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...