Sedaris) So, who is this David Sedaris guy? Well, if you've clicked on the link, you already know. If not, he is this uber funny American living abroad and is so funny that I laugh out loud when I read him. I wouldn't do any of his books justice but suffice to say, tonight was not a disappointment. He talked about everything from breast milk in champagne glasses to making nachos out of Communion wafers. And this is from when he was on Letterman give you an idea of what's in his newest book. 

Look out, Charlotte, here I come!

It's official folks! I'm going to Rwanda. I still didn't official word yet but I got an email today confirming it and so I can breathe a small sigh of relief. I was getting so excited. Almost too excited. I had even ordered the Rwanda guide from Amazon and, in true 21st century fashion, I risked mentioning it on...wait for it....Facebook. We all know the power of Facebook after all. So apparently the Facebook gods were smiling down on me.

On the drive out to Airdrie after our basketball game (a slim victory with a few elbows and less than kind words that led us to the finals) I had the radio tuned, as I always do, to CBC. (When someone tells me of a new song or band, I usually counter with "Is it on CBC?", to which they inevitably respond "No.") Ideas was on and it's been a while since I've had a chance to listen to it. Well, friends, as if the unmistakeable voice of Stephen Lewis coming through the AM dial wasn't a sign of things to come, then the topic sure was. Paul Kennedy was playing a debate from last month in Toronto where big, fancy pants thinkers got together to talk about foreign aid in the developing world. Interestingly, the two "pro-aid" debaters were from the West (Stephen Lewis being one of them) and the two "anti-aid" debaters were from the developing world (Hernando De Soto and Damisa Moyo). 

Where do I stand? Not a clue - yet. I do feel that sending money to corrupt governments is less than helpful but that aid is not always lost to the red tape and government officials with fancy cars and security guards. My experience in the developing world is zilch - so really, who am I to say? So, listening to these thinkers gave me food for thought and a task that I have given myself.  I know, for sure, that I support the CUSO-VSO mandate of sending trained people to the developing world. That's why the money that you donate goes to send volunteers as opposed to governments in those countries. 

Either way, I feel 100% about the choice I'm making to go abroad. I know I'll have up days and down days but I'm making a good choice for me and my values. And now the little problem I have with spiders. I'm terrified. Yes, let the world know that I have been known to call my parents from my apartment to have them coach me into killing a spider. I'm embarrassed to admit that to you now but I have grown. I was golfing today with some students and one of them said he saw a really gross spider so I actually walked over to look at it. So, Charlotte..... you can spin your web all you want but I'm ready for you. Oh yes, I'm ready for you and I'm coming. ( I figure if I refer to all spiders - big, hairy, ugly, spiders - as Charlotte, I might be able to find endearing qualities in them.) And if I'm not ready, I'll get a cat. 

And here I thought there are no spiders in Africa...

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm terrified of spiders. I was chased around my junior high school, tormented by my brothers and terrified of my basement apartment in Garneau. I believe I have come leaps and bounds since those days (I recall teaching a grade 9 class when a giant wolf spider dropped down outside the window one day. The kids screamed, I screamed and as the chaos ensued and we scrambled to close the curtains, my principal walked in for a visit!) the little guys still make my heart race a little bit - okay, they make my heart race a lot.  And Tina sent me an email saying that she's so used to spiders she just flicks them out of her bed instead of freaking out. And I read another blog which talked about the size of the spiders. Okay, okay...I know this shouldn't be my biggest worry but it is. I'll manage. I'll have to!

On another note, I'm all moved out of Calgary and into Airdrie and am enjoying a huge walk in closet and, for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, an ensuite bathroom. Yup, that's right folks. I'm living in the lap of luxury. Of course, the move did not come without it's casualities - namely Aimey's wall. Apparently her condo was not designed to move in a queen sized mattress. Now there is a beautiful hole to prove that either the construction workers are bad at math, or we are bad at physics. Hmmm.....