Security

I'll be honest, I've been a little nervous this week about leaving the country. Knowing that I need to be packed and ready to go in one month makes it seem incredibly close. Selling my furniture, the purchase of which made me feel like a real adult, has also made it feel imminent and kind of scary. Buying the plane tickets almost gave me a heart attack. Then I saw this picture here, and somehow everything seemed ok again.

Our Trip To Payson

Wonderman and I went up to Payson. It was such a delight to get out of the heat and see some natural water.



















I also, however, saw my first scorpion. That was a little creepy.

Hippie-fied

In preparation for our big move, Wonderman decided he needed some new sandals that could survive water and other serious things. I, of course, began instantly trying to convince him that Chacos were the answer. At $95 a pop, it was a hard sell. However, Amazon and Backcountry.com came through for us. Sometimes it helps to have the oddly ginormous feet. Clearance can really help out at that point. Now I have a new Chaco-man. Doesn't he look totally hot? I've told him he may turn out to be more of a hippie than me. We'll see how that works out.

Advice on moving to Dominica

And last, but not least, I asked them to give me some advice as I move to Dominica. Some were wise beyond their years, some just made me laugh. There were a PLETHORA (wink, wink) of letters advising me about not eating strange food and wearing a hat. Must be important. Here are the highlights of everything else:

Ninth Graders:

· Thank God every day for bringing you out of it all. What all? The school? Their class? Some days I do think it was a miracle that I ever made it.

· Have fun and don't drown

· Loosen up and have more fun

· Watch your stuff at all times. There are a lot of thieves in those parts, so be careful.

· Make sure you have papers or something so you can come back to the United States

· Enjoy your life and chill

· Be nicer to your students (says a student who caused me almost daily grief)

· Don't catch any diseases or get hurt

· Wear a hat, watch out for things that can hurt you (like big snakes), and have fun

· Don't eat the food if it smells funny, looks funny, or is still walking

· Buy a submarine for the hurricane season. Buy rockets for the submarine so it doesn't get attacked by pirates.

· Don't wonder outside alone, you might get kidnapped

· Have a firearm in your house so if anyone tries to break in your house and hurt you, shoot them.

· Don't walk off the island

· If a stranger offers you an exotic monkey, don't take it!

· Always wear a bullet-proof vest, just to be safe :)

· Stay off those coconuts

· Watch out for sharks

· Go to the beach a lot

· Study other people's language so you understand them

· Stay the same way you are now

· Don't like the children over there more than us

· Don't let a volcano kill you

· Don't trust anybody because in the horror movies when they take and kill anybody, it's mainly tourists.

· Don't drink and dance

· Be safe and keep up with your great attitude

· Don't drink the water

· Stay away from the male nude beaches

· Be careful with lizards, they are ugly and have long tongues

Tenth graders:

· Have fun, go to the beach, teach in a school, and have kids

· Tape yourself right now, and then again when you've been there a couple months, and so on to see how much you've changed (gotten their accent)

· Always be happy with what you have

· Don't wear that headband that cuts off your circulation to your head

· If the ocean starts to recede, RUN!!!

· After you get off the plane, take off your shoes and walk around on the carpet

· Avoid hurricanes as best you can and enjoy the sweet life on the beach!

· Don't party too much

· Don't say anything like, "You're going to hell," though. You might scare them.

· It's kinda pointless for a teen giving advice to a grown woman

· Don't get lost

· Don't drink and swim - I don't want anything dangerous to be around you 'cause you're too innocent.

· Follow your heart

· Take a boat with you because of the floodings over there

· Take something for the mosquitoes

· Don't step on spiders

· Don't get eaten by any sharks

· Have lots and lots of fun

· Shorts, sandals, short sleeves

· Wear sunscreen

· Don't join any gangs, it will not be good for you

· Don't get locked up abroad

· Show your wild side and stop playing so shy. Heh. If they only knew.

· Don't ever forget that you were a real inspiration to the future greatest drummer there will ever be - ME! Sigh. And yet I couldn't inspire him to pass.

Another delight was reading students' commentary on the most important thing they learned in class. At first I was very excited about how many of them said it was Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet, but then I had to step back and realize that it was simply the last big thing we learned and probably all they could think of. Sigh. Here are some of the highlights, aside from Shakespeare.

· Don't use your bathroom passes right away. Or listen to your teacher when she warns you about that.

· Most Freshmen are still sixth graders. My thoughts exactly.

· I had more creativity than I thought I did. I love hearing things like that.

· Not to get too many detentions. Alas, he did.

· Never act like Salvador in class. Always solid advice.

· Be nice to your teachers. Ah, someone was listening.

· Keep my nose forward. The best way to pay attention, really.

· English can be fun. Wait, what? I'm not sure I read that right. Fun? I obviously didn't do my job.

· Intriguing facts about life and love. Deep.

· What you told us about love. Alright, I confess. I did give a mini-lecture on how love is defined. Sixteen-year-olds want to know. And since I know everything, I got to tell them.

- How to have fun. Again, in English? Weird.

· You have teached me how to write a research paper and many other things. Sigh. Well, I'm glad I teached him something.

Nine Days Later

Well, it's official. School's been out for just over a week and I already miss it. The first few days were of course a glorious period filled with much joyful bounding about. Then I took out the letters I had my kids write to me on the last day of school. Reading them made me feel all sad and not a little bit weepy. (Speaking of being weepy, I was surprised at how teary I felt when it came time to leave. I had only been there for one semester, had only made a couple friends that I would consider close, and had spent the first half of the semester wondering why I had ever thought it would be a good idea to take over someone else's class mid-semester. Still, I nearly cried multiple times, which is saying a lot for me since I basically never cry [sorry Mom]. Anyway, the letter reading made me weepy. Here are a few choice excerpts (any mention of names has been changed, to protect my sweet innocent students from any creepers that might get personal information from their letters to me. Ok, I know it's paranoid, but that's what I've learned from Wonderman - paranoia):

"You have a very . . . what's the word . . . um . . . straightforward personality. That's what makes you a good teacher." - K. H. - This is from one of the sweetest students ever. At the beginning of the semester, I thought she was afraid of me, but I think we worked things out.

"One of the things I liked about your class was that you always explained what we were supposed to do in a funny way (just that you laughed a lot). What I didn't like was that you always made me put my makeup away." - G. H. - poor kid, that I always made her put her makeup away.

This one is a sweet rhyme from one of my more vocal (and, of course favorite) tenth graders: Dear Mrs. Bindell, you served us well. While you're living in paradise, we'll still be in hell. I know you'll miss this class, especially me. I'll never forget your sarcastic comedy. In Arizona we'll be catching rain; in Dominica you'll be catching hurricanes. Even though you're moving southeast, I'll still be Steven Stone, the Crumb-bucket BEAST!!!"

And, of course, the necessary philosophical ponderings of a sixteen-year-old: "Without any rain, there wouldn't be any rainbows." - A. C.