First Day of Teaching

Today was the day. We had been planning since March, our course outline, lesson plans, collaborated with our co-tutors via email & phone, and it has all come down to this day. We started the day by having fresh mango smoothies for breakfast, which our team leader has been making for us every single morning since we've been here - it's really good!

Everything runs on island time here, so as expected, nothing went according to schedule! We showed up to T.A. Marryshow Community College at 8:30AM. They were setting up for participants to register. The whole process was sort of helter-skelter, with various line-ups for registering and name tags all in one narrow hallway!

When that was done, the opening ceremony took place in the auditorium. Two local news stations came to film the whole function - we'll have to watch the evening news to find out what happened to that footage! After some words from the union and Ministry of Education executives, our team leader spoke & explained the role of the CTF and Project Overseas. Then, we each took turns at the mic.

A/C is a big deal here in hot & humid Grenada. So I was certainly pleased to find that the art studio came equipped with A/C! Heat aggravates my 45 sand fly & mosquito bites. And speaking of which, I now have to wear my teammate's leggings (yes, in the hot & humid heat) to: 1. Conceal my unsightly spotted legs 2. Prevent any more sand flies & mosquitoes from assaulting me. The leggings are like my second skin. I wear them to teach, at the guesthouse, and to sleep.  Not taking any chances!

Anyway ... back to my class. My co-tutor is fantastic. She is so enthusiastic, prepared, and so pleasant! At times, I had forgotten that I was teaching adult learners, and I kept wondering why noone was interrupting me or why there weren't any behavioural issues. I could actually teach! I absolutely adore being able to lecture and have my audience listen!

Tonight, we stayed in for dinner and ordered delivery from Charcoals. Except, when we were about to call-in our orders, I realized, "We don't have an address!!" Due to us staying at, as my fashionista BFF terms it, "casa somebody's cousin's house", we don't know what the address is (also no street signs or house numbers). We described our location based on landmarks:  Turn left at La Boulangerie, We're on Morne Rouge, Past the broken down house, We're in the big white house.