what a week

Wow, last week seemed to take so long! And that’s even with having school canceled on Monday.

I got to school Monday morning all ready to go. Right away, students were asking if we were going to have school that day. I couldn’t imagine why they would think it’d be canceled. That is, until some of my 3^rd period students came in and told me that the septic tank had busted, and that there was no food. I wasn’t entirely sure how these two events were related, so I found another teacher and asked her. Turns out the septic tank had, in fact, busted. (or as Ashley’s freshmen would say, “Miss, someone put bombs in the toilet!”). The result? The cafeteria had been contaminated and the cooks could not prepare breakfast or lunch. Since the students could not be fed, they ended up being sent home after 1^st period. Us teachers, however, had to stay until 4. Lame. But I went to Carl’s Jr. and had lunch, then got some work done and my classroom cleaned, so it was a productive day. 

Since I only taught one class on Monday, I woke up Tuesday thinking that it was actually Monday. We had a football game after school that day. However, our football games are usually on Thursdays. So I then woke up on Wednesday feeling like it was Friday. My brain was just all confused, and never really did recover. School was shortened on Friday for the Parent Teacher Conferences after school. When I finally got home, Julie had already arrived from Anu’u and we went down to pizza hut and had an amazing (if not entirely healthy) end-of-the-week meal. Which included cinna-sticks, of course!

Plans to go to the beach were sadly foiled by the weather. However I did receive a package in the mail from mom, and spent much of my Saturday afternoon relaxing with some new magazines. Yesterday, Sunday, was a rough day for me emotionally, missing my family and then receiving more upsetting news from home. We are allowed to take 3 personal days during the school year, and I am taking one of those today. It is very much needed, and hopefully will rejuvenate me.

This week is spirit week, so we are having dress-up days, contests, and I think even a school dance. There will likely be class meetings to practice the performances for the PTA fundraiser on Saturday. This coming weekend is also the Tattoo Festival at Tisa’s on the East side of the island. It’s supposed to be really cool, so hopefully I can head out there to check it out.

I’m currently at McDonald’s, using the internet. Ours has not been working since Saturday morning. Unreliable internet access is just one of the many things I have gotten used to here.  Another is having to try 5 or 6 times to reach someone on the phone. Or having the rain pouring down one minute, then clear blue skies the next, multiple times a day. Or the little geckos running along the walls of my house. They eat the bugs, so I don’t mind them. At times I can get a bus within 3 minutes of getting out to the road, but I’ve also had to wait up to half an hour. If the schedule is going to be changed at school, we often don’t know until the morning of. Which is part of the reason why I have been operating on “Samoan time” since the end of July. 

1 month until my Thanksgiving mini-vacation at Sadie’s!

2 months until I see the fam in Hawaii!

4 days until the weekend is here again!