Ramble On

I just had to pick up a bat with my bare hands and help him out of my room through an open window. I discovered him hanging from my mosquito net when I looked up from reading and then he decided he needed to crawl all over my room. There is also one who is flying against my door and thudding against it repeatedly as I write this. Not okay.

This week was my first real week of being in the classroom and lesson planning. I got my schedule from LP Bateliere and it’s not ideal. But I suppose I can’t really complain. I wanted to have all my hours on Friday so I could have Wednesday and Monday off, but they’ve instead given me one hour of class on Wednesday and then 5 hours of class on Friday. I’m going to see if that works or not, but I’m thinking I may not really have a choice. I narrowly escaped having Saturday classes, and for that I’m eternally grateful. I have two classes I really like at Bateliere. The students are interested and engaged for the most part and they want to participate. This is very encouraging for a first time teacher. With the boys, I’m not sure how much of it is just being nice so they can ask me for my telephone number at the end of class (one boy has now done this at the end of each class I have had with him). I have a new found respect for every teacher I have ever encountered in my life. ...

Dear friends and family, I have way too much time on my hands and am in desperate need of recycled books and movies for entertainment. I will most likely be unable to bring whatever is sent back, so think of it as a donation to me, and future English language assistants in Martinique who are bored when they don't have a car to get anywhere or are out of gas money. I am about to break into the Margaret Atwood and Janet Evanovich novels left here by those behind me, but I don't think they look very good. Anyway, if you all have any good books you would like to pass on to me, I would love it. Even if you just e-mail me a list of good books you have read, I would love to try some new ones, see what people are reading these days. Address to send them to: Karla Petty Chez Madame Ponremy Petit Berry 97212 St. Joseph Martinique Thanks a bunch!

It has been kind of a tough week. Start with some good: I got into somewhat of a rhythm at LP Dillon. I had my second classes with my Tuesday kids and we got a little further. We talked about clothing and fashion and differences between Martinique and France and America. Plus, the classes I had at Bateliere on Friday were very nice, engaged and non-threatening, i.e. the opposite of the first class I had there. They asked good questions and seemed interested in what I was saying. I will be at Bateliere on Friday mornings. Possibly all day on Friday if the other section of teachers ever gets their act together and tells me when they need me. I might end up with a three-day weekend. I guess the hardest things have been getting around, and getting my head around the job I’m doing here. This week I started having to come up with my first lesson plans, my first ideas for creating conversation and keeping the attention of students and imposing my first classroom rules both for myself a...

So on Friday, Sarah Caitlin and I went to Sainte-Anne. It’s referred to as t he most beautiful beach in Martinique. It’s on the very southern tip of the island and true to it’s description in the guide books, has soft, powdery white sand and turquoise waters with calm waves lapping at the shore. We left early in the morning and got there in about an hour. I hadn’t gone running tha t morning because I thought I might be able to go at the beach. Boy, was that a good decision. Before we got to the beach I had seen that there was a good system o f foot trails all around the southern tip connecting several beaches over about 20 miles. It wasn’t all continuous but the beach where we were going, there was a good 5k trail from our beach to the next one up that went across what is known in Martinique as “Les Sables de Petrification” or the petrified sand. It was described to me as a lunar landscape. I was kind of excited to see it and even if I couldn’t run it, I decided I would at leas...

So on Monday the lady who is my supervisor at one of my schools and who has taken me under her wing, Marie-Claude Grangenois, offered to take me around and help me run errands and get stuff I needed. It was when she picked me up in the morning that I really felt like I was 12 again, and I was waiting for my mom to drive me somewhere so I could do something. I’ve gotten so used to being out on my own and doing things on my schedule, not being able to do that here because I don’t have transportation is quite enervating. She was very sweet. She took me to a bank so I could open an account. We went and bought some things I needed for the house, and I got some clothes for teaching because the straps on my tanks tops were apparently not thick enough sometimes. She invited me over to her house for lunch and she had prepared Fricassee de Lambi, which is conch fricassee, and white yams which are like potatoes, and fresh avocados. All of it was delicious. Monday afternoon she brought me...

Saturday afternoon we all got back to the place where we had been staying, packed up our things and were all picked up and taken to our lodgings. I am glad to be back in the apartment. We went on our first grocery story trip and had a good time trying to pick out things we love to eat in France and find some American favorites. We found a good balance between pain au chocolat and breakfast cereal, passion fruit juice and fresh avocados. The fruit here is amazing and the choice of juices at the store is almost overwhelming. It’s fantastic though. So is the fruit. Sunday was a very relaxed day. I went on my first run in St. Joseph which was sunny and quiet at the beginning and halfway through turned into torrential downpour. The rain here is unpredictable and at times, very heavy. It’s refreshing though. I didn’t mind running in it except my shoes were very heavy at the end. The rest of the day we spent organizing and chatting with Marie-Ange and the lady who’s staying with he...

So I’ve finally arrived on the Island of Martinique. It’s beautiful. Made even more so by the fact that when I arrived, after slight confusion and delays, I was informed that I already had a place to stay. I was taken there directly from the airport and shown a lovely room with lots of windows that overlook St. Joseph, which is a small town in the center of the island. It is very hot and there is no air conditioning, but that is highly acceptable. It took me a long time to get here, literally and figuratively. I started off from Fairfax at 6am. After I said goodbye to my mom, my dad and I drove to Dulles, where I was dropped off and started the long process to get through security and to my gate. The flight from Dulles to San Juan was uneventful and felt very long. I was hungry and very tired. When I got to San Juan, I went to Subway and had lunch, checked in for my flight to Dominica, and then sat around reading my guide book. I flew Caribbean Sun airlines from San Juan an...