First Chapel of the Year

These kiddies are sure cute.

A Weekend in Style

While my job at the school is fairly typical for a teacher-- lesson plans, homework, and grading--my weekends are atypical of the average school teacher: Starbucks, lounging on a beach in the Caribbean, and loafing around a 5 star resort. You won't find me complaining about the 'recreational opportunities'!

I got up at 6:15 this morning so I could make the 7:15am service at the Anglican Church. The church was surprisingly full for being so early in the morning...around 80-90 people. The theme of the service was 'Back to School Sunday'. They had representatives of students, parents, and teachers read prayers and pass a candle. Then they gave bags with school supplies out to all the students and teachers. I had been wanting a little day pack to use when I went to the beach...the Lord provides for me...even to go to the beach in comfort...

Afterward, they had all the students and teachers get a picture taken with the bishop. I liked it. It reminded me of something they would do in Africa.

Then I got on 'sweet and smooth' (me ol' bike) and peddled down to the Presbyterian church. It was started up by a bunch of Scots in 1810, and is one of the mainly white churches in Nassau. To be honest I've been hoping to make a few friends from the US...a little taste of home when living in a different culture. The people there were really nice and welcoming. I felt like I met most of the church after the service. They even wanted me to join the choir! The pastor is a fairly young guy in his thirties from Toronto. He moved here in June, so he's still settling in here with his wife and daughter. He was a great guy. I think I may have found some friends there...

I went over to my landlords' house this afternoon and had cake and coffee with them. They are really nice folk. I'm glad they are there. Then one of their sons drove me to their church for their evening service (it seems like evening services are standard fare for EVERY church here!).

The service was all singing and music. It was very quaint and pleasant. It was almost like a church talent show. Children sang solos. A teen played his harmonica. Couples sang karaoke duets. It was all very sweet and encouraging. Just being around people who love Jesus so much is always sweet (even if they don't seem to share anything with you).

Another Ordination

I just got back from my second ordination of the week. There were a lot of the same characters that were there at the first: the same bishop, many of the same priests, and lay leaders. I'm starting to get a sense of the Anglican community on the Island. Supposedly Anglicanism is the second largest organized Christian denomination in the Bahamas due to all the British loyalists fleeing here after the Revolutionary War. There seems like there might be a couple dozen Anglican churches scattered around the island.

Kari's girlfriend came with us...unfortunately I can't remember her name--something like Sharivince. She was quite a character-- classically trained in 5 instruments with an easy laugh. Since Kari was in the service tonight we sat together and enjoyed the service as guests. She pointed out the fancy moves that the incense girl was doing as she walked down the aisle in the procession. It was like she was jump roping with the incenser in big figure eight loops! I've seen some crazy incense moves in the Orthodox church, but this was something else all together!

The service was less majestic than the first, but had a more local and almost neighborhood feel. The sermon was given by the priest I met last week at my new little church, Fr. Mutree. He did a great job preaching and commissioning. I could tell he's a bit of a local celebrity. He teased me about whether I rode my bike to the service. 

The reception afterward was a full meal complete with meatballs, tuna salad, beets, and wine (truth be told it was rather a strange meal). Kari introduced me to the bishop and a few other notable Anglican figures in the community. Overall, it was a great evening.

Today also marked the end of my first week of teaching! There will be several things to keep working on, but I think we are off to a marvelous start.

When Morning guilds the Sky

I love the mornings here!

 Here's a little shot from my morning commute on 'sweet'n smooth'.

"YES SIR"

Today was the best school day so far. We finished those government tests yesterday, and so we jumped into the full curriculum today. Since the school doesn't have bells, and my class really needs structure, I've set up a little alarm on my computer that goes off that the beginning and end of each class.

They're starting to get more motivated too. I yell, "Are you going to work hard in my class?" "YES SIR", they yell back. "Are you going to have a lot of fun in my class?" "YES SIR", they reply. Whenever we do that they get all jazzed up. I gave them a little pep talk, and got them to move their test forward to this Friday so that they could get through more material. I love getting them inspired to really learn a lot and feel like they're going somewhere. I think they got really disheartened last year and felt like they were just wasting their time. So I assigned over twenty pages of reading tonight, which is probably more than they've ever been assigned in one night! I'm kind of excited to see where they go from here.

Looking at their test scores from the government test in math, some of them are scoring at a first grade level. I'm not a math genius...actually I'm pretty sure I would fail anything above 8th grade math. But I'm excited at the challenge of seeing if I can teach math anyway to these kids and have them rocket up to a 7th or 8th grade level this year. I'm setting the bar pretty high for these kids, but I'm committed to each one of them to make it and grow.

Second Day of School and an Anglican Ordination

Today was an interesting day. I mostly administered a tedious government test that I didn't like at all for about four hours. But at least I got to spend time with each of my students one-on-one.

I had another meeting with Kelly today about the curriculum. It was somewhat frustrating because a bunch of the books I needed to teach with were missing. But by the time I left two hours later, I at least had a sense of what I am going to do tomorrow! I'm just taking one day at a time and hoping that soon the bigger picture will emerge out of the fog.

The best part of today was going to an Anglican ordination that Kari invited me to.  It was A LOT of pomp and circumstance. I've been to ordinations in Kenya and in the US, but this beats them hands down. There were three bishops, two incense swingers, two choirs, a couple dozen priests, trumpet fanfares (that reminded me of cheesy trumpets out of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn), and big sanctuary packed out with ladies in their BIG hats and fancy dresses and hairdos. Black women down here can really dress UP!

All in all, I had a wonderful time. I loved the music and all symbolism and beauty. The Eucharist felt like I was visiting Heaven, with everyone singing as loud as they could...almost drowning out the organ. And all the clouds in incense and people going this way and that. I loved it all.

I was convicted by part of the service where they were reading the charge to the new deacon--"He did not come to be served, but to serve." Today I was starving at lunch. The lunch lady was 30 minutes late, and there were a couple of my students who hadn't eaten yet. As soon as the lunch lady came, I went and got food for myself and let my students sit there and wait hungry until I had finished. THEN I went to see where their food was....Lord have mercy.

The service also helped me take a step back and see the big picture of what I'm doing and why I'm here: to glorify and enjoy God...to participate in the unfolding of His Kingdom...and to be a light to my students. I've been kind of stressed out about making sure I know what I'm doing in terms of my curriculum that it was very helpful to go back to the core.

First Day of School

My alarm went off at 6am, and in a few minutes the water for my coffee was heating. I pushed off on "Sweet-n'-smooth" (my bike) at around 7 just as the sun was about to rise. The ride over to the school is a short 8 min ride and very pleasant early in the morning.

School starts at 8am, and getting there at 7 I expected things to be a buzz of activity. Instead, all I found was the 'lunch lady' there parked in her car outside a locked gate. We waited around for a while until Mrs. Bailey drove up and let us through with her key.

I got set up, and started to meet my students as they began to drift in. One new mother kept telling me how bad her son was at math, and I kept ignoring her.


School started at 8am with most of the 10 seats filled. I launched into little welcome lecture...talked about myself a little...talked about the goals for the year...talked about their responsibilities, etc. I tried to treat them like adults with the hope they would act like it. It only half worked. They were very well behaved and very serious during class. But the fact that they were all 12 years old kept popping out.








Here's my class!



They had to take this government test today to assess where they are at now, and then they will take it again at the end of the year and see how much they've improved. So today I didn't have to prepare much...just pass out the test and sit back for a couple hours.

Then they had to have their pictures taken for the year book and IDs. That took a good hour and a half.

To top things off, during the last hour of class, there was a power outage. In about 5 minutes after the lights when out, the sticky heat started to pour in. Soon I was sweating and had to loosen my tie. Kelly came in and said, "Mr. Moore welcome to the Bahamas!" and then just laughed as I panted in the heat.

So out of the whole day, I really only taught for about 2 hours. We started into The Call of the Wild, and I assigned the first chapter as homework. I have to do a oral portion of the government test tomorrow. Should be kind of boring for the kids, and tedious for me...but it's just one of those hoops you've got to jump through.

I didn't leave school until about 5pm. There was a huge tropical downpour right when I wanted to head home. Kelly offered to drive me home and leave my bike at school. It was raining so hard that by the time I got from the car to my front door and jumped inside, I was literally drenched to the bone.

For some reason I had no real lesson prep to do tonight, so I rested, took a short nap, and went on a run over to Paradise Island to get a little dose of American culture.

The last adventure of the day was finding my first cockroach. I was so excited, I took a picture of it...and then promptly killed it.

End of Week 1

I rode my bike down to the Anglican church this morning and tied it up to a little tree outside the door of the church. Like I had guessed it was a very 'high' Anglican service with incense and bells, a big organ, and lots of robes swishing to and fro. My favorite part of the service was when they sang the Lord's Prayer, and everyone joined hands. At the end of the prayer everyone raised their hands in praise. It was otherworldly. And then a second later it was silent and everyone was seated, and we were back to ordinary life.

They asked visitors to introduce themselves, so I stood up and told everyone I just moved to Nassau. They all clapped and several people came up to me during and after the service to welcome me. The priest, Fr. Mutree, is the nephew of Mama Dorothy, and he was quite a wonderful man--very enthusiastic and jovial.

I spent the rest of the day in my apartment reading, getting ready for my first day of teaching tomorrow, and watching TV shows on YouTube. Then I went to the Evening Prayer Service at the church which was really beautiful. For the last ten minutes of the service they turned out all the lights and the altar was lit up with dozens of candles.

The past few days I've started to feel a bit lonely spending so much time by myself. I hope and pray that I can find some families to befriend and maybe meet some other resident Americans here. Maybe next week.

This coming week, I'll be busy busy busy with teaching and lesson planning and doing a fair share of 'winging it'!

But overall, this past week has been a very good one. I've transitioned quite quickly here. There's been no crises. No problems. No real concerns. I feel like I'm just being carried by a huge wave somewhere. I don't have much control of where I'm going, but I'm learning to just relax and not fight the current. "Don't worry about a thing. Every little thing is going to be alright."

Day 7

This is my last weekend before the craziness of the school year falls upon me. So I tried to make the best of it today. I attempted an omelet, but failed miserably. But my coffee still tasted delicious!

My landlord's son drove me down the street to show me where the laundry mat is. He asked me about Seattle and asked if I had ever heard of Mark Driscoll. He said his church had been trying to persuade Mark to come to the Bahamas for a week and put him up in a nice hotel so they could hear him speak. I had no idea that he was so well known literally ALL over the world!

The laundry mat was a nice little place with families and folks just hanging out waiting for their clothes. That should be nice little weekly routine.

After a quick lunch and rode my 'smooth and sweet' bike down to Paradise Island in about 15 min. On the way, traffic was stopped up as a large funeral was going right now the main street. A big brass band, followed by stretch limos, and friends and family all dance/walking along to the rhythm of the music. It was something to behold...I thought, "That's the way to go with your whole community celebrating your life with joy as you go and meet your Savior! and

I found this perfect little stretch of beach with just about a dozen tourists on it. It was just like the beaches you see in magazines with the white sand, crystal clear water, and palm trees. It's pretty easy to relax here when you are surrounded by people on vacation all taking walks, reading books, or floating in the water. Maybe this will also fit into my weekly routine!

DAY 6

Today was a LONG day. First we had a parents open house for a couple hours that went fine...seems like I'll just have one parent who will be a 'situation'...but as a teacher I guess I have to expect that from now on.
Then the national TV station came into the school to take some shots and interview us. It was kind of exciting. They sat me down and a lady in her early 20s asked me a few questions about Classical education and what I anticipate for the coming year. I can't say that I was entirely articulate and elegant, but I didn't totally fumble either.

For lunch Mr. Kari Marcelle, the new 4 & 5th grade teacher, went out to a nice little resturant on the water and had 'fried conch burgers', which are like fried calms in between hamburger buns. It was pretty good. Kari told me that he had gone to school in Canada, and returned about nine months ago and since they had just been looking for a job. He finished an Masters of Divinity at Wycliffe College in Toronto, which is a well known Anglican seminary when he was just 24 years old. He's a really nice guy, and we had lots to talk about: the Anglican church in the Bahamas, classical education, the school, his church, and our backgrounds. I think we'll bond quite well over the coming months. He took me by his church and showed me around, and we stopped by to meet his mom, who used to be in the Bahamian parliament for many years. She was quite elegant, articulate, and refined.

The sisters, Marleen and Kelly, have been up to their necks with details since the first day of school is just three days off. Every time I wanted to ask Kelly about something, we talked for a bout five minutes, and then she would have a phone call, or a parent would stop in. It was getting somewhat frustrating after waiting on and off all afternoon. When we finally did sit down and she answered my questions, it was clear that the curriculum was still in a total state of flux, and she was changing it right there. We worked through each part of the curriculum until about 6:30pm.

She kept telling me that the 5th grade teacher last year was off in la la land, and had wasted pretty much the whole year. It sounds like they were totally undisciplined, kept in total suspense, and wasted hours every day of doing nothing. Because of this, I'm going to be up against some pretty big obstacles. But we've adjusted the curriculum so that they are doing some 5th grade content for the first couple weeks, before we jump into their 6th grade material.

My plan is to go into the first day with some pretty strict and clear guidelines, get the students disciplined, and have fun. They say that the first week of school is the most crucial for establishing a routine and ethos for the rest of the year. So as a first year teacher, I'm going into it with my best shot, but also realizing I'll make some mistakes to learn from too. I'm ready!

I think I'm going to do a Shakespeare play after school if any of the students are motivated enough to do homework plus some theater a few times a week. We'll see.

Day 5

Not too much to report today other than I got a new bike on loan! Marleen's brother's friend had this bike and wasn't using it, so he let me borough it during my time here! Pretty sweet. It's even a Schwinn! Now my work commute will be about a 6 min ride to school, 4 min ride to the store, and 10 min ride to church. Not bad! I guess I'll really be living the island life now. John, the Haitian worker at the school borrowed by bike to get some putty at the store. When he brought it back and I asked him how it was he said, "Ah mon, that bike rides so smooth and sweet."

My landlord heard I needed a bike lock and he went rummaging in his house and came back with a bike lock for me to use. "The Lord provides," he told me. "Indeed he does," I replied.

I spent most of the day doing paperwork and getting ready for the "Parent open house". I'll be meeting all my students' parents and some of my students.

Today a community leader who does free school for ex-homeless children, came into my class and almost begged me add another student for him. "She's brilliant," he said. "She's from Peru, and she's still learning English, but she's very very bright. I want her to be in a place where she can excel. I believe in her so much I am willing to pay her school fees for her." Then the girl and her mother came into the room. They were very shy and I tried to speak a little Spanish and talk to them about where I had visited in Peru. Later I talked to Marleen about how we would fit more students into our small space, and we came up with a new plan for the seating arrangement that could facilitate 12 students. So I went from thinking I had 6 students a week ago, to having 12 students! The more the merrier I say!

We also got a new teacher today: Mr. Kari Marcelle, who just happens to be a young Anglican preparing for ordination in January! I couldn't have wished for a better college! I think we will get along wonderfully. My heart warms every time I see the big crucifix he has to wear around his neck...

Day 4

Today I walked into my class, and it looked like a different room. While I had been on the beach yesterday, Marleen and Kelly had been busy!

Marleen and Kelly's mother "Mama Dorothy" came in during the morning and was just as surprised as I was at how good the class looked. Without stopping to think she started walking around touching each of the seats and praying, "Lord we pray for each and every one of these students who will sit in these seats. Bless them, protect them, we lift them up to you. May they learn more of who you are." She's quite a saint!

Mama Dorothy

After setting up some posters, talking with Kelly and Marleen about this and that, I went downtown with Marleen and met up with Mama Dorothy to go to the mid-week Anglican service at the cathedral. It was a sparsely attended service, but it was nonetheless beautiful. The sanctuary was gorgeous, the organ boomed, the sermon was edifying, and the Eucharist

service done with elegance. Mama Dorothy seemed to know everyone there. I briefly met the priest, and met several women who worked at banks and law firms downtown and they would come to this service on their lunch break. They all gravitated to the altar rail in the front of the church, and before I knew it we were all kneeling side by side and one of the women was praying up a storm for me. It was a real blessing. They were women truly filled with the Spirit.

The rest of the day was pretty straight forward. I went on some more errands with Marleen. (She let me drive the 4 Runner home, and it was great fun to drive on the left side of the road again!) I hung some posters, talked with a parent who was a Messianic Jew and was concerned her son would be brain washed at our school, and worked out some details with the curriculum and my classroom guidelines.

I walked home through the backroads and had a few interesting conversations with folk just sitting out in the shade along the road...it feels like Africa back there on St. James road. A little kid even stopped his playing and yelled, "Hello white man!" I waved back. I bought some rice, pasta, and ketchup at a little store on the road, and all the kids crowded around me as I purchased my goods. St. James rd. probably isn't a big tourist destination...

I ate some pasta and went for a run down to Paradise Island. I wanted to find "Cabbage Beach", which is supposed to be one of the 'nicest beaches in the world'. After about a 30 run with a few wrong turns, I was at Cabbage Beach looking out into the Caribbean. Heat lightening lit up the corner of the sky, and the glow of a cruise ship slowly moved along the horizon. The moon was bright and cast beautiful shadows from the palm trees moving in the breeze. Finding my way back through Paradise Island was like a maze. I went through the Atlantis Resort and felt like I was in a different world entirely yet again. Casinos, restaurants, waterfalls, pools, hotels...it was quite other worldly.

My Classroom

Day 3

Last night I decided to take a run at about 9pm. My little apartment is located out in a safe "upper-middle class" neighborhood, but it nevertheless took a little courage to run through the shadowy empty streets. I got out onto the main road and ran down to the beach. The giant bridge that leads to Paradise Island arched before me, and I decided to go explore. I ran across the bridge in solitude except for a few limousines and taxis speeding back across into Nassau. In about 5 minutes I was on the other side and felt like I had entered another world.

I found myself in the "Atlantis Village". Hundreds of wealthy tourists from all over the world where milling about listening to the live Caribbean music, sipping on Starbucks iced coffees, taking pictures with their families, shopping at the dozens of upscale retail stores, and people watching. I felt like a deer in the headlights walking though this other worldly scene in my jogging shorts and my sweaty t-shirt. Everyone seemed happy...or at least everyone was making a jolly good effort. Quite a strange contrast to the low income neighborhoods I had been earlier in the day!

Today I had the day off, so I slept in and talked with my friend Kurt on gchat for a while. I made some Starbucks coffee with the french press that was in the cupboard, and had a couple bowls of Raisin Bran that Marleen got for me (with a price tag of $6.95).

I put on my walking shoes and jumped the wall next to my house. The neighborhood on the other side of the wall felt like places I had been in Africa. Old concrete houses, children playing in the street, tropical trees, beat up dogs limping around, etc. I zig zagged my way down to the waterfront and walked along a busy thoroughfare for another 15 minutes until I got to the

closest beach to my house.

The water was warm and clear. I found a palm tree to camp under and read my book for a while and drank a coconut drink. Not too bad.

When the breeze changed directions, the beach smelled awful, and there was some garbage and seaweed around...so I think I'm going to head for the tourist beach on Paradise Island next time I want to go to the beach.

I started walking back to my apartment and stopped at a few places and looked for a reasonably priced hat, but to no avail. My face got a little burned being out in the sun for a few hours--worse things could happen.

I dropped by the Anglican church and peered inside the windows. A little bowl of holy water

stood next to the door, old wooden pews lined the sanctuary, a high preaching podium and alter stood in the front, and a large statue of Jesus was on the wall. "These guys must be pretty HIGH Anglicans out here!" I can probably expect a lot of 'smells and bells'! I have a few reservations about it, but on the whole I enjoy worship in anglo-catholic services. So we'll see how things go on Sunday!

By the time I got back to my apartment, I was literally wiping up the sweat that was dripping off my face I was so hot. A nice cold shower and a nap under the air conditioner helped get me functioning.

DAY 2

Kelly Picked me up in the family/school's 4 Runner at 9:30, and we dropped by Wendy's to get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich for Marleen. The rest of morning I just hung out at the school doing a little of this and that, while Kelly and Marleen were running around at break neck speed, overseeing workmen and repairmen, talking to prospective parents, and on the phone to publishers in the States to have them send curriculum for next week.

And I got a better look at my new classroom:

Here's what the outside of the school looks like:

Then after a little lunch of fried chicken and french fries lathered in sweet and sour sauce (not too bad actually), we had a short little meeting. Mrs. Rolle is the new kindergarden teacher. Very laid back, very quiet, very nice, and...very laid back. She's been teaching for 20 years in and out of public schools, and this is her first time in a "classical" school. Mrs. Bailey is the other teacher I met today. She's been teaching for 14 years at the primary, secondary, and college level and is now teaching the 4th and 5th graders...I think. The way they're organizing the K-5 is a bit strange...I don't know how they are doing it yet. I guess it depends on how many students end up coming. All I know is, is that I've got the 6th graders all to myself.

Here's Mrs. Bailey and Marleen on the phones at the same time...

That's Mrs. Bailey texting her daughter.

There's a new secretary and Kelly workin' in the office.

After about another hour or so of hanging around the school, Kelly said everyone was free to leave and to come back on Wednesday when they'd continue the training/prep. So Mrs. Bailey offered to drive me around in the family/school's 4 Runner. We went looking for a cleaning woman with one of the Haitian workers named John. We drove up and down these little streets, and John would say, "Ah, stop...be right back." Then he'd disappear into some little shanty, and reappear shaking his head. Finally he talked to an old man in his seventies who got in the backseat. John and the old man started talking quietly, but it sounded like they were speaking some crazy African language. So I asked what language they were speaking. They didn't understand what I was saying and it took Mrs. Bailey to explain that it was Creole...I didn't realize till today that Haitians speak Creole...

After dropping John and the old man off at the school, Mrs. Bailey and I went to Starbucks (just about 4-5 blocks from my house) to get some coffee beans for me, then it was off to the cellphone store to get a phone that Marleen gave to me juiced up with a new phone card and some minutes, then it was off to downtown, where we walked around where the cruise ships come in and saw all the high-brow shops with their cold air spilling out through open doors onto the hot street, and then it was off to the electric company for Mrs. Bailey to pay an overdue bill, and then it was off to the crazy Bahamian mall called "Marathon Mall". I found a dollar store and did some shopping, and we got some "conch fritters" and fried fish and rice for dinner (there's quite a bit of frying that goes on down here!)

I peppered Mrs. Bailey all day with questions about the Bahamas and Bahamian culture. I learned that utilities usually costs around $165 a month, and that the cheapest place you can get anywhere on the island is $450 a month...in other words, EVERYONE is paying around $600 in rent for a decent place to live. After hearing that I felt better about paying $750 for my peaceful pleasant clean place with all the utilities included. (The school was good to their word and gave me $270 today to begin reinbursing me for the money I had given upfront for my rent.)

One funny thing about the Bahamas is that they use BOTH Bahamian and US currency interchangeably...you pay $20 for something you get your change back in both currencies. Cash registers are full of both currencies. (The US dollar and the Bahamian dollar 'exactly' on par with each other.)

I learned that Bahamians are really concerned about appearances, and that they will live bouncing along on the poverty line just so that they can drive a fancy car and rent an apartment. As we drove through poor neighborhoods around Nassau, there would be Mercedes and Jaguars and cars with those fancy tires. Mrs. Bailey told me about how by the time kids got to be 15 yrs. old, they would be set on getting their own car and apartment at all costs. THAT was their vision of "the good life". After hearing this I told Mrs. Bailey that it made me want to get a bicycle all the more. "What better statement could I make that to ride a bike to school? Everyone will say, "Oh...look Mr. Moore is ride a bike to work! He's come here all the way from America, and comes from a good family, and has a good education, but he cares about other things more than having a car!" The 'statement' I hope will make an impression on the students in giving them a model of going about life in a different way...caring about more substantial things than cars and houses...caring about education and ideas and people. (It's also a simple fact that I can't afford a car...but that's a detail I won't bother telling to my students!)

So I have the day off tomorrow...I'm hoping to do some exploring and resting. See how far I can walk in the blazing sun...maybe go to the beach and work on my tan...

DAY 1

After a redeye flight from Seattle to Philadelphia, and then a 2.5 hr jump south, I landed in Nassau, Bahamas. The island of New Providence, where Nassau is located, seemed small from the airplane, -- just a little marshy, sandy, flat, piece of land in the vast aquamarine sea.

The island was used as a hide out for pirates, a stoping place in the slave trade route, and the destination of ex-British loyalists after the Revolutionary War who came to run plantations with their slaves. The dark history of this place is a strange contrast to "run drenched beaches" and the 5 star resorts.

I got through customs and met up with Marleen without any difficulty. She's a kind and warm woman in her late thirties, with plenty of energy. She gave me a brief tour of the 22 mile long island, driving me along almost empty roads with gated communities down long drive ways. I was expecting more people, but apparently everyone lives in Nassau.

Perhaps the most surprising thing for me today was that I didn't see a single bicycle all day. Just cars, and a few people walking here and there. It was like I was in an American suburb somewhere--very different feeling than Africa. But it seems like everyone has a car, even through they are incredible expensive to buy and keep. A strange cultural irony for a country struggling with poverty.

Marleen took me to her parents house, and someone (I couldn't tell if it was a maid or a relative of some kind!) made me a rice curry with lamb and chicken. I met Marleen's mother (who is a life long Anglican and thrilled to hear that I wanted to attend the mid-week Anglican service with her), her aunt (who I had trouble following due to her accent and my blurry jet lagged head, but who laughed all through lunch), and her cousin (who asked me all sorts of questions about myself and was generally a nice fellow). I met her father, but he only appeared for about 30 seconds and disappeared for the rest of the hour I was there.

Then I was taken by my new school: New Providence Classical School. It was like a hurricane had gone through it. Paint buckets in the corners, books stacked against the wall, and school uniforms scattered throughout the rooms. I met Marleen's sister Kelly, who is the other administrator, and she was really nice. She wrote me an email (written in red) later in the day that read:

Welcome to NPCS,

It was an honor to meet you.

As tired as you must be….your face lit up

when you saw the classroom with all the books.

I am sure that God has brought us together at

NPCS to change education in The Bahamas.

Thank you for being willing to come to The Bahamas.

Because of Him,

Kelly

After looking at their syllabus of books we were going to read, I got really excited: The Jungle Book, Kidnapped, Fellowship of the Ring, Around the World in Eighty Days, a Child's History of the World, and Journey Through the Bible. There were beautiful timelines running along the tops of the classrooms. Pictures of Mozart and other 'classical figures' hung on the wall. It is basically the same curriculum that every Classical Christian school is doing back in the States...in other words...this will be great teaching experience!

Plus I found out today that I have not 6 students, but 10! Five girls and five boys. It should be great fun. Tomorrow I will go in from 10am - 4pm and meet the other teachers and start getting the rooms set up for the first day of school on Aug. 23.

Marleen then took me to my new apartment. The studio is about the size of a garage, and is attached to the main house. The place is nestled in beautiful tropical trees, and is about a mile or so from the beach, a mile from the school, and a mile from St. Matthew's Anglican Church. I think the name of my landlord is Clifton but I forgot his kind wife's name. They had a handful of relatives visiting through the afternoon, as it seems is the custom for lazy Sunday afternoons here. As far as I know, they've agreed to have me stay here for the next three months, and then after that I'll see if I want to stay. From what everyone has said, it's a good price for being in a good safe location---plus cable internet, utilities, air conditioner, and a gas stove included.

Marleen loaded me up with a bunch of groceries, tropical fruit, and jugs of water, and told me she'd pick me up in the morning. I got a much needed shower and nap, and will spend the rest of the evening resting up and preparing for my first day of "work" tomorrow!

Tour of my Apartment

Saying Farewell

"Hold on a sec...," you may think, "isn't Ben leaving in September for Korea?"

Well, yes I was. But you see...this week has been one of the all time top five "craziest weeks" of my life. I have been rather stoic about the whole thing and not react too dramatically to anything, but to take one step at a time and not get worked up about things.

It started when I got a phone call on Saturday telling me that the school in Korea had been canceled unexpectedly. So one minute I had a job...the next I was unemployed.

The rest of the day I kind of staggered around in shock trying to figure out what had just happened and trying to come up with a plan B.

The next day I sent out a mass email to every possible school I could think of: International Anglican schools, local Christian schools, Christian schools in the South, Classical Christian schools in every corner of the globe. It was a 'hail Mary' moment.

The next day I got a sea of "sorry we do not have any position openings at this time". But there was one email that simply said, "Please call". So I called and it was a little school in the Bahamas. I talked with one of the administrators named Marleen for about 40 minutes and really enjoyed her and her vision for the school. She was looking for someone to teach 6th grade, do teacher training, and be a parent liaison.

The following day I spent 6 hours feverishly completing their very thorough application, and emailed the whole thing. The following day they received my letters of recommendation, and I was offered the job!

The next couple days we worked out how we were going to get a work visa. And then I bought a ticket to Nassau.

The following day I had a going away party. Here's a few pictures from my goodbye party on Bainbridge Island.

A driftwood jungle gym.