Tag Archives: FLO

Looking for CELTA or TOEFL trained volunteers for FLO

Future Light Orphanage

Hi Everyone,

Friday, September 16th will be my last day volunteer teaching at FLO (Future Light Orphanage). It would be so great if there was someone lined up to step into my shoes on the following Monday.

Do you know of anyone qualified and interested? In my dream scenario, the person would arrive sometime during my last week, so that I could show him/her the ropes.

How does it work when you volunteer here? You pay for your lodging and meals; currently, that rate is *$38 per day. They were willing to give me a 10% discount because of my qualification and length of stay (2-months). Rob Hail has told me that they can make further cuts if you’re willing to stay at least several months and sleep in a room with a fan and shared bath (rather than the a/c and private bath I have).

Why would it be nice to have a volunteer continue what I’ve started? Because the students are responding! They want to learn!

So, if you would spread this email around with friends who you think might be interested, I and all the people who love the children at FLO would be deeply appreciative. Visit: http://flo-cambodia.blogspot.com/ and  http://emailfosterparents.org/FLO.htm to learn more about FLO.

Mahalo,

-sj

*Perhaps $38 per day seems like a lot to you, but they have a great number of expenses. Inflation is increasing in Cambodia everyday. The orphanage is located about 45-minutes outside the downtown Phnom Penh area, which adds to their cost in terms of transportation, fuel, supplies, etc.

Maybe you can find a sponsor who wants to contribute to a most valuable cause? I’ve been getting to know these students, and believe me, they are v e r y valuable human beings.

Monday at the Water Park!

Classes were cancelled for the day. Over 100-students joined in the fun.

That’s Andrew with EGBOK playing with the kids.
It was a fun free for all!
She looks like she’s having a blast, doesn’t she?
So many different places to play in the water!
 May you too have some fun in the water, wherever you are, and whenever it may be.
Aloha,
-sj

Talent Show Night at FLO !

The woman in pink works at FLO; she made some yummy curry which was the impetus for this “party” night.
Three of my students having fun while waiting in line for chow time to begin.
Yum! They all got apples for dessert.
Each child rinses off their breakfast, lunch, or dinner plate.
It was a phenomenal sunset. The barbed wire? It’s on top of the fence which surrounds FLO.
The water is on FLO’s property.
The colors just kept getting more and more vibrant!
Hmm, which prize do I want? Rob’s (eGlobal founder) daughter is on left; she did an excellent job organizing the evening’s activities.
One of my students. He won a prize for his fabulous drawing, and then he gave it to me! What a wonderful gift. : )
Sean and I also loved this drawing; the artist gave her creation to Sean. Nice!
Chancy cooking up some delicious popcorn, complete with melted butter.
And then the dancing really got going!

Fun was most certainly had by all !!!

With warm aloha,

-sj

Week 4 teaching shots at FLO shots . . .

At full attention!
One of the two classes of younger Ss learning from “Gogo Loves English 1”
Wednesday the lesson plan focus was speaking : ) The Ss really got into being someone else and meeting “new” people. The young lady taking a photo was participating in a photography class that day. A former videographer/editor/photographer is traveling the globe with a NGO (non-government organization) teaching photography classes to children like those at FLO.
An eGlobal volunteer’s wife bought 3 puppets for FLO. They came in handy during this particular lesson with the younger Ss. And, the kids l o v e d them! Please tell her thanks, George!
Watching Sesame Street’s “Elmo’s World.”

More pix to follow . . .

Friday’s “Game” day at FLO, Future Light Orphanage

Hi Everyone!
Greetings from the Future Light Orphanage, FLO. We had a rocking party last night! The kids competed in several fun events: singing, drawing, dancing, and “individual” talents (such as doing a backbend so that the kid’s mouth landed perfectly next to a dragon fruit; he proceeded to take bite after bite until all the fruit was gone; then he bit it and stood up with the peel in his mouth. Yep, it was awesome! And my friend from the beach won a prize for dancing in the style of a Korean pop star; he nailed it! Boy, can that kid move.).
After the competition there was popcorn for every one and lots and lots of dancing. And oh, I got to be a judge in the contest. So much fun! When they introduced Sean, he started dancing. Then when my name was announced, I jumped up and started shaking to the music with Sean. The kids went wild! “There’s teacher rocking her socks off!” they said (or something like that in Khmer).
Today 100+ kids and some adults are heading to the water park. I’ve been told that it’s an injury attorney’s dream, as in lots of accidents could happen and they could make lots of dough. But since this is Cambodia, I expect the kids will be a little more in the “take care of yourself” mode. They also watch out for and help each other; it’s lovely to watch.
But last night and today’s activities are not the main points of today’s post (hmm, but they do have a play theme also . . . :~). I wanted to write about last Friday’s lessons.
Before I came to FLO, I had ideas about how I’d plan each week’s lessons. The first day of the week I would introduce the topic and grammar points. Perhaps one day would be a “story” day. One day a “game” day.
Friday could be a review day (a tip from Gerald, a teacher in Bangkok).
I also initially thought that I was going to sketch out my curriculum for the 8-weeks I’d be at FLO, as in what I wanted to cover. But as I thought about it more, I realized that the students had probably been taught “colors” a zillion times, “How are you?” a ka-gillion times, etc. (Last night at the party which Boo Rob–Rob Hail, founder of eGlobal—dreamed up for the FLO kids, I met an American man who’s been volunteering for the past 4-years at another orphanage in Cambodia. He says the kids are good at “volunteer-speak,” i.e. “How are you”,? “How many sisters and brothers do you have?”, etc. But not things like, “What did you do last Saturday?” So my gut feeling was on track. ; ~).
For these different reasons, I decided to wait and design my classes based on the Ss’ needs and weaknesses (keeping in mind the director’s request that I focus on speaking and writing). What I learned is that the Ss can write pretty well, but they almost never have an opportunity to speak (they’re not encouraged to speak in their state school). Bearing that in mind, my weekly outline for the older kids is as follows:
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays lessons are speaking focused. (after introducing a grammar point, or new vocabulary, etc.) Tuesdays and Thursday are writing focused.
It also became apparent that in the FLO culture, Fridays’ lessons were more game-based. Or, in one class they simply watch movies (whether they really are appropriate for kids or not). I decided to incorporate that philosophy into my weekly plan. Hence, Friday became “game” day.
This past Friday, I decided to show a Sesame Street DVD (Elmo’s World: jackets, hats, and shoes : ) in the two classes with younger children; they loved it! I wrote on the board the key words and also drew pictures of these items. Some of the more motivated students wrote all this down as they watched. I didn’t instruct them in any way really. I wanted to watch and see how they reacted. (Remember, I’m learning too.)
But for the older Ss, I wanted to do some activities that involved speaking more specifically focused on the past week’s theme (goals and dreams). “How to do that?” I thought. So I dreamed up a “game” for them, and it worked great!!!! I was so jazzed when they got into it and actually used the target language for specific points.
So . . . what follows is my lesson plan outline. I realize that my last entry might have made it seem like I haven’t been making lesson plans; I have been. I’m just not typing them into the CELTA-approved-form®; it’s just too time consuming for the moment. I’m using Word and organizing them by folders, i.e. week 1, week 2, etc.
And with that, SJ’s lesson plan for the two classes with older Ss this past Friday, August 19, 2011:
“Game” day
Focus: Speaking
Aim: to review the marker sentences: I’d like to (work with computers). I want to (be a pilot). I don’t want to . . . I hope to . . . I’ll . . ., and the new vocabular from Thursday’s lesson.
Materials: marker pens, list of words to listen for, red card, flash cards of people (a simpler batch for Elem. level Ss)
Intermediate:
I’d like to . . .
I want to . . .
I don’t want to . . .
I hope to . . .
I’ll learn . . .
In fact,
There were/there are . . . ,
often (is this once? no),
sometimes (every day? no),
practically disappear (almost and mimed hiding)
view
one day
traveling salesman,
wagon,
each month
when no one was looking
blanket
When she (awoke)
Elementary:
one day, lives on the mountatin top still,
I’d like to . . .
I’ll . . .
for now
every day
save money
guide (tour guide)
relax
I hope to . . .
My dream is to . . .
someday
Game One: 3 Ss sit in the front of the class. They are given one of the *flashcards from Wednesday’s speaking lesson. There is a moderator (teacher for this lesson until they were familiar with the game) who asks them questions about themselves (based on the flashcard they received). They get a point for each time they use one of the phrases or word chunks used this week in a lesson. There will be two students assigned to “judge” the participants; their job is to listen for the phrase/word chunks. Each judge will have a list of the words to listen for. The score keepers will have a red card to hold up each time the student uses one of the phrases/word chunks. Note: I made to myself right after class. This game went really well! Especially with the Int. level Ss. At the end they loved asking me questions. But the Elem. level took a little longer to get it; it was good practice and all got a chance to speak. Rob stopped by during the second class and gave me two hats to give as prizes; they went to the boy and girl who really outshone the rest. It was cool that it naturally happened that the “judges” selected them.
Played this one game the entire time; it was a really good way to review “I’d like to, I hope to,” etc.
Game Two: Do what I say, not what I do.  
Game Three: Knot Game
(These were back up games which we didn’t play. The previous weeks the Ss really loved game #2; it’s a variation of Simon Says and works well with older and more advanced Ss.)
And with that, I’ll sign off. Hope you’re all well and enjoying the end of August. Happy early Birthday to my friend, Deb.
Aloha,
-sj
p.s. lots of new photos to follow . . .
*Flash cards. One set came for a Pre-Intermediate Review book I have; the second set I created. They had a drawing of a male or female and gave basic information such as: occupation, whery they came from, where they lived, how many brothers and sisters (ut oh, that ubiquitous theme!). I went further and asked them to tell me what they liked to do. Some of my friends were in class this past week (in the second set of card I made). Who? Katie Beer, Bobby Downs (sorry for the misspelling Bobbee, but I didn’t want to confuse matters more than necessary : ), Jocelyne Champagne. : ) It was kind of fun to hear them say, “I’m so and so . . .”

Gogo Loves English 1 is about to begin . . .

Koko, the dog. This entry is dedicated to Rudy Williams, who left this earthly plane earlier this week. May Rudy and Fido have fun playing together again!
Note from my 8 a.m. class:
(the class for “slower” learners—FLO’s description, I don’t know what the “correct” word is. Enlighten me please. Thank you.)
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Today was our first “class,” though it “officially” begins on Monday the 22nd when the Ss will receive their books.
The Ss who will be starting Gogo Loves English 2 at some point (no one seems to know when) also came to class this morning. ST1 told me that they’d rather be in my class than just go play. So I simply asked them to sit in the back.
“Why?”
So that I could clearly see who the Ss in this class (officially) are. (I offset “officially” because I’m learning that things are very fluid in Cambodia; something will be planned, but that’s not necessarily what will be done. It may be done, or it may be done slightly differently, etc.) Of course the Ss from the other level were welcome, but I didn’t want them to call out the answers to something that was new for the Gogo Loves English 1 Ss. It worked out fine with them sitting in the back; they watched the class and mostly restrained themselves from calling out the pronunciation of words.
First, I made sure that all Ss in GLE 1 had made their name cards; there were 5 who hadn’t. Then I called all the GLE1 Ss to come up front. I shifted the desks some so that they could gather around my computer. I’d wondered if it would work with 17 Ss; it did. The audio level was high enough and they could see the screen. I played the Silent E song from the Let’s Start Smart Long Vowel Word Families DVD (which I played for the more advance Ss earlier in the week).
Whereas I was able to include a fairly long list of words (mentioned in my post on Tuesday, August 16th) with the other class, I only included 4-sets (8-words) with this class: tot/tote, kit/kite, rip/ripe, pet/Pete. I also only played the song once. I had my flashcards on-hand and went through these 8-words. To elicit the meaning, I drew on the board and mimed different actions representing the words. To confirm their understanding, I asked simple CCQs, such as, “I fly a  . . .” “Kite!” they called out. The most difficult words for them in terms of pronunciation were: rip/rip and pet/Pete.
To mix it up a little and add variety to the lesson, I then called them up to stand up and form a line (this introduced nicely the phrases/words, “Stand up.” “Sit down.” “A line.”) One by one they pronounced a word, some correctly, some incorrectly. Regardless of their performance, I asked them to go to the back of the line. This continued for several passes for each student.
From this exercise, I could see that some still had problems with the words. (Duh! They’d just been introduced this. : ) So after these initial rounds, I asked them to sit again, and I reviewed the 8-words with the Ss. Holding up a card, putting my hand on my ear, “rip,” “Ripe!” some would call out. But sure enough, there was always at least one, if not two or more, who knew the correct pronunciation. After going through the words in this manner, I then called on specific Ss. Repeating, repeating these same 8-words.
When it looked like most were “getting” them, I asked them once again to form a line. This time when they answered correctly, I said, “Awesome!” raised my arm for a high-five, and asked them to sit down. It came down to about 3-Ss who still had problems. I noticed before when I was “assisting” in the review lessons with STs 1 and 2 that these same couple of Ss had more difficulties learning. Just after class I spoke with the director about some things on my bullet list (I need to renew my visa next Monday, I’d like to get a lot of copies of the alphabet work sheet, I’d like to get a lot of copies of lesson plan templates*, etc.), I also mentioned that a few Ss need extra help. He suggested that some of the visiting volunteers . . .
(It’s interesting how I’m not really in that group any more when speaking with the director . . . yesterday Rob went so far as to say that I’m the “best” volunteer they’ve ever had . . . hmm . . . that’s cool . . . but does that mean I feel pressure to keep it up? Nah, my goal is to continue to have fun learning, teaching, and simply being here at FLO. : )
. . . could work individually with these Ss. Hmm, now I need to look through my photos and find their names. The list of student names I want to learn has jumped from the initial 64 to 111 (32 + 32, 64 + 9; 73 + 17; 90 + 21!) !!! Wow, that’s a LOT of names!
Okay, back to today’s first meeting with the first of two Gogo Loves English 1 classes per day (with younger Ss, How young? About 7 to 13-years old.)
What did I learn?
I learned that it takes a long time to really go over new words/ideas/pronunciations/etc. I learned (confirmed) that I do need to break it down into bite-sized chunks for them (like I did today). I learned that they love it when the “get” it and receive a high-five from the teacher. I learned that some really do learn more quickly than others. I learn that some who learn more slowly CAN learn; they just need a little extra attention. I learned that I do like working with the younger Ss; they’re just so excited to learn!
Now, what else is on my agenda for the day?
-Finish the next “chapter” of my “Patty, the Pig” story for the two different level of classes this afternoon (with the older Ss). I’m including “I’d like to,” “I hope to,” and “I want to” from this week’s lessons (in the story). I prepared the lesson plan last night except for this part.
-Teach the 1 p.m. class with the 21-younger Ss who are also going to “officially” start Gogo Loves English 1 on Monday. This class is with student teacher number 2 (ST2).
-Prepare my list of what I was a lot of copies of. Organize the names cards into the appropriate group. Organize the photos for copying into a word doc and printing. (Okay, this last item will most probably be pushed back to later in the day or for this evening.)
-Teach my 3 and 5:45 p.m. classes.
-Mark their stories which they’ll be writing in today’s lesson.
Yesterday after my 3 p.m. class, I met with the two student teachers. We discussed (okay, I talked mostly) what we plan to do over the course of the next 4-weeks (while I’m still here at FLO). Essentially, I told them that I want to think about it first, write the initial lesson plans, and then add more for them to do in regard to the planning, etc. I’d like to think it through first and give them a model (okay, several models).
Later last night as I thought about it, I realized that I really should prepare the very formal CELTA-style lesson plans for these Gogo Loves English 1 classes.**
“What? You haven’t been doing that?” you ask.
“Well, not exactly,” I reply.
Part of what I didn’t particularly enjoy while studying in Bangkok this past June were the many, many hours I spent typing into my word doc template my lesson plans. I really didn’t mind writing them (I enjoyed this, in fact.), but I found it to be annoying to type them in that awkward word doc. (I still think an Excel file would be better, or maybe the combination of the two, but I never had the time to design a template.) I think I’ve come up with the perfect solution (read below).
So, it’s 10:37 a.m. and I have my next class at 1 p.m.; lunch is at noon. Time to get to work!
Aloha everyone. I hope you’re well, happy, and enjoying your summer (wherever you may be : ).
In the Divine Light which encompasses us all,
-sj
*lesson plans. Bright idea from last night. Delegate the typing of the lesson plans into the computer to the student teachers! They will (hopefully) learn while doing so, they’ll see an example, and I won’t have to do it! Yahoo! Sounds good to me. As a self-employed person for the past 25-years, the idea of delegating is new to me. I like the thought of it!
**A lot of copies of the lesson plan templates? Why?
FLO is essentially asking me to train these two young student teachers (ST1 is 17-years old; ST2 is 20) how to teach. The director gave me a sheet yesterday that I surmise is the current teacher’s lesson plan. It’s an outline of the subject matter with a note that it will take 2 to 3 lessons or 2 to 3 weeks for any given item. There’s no more detail noted than that basic information. So when I prepare the lesson plans, I expect that they will continue to use them as a guide. Also, I plan to assist the student teachers as they look ahead for the lessons, which will follow my departure.
Ah, this leads me to a very important side note. Rob Hail, founder of eGlobal and major supporter of FLO, would really like to see a more developed volunteer program evolve where trained and/or experienced ESL teachers sign-up for specific time period. For example, I depart on September 17th. Who wants to sign-up to start teaching on the following Monday the 19th? And ideally arrive my final week, so that I can show you the ropes????? Enquiring minds want to know! : )

Silent E Words Lesson

Puthy

Puthy

Notes from my class that just finished . . .

I just had a very good class with the 9-younger kids. Yesterday I’d played the Silent E song from the Long Vowel Word Families DVD. I decided to make flash cards with these words and review/continue with them.
The words are:
rob/robe
cub/cube
fin/fine
cap/cape
pet/Pete
cut/cute
tot/tote
man/mane
not/note
rip/ripe
kit/kite
dim/dime
her/here
man/mane
First, I held up each one one-at-a-time to see which ones they knew/remembered. I then modeled and drilled the ones they didn’t know. When it was a new word for them, I elicited the meaning either by miming, drawing on the WB, or using the surrounding posters (such as the giraffe and horse for mane). Also, I happened to have an art kit, which was a perfect example for the word “kit.”
I then went around the room holding the flashcards face down (spread out like a deck of cards). Each student chose one and then said the word. Several of the Ss were able to correct the others, and when no one remembered it, I modeled and drilled it.
Then I played a “game” with them. I arranged them in a line. “Form a line.” I figured it’s time they learn that expression/sentence. “Form a line.” With 9-students it’s so much easier (than with 32)! I then turned over all the flashcards. Each student selected a card. If they said the word correctly, they were able to pass through to the other side. If not, they sat down. Each student tried again until they got one right. Then we all cheered that everyone had gotten “passed through to the other side.”
I then did a quick review of all the words, holding the cards up and not saying anything (unless they couldn’t remember the correct pronunciation). I then divided the cards into 3 and had 3 groups of 3 Ss. They then said the words on their own and corrected each other (or asked for the pronunciation of a couple of the words when they weren’t sure). There was enough time to make one change of the cards between the different groups.
I then did one final review of all the words, holding one card up at a time.
Lastly, I had written on the board a few of the words written using the phonemic symbols. I simply pointed them out to the Ss at the end. Perhaps that was a silly thing to do since I hadn’t built up to it. But it felt like a simple way to introduce them to a few phonemic symbols using words that they’d just been pronouncing. I wrote them for Pete, pet and cut, cute.
At the beginning of the class, I gave them each a half sheet of paper for making their own name cards. At the very end of class, I took their pictures with their name cards (on the back of which I wrote the phonetic spelling of their names). Then ST1 showed me the list of the other Ss and that she and ST2 have divided them into two groups. Both groups will learn Gogo Loves English 1, but one group is comprised of the slower learners (17), and the other group is comprised of faster learners (22, I think).
“Are the Ss I’ve just been working with in this group?”
“No,” she replied. “They go to Gogo Loves English 2.”
Well, I took their pictures just in time. I do want to learn their names; I see many of these Ss around the school at various times. Several are in the dance troupe (which I watched rehearse last night).
It hasn’t been decided yet whether ST1 or ST2 will be paired with the faster or slower learners. Either way, I think it’ll be a fascinating challenge to be their teacher for a specific book. They’re not the only ones who will be learning!
And when will these new classes begin? Either tomorrow (Wednesday) or the next day. It depends on when the director gets a chance to type up and then post the list. (I noticed that my other class lists are posted by the Ss dining area.)
And now it’s time to get ready for my next class . . .
aloha,
sj
p.s. I was just told that the classes can meet starting tomorrow, but I won’t get the “official” teaching materials until Monday (or maybe sooner). It’s up to me to decide which student teacher is paired with each class . . . giving this some thought . . . :~)

p.s.s. I was just about to post this when the power went out; this often happens as the surrounding factories in the area draw more and more electricity from the main power grid. “Start the generator,” called out Rob from another desk in the office. “Yes, it’s happening,” the director replied. A little while later I learned that a rat was fried in the process. Yes, one’s timing and location are everything—even for a rat!

Some Shots of Week 3 at FLO, teaching shots . . .

Jan (left) is a singer from Honolulu (among many, many other things!) She was leading the song about the old woman who ate a spider . . . why? I don’t know why? : )
Showing shots from the beach trip.

Susan Jane teaching at FLO, Cambodia

Susan Jane teaching at FLO, Cambodia

They l o v e seeing shots of themselves.
This was also my “lead-in” for the lesson.
They wrote letters that day to their eFoster parents about . . . drum roll, yes, their trip to the beach!
Love this shot Rick! All the ones of me and my class were taken by Rick the Aussie cameraman. Thanks mate!
Looks like I’m smiling : )
Sharing the beach trip pixs with the younger kids one morning in the library.
They love to hang out in the library and read, draw, listen to stories, etc.
Koko met me one day when I came early to my 5:45 p.m. class.
He’s a sweet little guy.
“Now that feels good!” says Koko.
“Where are they?”
“I think I hear someone coming.”
The Knot Game. Fun to play and also a cool new word. What’s that “k” doing there?
Dani’s here teaching environmental themed classes with Kai and Sean. She’s great at games and helped me out coming up with ideas. Also, their little WB’s were super handy.
Hmm . . . I spy a misspelling . . . Can you spot it?
The little kids really, really l o v e to play hangman.

That’s all for now . . .

Working with Student Teachers at FLO

Friday’s “game” day ! They l o v e Hangman. Yep, Hangman is still around.
This is a very, very long entry about working with student teachers at FLO. I realize that it’s very, very long (even that’s long : ), but there are some of you who I know are really interested in the teaching aspect of this journey. This is for you . . .

And for everyone else, the next posting will simply be shots taken this past week while teaching (Thanks Rick for taking them!) or hanging-out in the library.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Working with the two FLO students who are teaching classes has been a challenging proposition. Why? Well, first of all, it was unclear to me what they were doing, what their objectives were. Communication at FLO is often a muddled affair.
The first day (of my first week) I went to class at 8 a.m., and  ST1 (student teacher number 1) was simply writing words in Khmer and English on the board. The Ss were copying these words in both languages in their books. What I was able to gather from her was that they were reviewing these words (sports and foods) for a test that she was going to give the Ss on that Saturday. I then gathered that I was to write a test that she was going to administer. We met one morning after class in the library and came up with test for the Ss that was mostly oral. “How many Ss are there ST1?” 20 “How many minutes do we have to give the test?” 60 “So how much time can we take with each student?” Three minutes per student was the agreed upon response. I anticipated that we needed to keep the other Ss occupied while we gave the test. Fortunately, I had a few games, which did the job partially; I really could have used more and better games for their skill level. It ended up taking longer than 3-minutes per student, so I became more efficient. “Call up the next student please,” I asked when the previous student was at the board writing his or her answer to the few written questions. I would go ahead and start asking the next student the list of questions we had prepared, “How are you?” “I’m fine and you.” etc. ST1 and I then had a nice rhythm working together and were able to test all the Ss in our allotted time.
Working with ST1 was more pleasant initially than working with ST2. Why? Well, ST1was more open to me conducting the class differently. She seemed genuinely curious to see how I could review words without simply writing them on the board. I would draw the mango to elicit the word after asking “*What is this?”
What I found, however, was that the Ss were simply memorizing the words or few word chunks without really understanding the meaning. For example, in the oral test I asked the Ss one-by-one, “What is this?” while holding up my pencil. “That is my pencil” was a frequent reply. “Your pencil?” I asked. They had no idea what I meant. A few of the Ss did respond, however, with “That is a pencil” or simply “pencil.”
In ST2’s class, it was clear that he was in charge. He was not curious as to how I could conduct a review. Since I was stepping into an existing class, I didn’t feel comfortable taking over. However, I did ask him if I could conduct the review differently. “Okay,” he replied in the manner of a polite 20-year old boy, shrugging and generally looking disinterested. I then proceeded to draw the different activities or foods on the board to elicit the meaning. I also put the Ss in pairs and/or in the chain-line to ask the basic questions, “What do you like to play?” “I like to play football/volleyball/baseball.” None of them seemed to really ever get “baseball.” I’m not sure why it was included in their list because it is not (as far as I know) in their world.
From what I could gather by asking these two student teachers and the director, the test we administered on the Thursday of my first week was to determine if the Ss were able to move up in to Gogo Loves 2 or the first Gogo Loves Basic.
When my third week began (August 8, 2011), I was not sure if there were going to be classes or not. When I asked the director about them, he said that he wasn’t sure yet because he hadn’t been able to discuss it with the student teachers. From my conversations with him, it appeared as if I was to simply assist them. As things have developed, I am actually to teach the classes and help teach the student teachers how to teach.
Monday morning on the 8th, I went to ST1’s 8 a.m. class to see if it was going to take place. No one was there. Okay, I guess it’s not meeting.
At 1 p.m. I went to the room to confirm that ST2 was not teaching only to find that he was there with the Ss. Okay, it looks like there is going to be class, I thought to myself. I had brought along a DVD of songs that the director had given to me previously (to have on hand so that I could do something interesting with the Ss if they were there). I showed it to ST2; he looked at me with confusion. “Do you have a plan for the day” I asked. “Review the words from last week,” he replied. Okay, I said and sat down and waited for him to begin. For the next 10 minutes he simply spoke randomly in Khmer and the Ss were just at their desks talking amongst themselves.
ST2’s mannerisms and demeanor in all the classes made it clear that I was the guest, and he was the teacher. He really wasn’t open to conducting the class differently than what he was used to. So on this particular day, I decided to get up and leave since there was nothing for me to do. I felt incredibly frustrated that these Ss’ time was being wasted. I had a fun DVD in my backpack that would at least have given them something engaging to listen to and something for me to work with in terms of teaching new vocabulary, reviewing vocabulary, etc. I got up to leave and then I saw Rob Hail in the adjacent computer room. I expressed my frustration with him and he approached ST2 and asked what he was doing. ST2 really didn’t have an answer, but Rob kept pressing. Eventually the student teacher pulled out of his bag the test that ST1 and I had designed to give the Ss during my first week at FLO (ST2 and I also gave this same test to his Ss).
“Is this what you’re working on?” Rob asked. “Yes,” ST2 replied.
Rob left and I decided to stay and try again. “Okay, you want to review these words?”
“Yes,” he replied. I went to the whiteboard to draw these words and elicit them like I did the first week, but then I stopped myself. It just felt too boring to do exactly the same thing. I wanted to engage the Ss more, to come up with something where they would be involved.
“Everyone stand up. Let’s make a circle.” I said. It took a bit of miming, gesturing, etc. to get them to understand that we were going to do something different. Eventually we (ST2 assisted) manage to get them in a circle. I then began to ask the Ss some of the different questions, which had been on the test. But rather than simply ask the question, I adapted it so that they they asked another student the same question. I kept the pace up so that more and more Ss had the chance to participate. I did this with the questions: “What do you like to eat?” and “What do you like to play?” I then took it a step further and wrote on the board: 1. “What do you like to play?”, 2. “I like to play . . .”, 3. “She/he likes to play.” I wanted them to respond to how the other students answered. It took several tries, but they did begin to understand. Some of the Ss knew the difference between he and she; some did not. But most of them were able to answer in that way.
After the class ST2 said, “They do not know . .” He meant that they did not know the words “he” and “she.” “But they were learning them,” I replied, “This is how they learn them, by using them.” I had pointed to a boy for “he” and a girl for “she.”
Leaving my Elementary level class (different from these classes, these are the classes that I’m completely responsible for) Monday evening, I noticed ST1 in the computer room. I went and spoke with her to find out when she was going to start the class again. “Tomorrow,” she replied. “Do you have a plan?” I asked. She looked at me fairly blankly. “What do you plan to do?” I asked again. “Review.” “Review the words from the week before?” “Yes,” she replied. “I have DVDs of music and songs that we can use for reviewing. Would you like to do that?” “Yes,” she eagerly replied. Ah, I thought to myself, she’s open to doing things differently. Good.
So today I showed up at the 8 a.m. class with the DVD Kidsongs: A Day with the Animals. The class is small (4 boys and 4 girls), so it was easy for them to gather around my computer. I started at the beginning and went through about four songs stopping periodically. For example, the first song was BINGO (as in BINGO was his name o). “Is this about a cat?” I asked. “No!” they replied. “Is this about an elephant?” “No!!! A dog” one student replied.
And I continued, stopping the DVD periodically to ask, “What’s this?” while touching my ear, leg, etc. I wrote the word on the board as feedback. I also used the poster on the wall of animals to ask, “Does its ears hang low?” etc.
One of the songs was “Little Bo-Peep.” I drew a girl on the WB with sheep all around her. I then mimed how she went to sleep and then lost her sheep. Then when the Ss watched this particular music video again, I stopped it to elicit their response and see if they understood. The overall vocabulary was beyond their skill level, but I focused on just a few elements. I think they were able to understand some, and mostly, I think it was a start in terms of introducing them to new concepts and not just the standard practice of listing words on the WB and writing them in their book.
To wrap up the class, I went to the WB (whiteboard) and went through all the different words we had encountered asking, miming, drawing, etc. in order to see if they remembered the words. All in all, it felt like an effective class for the Ss.
INSERT KNOT GAME SHOT (Looks like I obviously forgot ! L O L )
Later in the day I was in the office and had the opportunity to speak with the director and Rob. They told me that I am in fact “in charge” of these classes and am to teach (or at least provide an example) the student teachers a different way of teaching. I mentioned that ST2 seemed hesitant to hand over the reins, but they assured me that yes, I am to take charge. When I then went to the 1 p.m. class, I went with more clarity about what my role is. I brought the same Kidsongs: A Day with the Animal DVD to use for reviewing the vocabulary of animals, etc.
The classroom, however, was being occupied by Ben and Molly (Ben founded EGBOK Mission, Everything’s Gonna Be Ok—check it out on the web; it’s a very worthwhile mission . . . they assist FLO kids who go to school in Siem Reap to study hotel management and similar things), so we needed to meet somewhere else. I suggested the dancing pavilion. “Yeah!” the kids yelled as they ran across the courtyard.
Under the open-air pavilion, I tried to have the Ss gather around my computer, but it just didn’t work. There were too many of them to be able to see the screen (and the noise from the **funeral was overriding the audio). Okay, I thought to myself, think of something else. I proceeded to start the game “I spy.” (I first made sure they knew what the word “spy” meant using the word to see rather than spy and asking CCQs . . . ). One of the things I learned from CELTA is that the activities need to be changed frequently for very young students (I don’t the ages of these Ss, but they are young, maybe between 5 and 7), so I switched to “Hokey Pokey.” I had played this with them earlier (in my first week), so they were slightly familiar with it. I found that they needed to be really close to me so that I could drill the sentence and confirm that they said it correctly (remember, the funeral was going on : ). This is really a good activity for teaching body parts and the difference between left and right. Though they don’t feel confident enough yet to initiate a verse, they did start staying the “left elbow” etc. and “in” and “out.”
To make it really clear that they got left and right, I lined them up and made sure each student raised their left arm. I formed the letter ***“L” with my left hand. I was able to show them the letter “L” on the wall because of the sign on the wall about the Worldwide Delegation. “How do you spell left?” I asked. Conveniently all the letters were on the wall and I could point them out for feedback. (They knew how to spell left already. This is part of the pattern I’m seeing; they’ve been drilled to learn all this vocabulary; they just don’t know how or when to use it.)
When I could tell they were getting restless I asked them to crawl back up on the platform and to pull out their notebooks and pens (some of the Ss did not have pens so I shared some). Earlier when I had been asking “Where is . . . ?” I had written it on a piece of paper (in lieu of the WB since we were outside).  I had noticed that they didn’t seem to know question words like “Where?” and “What?” So I made it easy and asked, “Where is ST2?” They giggled at my ineptitude as they pointed at him (he was only 2-feet away from me). But I could tell that they didn’t really “get” what the word “where” was all about, so I continued it with “Where do you sleep?” I also drew a bed; they knew the word bed. “Where is your bed?” and they all pointed towards their living quarters. I continued this with “Where are two elephants/a flower,” etc. until I could see that most of them were getting it. One little girl was just bubbling over with her new-found knowledge. She literally wrote a list of about 10 “Where is . . . ?” sentences complete with all the correct words. (She first left out “the” but happily understood that it needed to be included too. : )
I expanded on the “Where is?” to “Where are?” I’ve noticed that when they’re taught phrases, it’s very one-dimensional. I want to do my best to expand it so that they’re actually learning some useful things. Not just “I like to eat mango,” but also “She likes to eat mango” etc.
I then wrapped it up with a “test” of the difference between left and right. And I asked how to spell them. It will be interesting to see if they remember these two words the next time we play “Hokey Pokey.”
A few other observations: 1) They’ve learned “How do you spell?” so when I asked, “How do you write?” they looked at me with blank faces. 2) They’ve learned big and small, but did not know the word little.
There are a few more little tidbits relating to working with the student teachers. On Monday after the 1 p.m. class I was surprised to see Ss entering for a different class. “Don’t you have the 2 p.m. English class also ST2?” It took a while, but eventually I managed to pull out of him that the class he had before is now not taking place. Further inquiries with both student teachers revealed that as of next week, there will be new class arrangements. Some will be studying Gogo Loves English 1 and some will be studying #2. Or, maybe that’s the basic class instead? They don’t know yet, and neither do I. So the rest of the week with the two classes I will continue to use the DVD resources if possible (with the smaller class) and play games that help introduce new word chunks, as well as review what they’ve already studied.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Today with ST1’s class we watched the animal DVD again stopping after the song for an explanation with mime, drawing pictures, etc.
The first song was about birds (Rockin’ Robin).
I asked, “What is this song about?” First, I needed to elicit the meaning of song. Then came “about.” CCQs: Are there elephants? No. Are there dogs? No. What are there? “Birds,” one student replied.
This class had not been introduced to “Where is?” and “Where are?” so this song was a good segue into these questions. I elicited the meaning of those questions, modeled and drilled them and then extended them to other things in the room and at FLO. I also added, “How many?” as in “How many boys are here?” and “How many girls are here?” This brought: “There are 3 boys here.”
By the end of the class, I had this on the board for them to write in their notebooks:

How many?

How many boys?

There are 3 boys. There are 4 girls.

There are 7 students here. (I mimed for them to count, first the number of boys and then the number of girls. Then when I came back to it I extended it to all the students; they counted the 7 students).

Where is?

Where is the chair? (one)

The chair is here.

Where are the fish? (1+)

The fish are in the water. The fish are in the ocean.

To elicit water and ocean I drew on the WB.

There were many more examples than these on the WB that I asked and they replied. This short list was simply a recap for them to put in their notebooks.
Since this week is a technically a week of review for them and their “official” class begins next week (when the director decides what that will be and how it will be grouped according to students, as in how many, who, etc., then I will have a better idea of what their long-term aims are), I am using these few days as an opportunity to experiment with CELTA methodology and principles. While I was attending the CELTA course in Bangkok this past June, our focus was on adult ESL education. It is different with children for so many reasons. Their attention spans are much shorter; the activities need to be switched around frequently, etc. This is a completely new experience for me, and I want to do my best for these Ss. I feel that this is such a wonderful opportunity for all of us. I am learning, and I am also providing them with a different type of learning, a more student-centered learning experience. I’m doing my best to keep my teacher talking time (ttt) to a minimum and their student talking time (stt) to a maximum.

The timing of being here is absolutely perfect. Rob Hail arrived at the end of my first week, and he is focusing on improving FLO’s English and Computer programs. Since he’s been here, I’ve had more clarity on my role due to his vision and connection with the school. As a volunteer and guest, I didn’t feel comfortable “asking” for certain things. Rob is one of the main financial contributors and visionaries of the school and has a completely different role than me. One of his main objectives at this time is to hire a consultant to advise them on how to create an appropriate and rigid curriculum. The Cambodian gentleman who runs the vocational program wanted to add more to his function. “No,” Rob said, “We need to improve the existing English and Computer programs to make them top-notch. If the FLO kids have a really high skill level in English and with Computers, they can do any vocation.” I agree with Rob. From what I’ve seen in my short time in Cambodia, being able to speak English well opens so many doors for Cambodians. I imagine that it’s the same for computer skills in today’s world.
Rob agrees that the timing of my 8-week stay at FLO is absolutely perfect. He says that I’m teaching my classes differently than any other volunteers have (with the one exception of a lady named Donna, she apparently made noticeable contributions as well). For those of you who have been following “Susan Jane’s Journey,” you know how the flow or timing of everthing has been working out very naturally . . . : )
At the graduation program this past Sunday morning when 20 FLO students graduated from high school and 22 graduated from the advanced education program (2 from the University with a degree in Accounting and 20 from different vocational programs), it was so inspiring to see how FLO’s teachers, administrators and volunteers envision this orphanage (and its educational program) as the foundation for creating a better Cambodia. They teach the kids to always say thank you; they require the children to contribute to the school’s operation (as in the Ss are cleaning their rooms, helping to prepare meals for themselves and the guests, they are sweeping the grounds, watering the flowers, etc.) They are teaching the children to be good, responsible people who will make the world a better place, and specifically, will make Cambodia a better place. After the incredibly high percentage of educated Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge (over the course of 4-years: 1975-1979), the country has been floundering without its intellectual and cultural base. ****Nuon Phaly who founded FLO has used her knowledge of Cambodian dance and silk making to educate the students and not lose these valuable cultural skills.
Madame Phaly’s Story is no longer available, but here’s a good site that mentions her.
Back to my notes on teaching with the student teachers . . .
On Wednesday this past week, we had access again to our classroom for the second of these two classes with the student teachers and much younger Ss (whose English level is very, very basic). I decided to continue the theme of “Where is?” (or rather “Where’s?” as we were taught to teach it in the CELTA course since that is how native English speakers really talk) and “Where are?” I did the same thing today (Thursday, August 11th) in the morning class. I’ve also added “How many?” It was satisfying to see them starting to really understand the concepts and be able to use them.
For some of the Ss, the ravine they have to jump across in order to change from saying “Where is? to “Where’s?” is quite wide. One little boy kept trying and trying. First, he was able to say, “Where’s is the . . .?” And then lo and behold, he yelled out a, “Where’s?”
I questioned myself as to whether I should persevere or just let them say, “Where is?” But as I thought about it, I decided, “Yes, it’s appropriate.” These Ss are just beginning to learn English; they’re very young, and I think they can adapt to the English that we native speakers really speak. Also, I found out yesterday that they rarely ever speak English in their state school (when they’re first learning). Apparently, it’s quite common for Ss to make fun of other Ss’ pronunciation. As I understand it, they’re only expected to begin speaking English when their writing and reading skills have reached an appropriate level of proficiency. I found this out AFTER I told my two afternoon (and more advanced) classes that it’s okay to make mistakes. They looked at me with BIG eyes. Yes, it’s okay! That’s how you learn!
As far as teaching the younger children goes . . .
Well, this is completely new for me. When I graduated from The University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Education eons ago, it was for secondary education, not elementary education. I received a certificate for teaching 7th to 12th graders physical and foreign language education. (Yes, I agree, those two things just go together! : ) And some of you may remember that I did teach younger children at the local YWCA for a bit. It was a very basic level gymnastics/tumbling class. I managed to find a way to successfully muddle my way through each lesson; I made sure each student learned one skill that they could accomplish and show the adoring audience after class. And who was that adoring audience? Their parents, of course! I asked them to stay out of the class during the lesson; it was just too distracting for the small toddlers; I think they were about 4-years old. Hmm, that was in 1986, they would be about 29-years old now. If one of you is reading this, give me a shout!

Okay, I digress.

Point is, this is new for me. Next week I think I’ll have a book to work from (for these 2 classes of younger Ss, I have 4 classes total per day), but I want to enhance the lessons with activities that really engage the Ss. Fortunately, there are some resources here to draw from. One of my biggest challenges may be getting the student teachers to simply not speak so much Khmer to the young Ss. It’s distracting when they do that (unless it’s for a very specific reason when I’ve asked for their assistance). Why? Because it draws the Ss attention away the lesson, from what we’re doing.
In the one class, I could see that they were starting to get the concept of “Where’s the . . .?” when the student teacher began a blow-by-blow college dissertation on what  “Where’s the . . .?” means. Looks like I need to come up with some very helpful things for the student teachers to do during the class so that they too are actively participating . . . Any ideas from the vast peanut gallery spread literally around the world?”
And with that, I’ll sign-off.
For those of you who read this far, mahalo.

-sj

*Realizing now that I should have been asking, “What’s this?” rather than “What IS this?”

**funeral – for t h r e e days there was non-stop music, chanting, drumming from an adjacent property . . . it dominated the air waves for t h r e e days.

***I first learned about the “L” trick and holding up your left arm and making an “L” with your hand in highschool. The joke running around at the time was that the football coach had to do this exact same exercise with the players to make sure they knew the difference between left and right.

**** Nuon Phaly, family name first, her given name is pronounced Polly.

Day-to-day Life at FLO

Aloha Everyone,
For some reason I haven’t been able to get on-line and check my email for three days. Today I managed to get on-line and access by glob, but I’m still not able to open gmail. It makes me feel a little disconnected . . . so please know that this is why I haven’t responded to your emails.
Mahalo,
sj
Day-to-day Life at FLO
Started Tuesday, August 2, 2011 en route to the beach in Cambodia with FLO Ss and staff and eGlobal volunteers, continued Monday, August 8, 2011 (back from the beach), and finished Monday, August 15th.
Hi Everyone,
My sister Hannah has asked for some specific information about life at FLO. So as I’m sitting on the bus (one of 4) with lots of Ss taking naps (after a rip-roaring time at a stream where we would have gone swimming if the water hadn’t been flowing so quickly!, and where we hung out (some of us in hammocks : ) under raised, covered cabanas and ate lunch—after exploring the large flat rock which abutted the fast-flowing stream), I thought I’d take advantage of this “quiet” time and write. I think we have about one-and-a-half hours before we arrive at Ochheuteal beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
What does she want to know?
“Sometime when you have time, email more about your life there…where are you staying/living…do you have just a room (dorm like?), where/what do you eat, do you have a set schedule?  Besides the classroom, do you have any contact with the kids? What about the adults (teachers/director, etc).”
I am staying in one of 7 (or 8) rooms in a two-story guesthouse building; I am in room number one on the ground floor.
Walkway to the guesthouse, the canteen is behind me. My room is all the way to the left on the ground-floor.
I have my own room with two double beds (one of which I’m using as my office/desk, remember seeing a picture of it at the top of my last entry?). In the room is a small fridge, which contains four water bottles (they refill it each morning while I’m at breakfast) and some sodas. The water bottles freeze by the end of the day if I don’t take them out of the fridge. It seems to work pretty well with taking one out mid-day and having a nice treat a little later (and the same with taking one out before dinner). I have a private bathroom; it’s a lot like a standard hotel room.

The main difference from the U.S. is that in the bathroom the shower is simply on the wall (an on-demand water heater is mounted to the side of the sink), and there is no shower curtain. This has been a common style at many places where I’ve stayed in SE Asia. The water simply drains out through a drain on the  floor.

There’s also a TV in the room that I actually haven’t turned on yet. When I first moved into this room (after staying in a guest room in the “store” area for the first *two nights), I did try to turn it on, but to no avail. Later I discovered a remote that had been tucked away somewhere. But at that time, the outlet for the television was being used to charge my computer. The two young ladies who were here when I first arrived told me that there are only two channels and that they’re in Khmer (of course). I will check it out one of these days, however. (I tried the remote and it doesn’t do anything either . . . the puzzle has yet to be solved : )

The meals are served in the “canteen.” This is a one-story building immediately across from the guest house. It’s divided by a tile walkway surrounded by beautiful vegetation.

We just passed an animal of some kind that was just standing in the middle of the two-lane road . . . it was a cow-looking kind of something . . . even though the bus driver honked and honked it just stood there! . . . luckily a dog we just passed moved off the road . . . no, he didn’t hit the             cow thank goodness, but it just swung around to the left into the other lane . . . based on how they drive here, I don’t think I want to rent a scooter . . .
For breakfast (served around 7:30 a.m.) we have anything ranging from a bowl of noodles to fried rice with an egg on top (that’s my fav). The fried rice has vegetables in it including small pieces of white potato. A couple of times we’ve had two fried eggs with part of a baguette; I made an egg sandwich with mine. After every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) we’re served some type of fruit. The fruit is wonderfully fresh and delicious!
We’ve had: rambutan, lychee, longan, watermelon . . . Had to stop. Picking back up on Monday the 8th.
 grapefruit, banana.
Lunch is served at noon, and we often have a soup. When it was just me and the two girls, they’d make a veggie version for me. But about a week ago a lot more people came, and they sometimes had one veggie dish or fish; so I just picked out the veggies. Today was taro soup with pork; yep, I just ate the taro with rice. They also served tiny pickles with egg. Yes, they sliced the pickles lengthwise and fried them in the pan with the egg. It was actually good. No, not sweet pickles, which is probably why I liked it.
Dinner starts around 7 p.m. and is essentially the same as lunch: a pot of white rice and some kind of soup and stir-fry. I’m going to miss everyone who’s just left and who’s leaving tomorrow (some of the people from the eGlobal group and the camera crew), it might be that the food improves a bit for me. We’ll see. Regardless, I’m getting plenty of healthy food.
Oh, what about beverages? Mostly, I drink water. They do have sodas and beer in the fridge in the canteen which I’ve been known to access on occasion. For breakfast there’s a hot water dispenser for your beverage of choice. The options? 3-in-one packets which are a mix of powder for coffee, sugar, and milk. There’s also cocoa which I gravitate towards. And, I have a packet of fun surprise things from Marty, thank you very much!
Do I have a set schedule?
Yes and no.
I had a schedule for the first week, and then the second week we were at the beach from Tuesday through Thursday. Friday was declared a day off from school to give the kids a rest. Week 3 I had my same afternoon classes (3 – 4 p.m. Intermediate level Ss & 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. Elementary level Ss) and then the two review classes with the younger kids (8 – 9 a.m. with one student teacher and 1 – 2 p.m. with another student teacher). Next week I’ll continue with the afternoon classes which I design, and I will also have something with the younger Ss . . . the jury’s still out on this one . . . tbd.
According to the “formal” (as if you can use that word in Cambodia, it’s pleasantly laid back and casual most of the time) schedule, which the director gave me upon my arrival, I’m “supposed” to be in the library reading to the kids (or doing something similar) from 9 – 11 a.m. At 11 a.m. I could go help serve their lunch. What I’ve ended up doing most days is using that time to prepare my afternoon classes. Sometimes I’ve been able to do that in the library (with the kids looking on when, for example, I was making my flashcards for learning all my Ss names . . . ) and sometimes I’ve needed to go work in the FLO office area. After I prepared my lesson plan and made up the exercises, etc. for the day’s lesson, I copied the file over onto my little pen-drive. Then one of the many nice office workers would print it/them for me (they tried and tried to set me up with wireless access to their printer, but it never worked). I’m limited in the number of copies I can make, so I try to be as efficient as I can be copying the whatever so that it’s printed on the page several times over. I think just cut it up into little strips to hand-out to the Ss.
Besides the classroom, do you have any contact with the kids?
I could practically be with the kids 24/7 if I wanted. They’re always hanging out around the classrooms, and I’m welcome to go visit with them in their playground area and living quarters. But if you’ve noticed the timeline of my schedule, you’ll guess that I haven’t done that very often. In fact, I haven’t been in their living quarters yet. Generally, if I find I have a free moment, I prefer to have some down time in my room. But yes, I’ve had some pleasant moments just hanging out with them in the shade. And there’s been no lack of receiving and giving hugs. “We love you auntie/sister/teacher,” I hear several times a day. Yes, I love them too. Who wouldn’t?
And the teachers and other adults?
I see the office workers when I use the office area for preparing my lessons or for doing research (for my lessons). Slowly I’m getting to know their names too. They’re such lovely and friendly people.
The teachers have been polite and say hello, but honestly, it’s hard to communicate with them; their English is difficult to understand.
As I finish week three out of eight, I hope to get to know them all more and more in the following weeks.
And . . . on a tangent, take a look at the little shack to the right of the lady holding the baby in the pictures from Sunday’s bike ride (a few weeks ago). Rob has been working and working raising funds and gathering materials to improve that home’s physical situation. In the picture, I think you can see that there is standing water around it (a person would have to walk through water to get to the house). It was also in the house. Tomorrow we will be lifting . . . yes, l i f t i n g ! the house to put blocks under it. They’re doing more as well . . . I’ll be there doing whatever I can do to assist and hopefully gathering plenty of photos to show the folks back “home.”
May you be well, happy, and content with your life.
With all my love,
sj
*Initially I stayed in the store area. Believe it or not, I had one of the absolute worst nights of my life there. I had come back from class and dinner around 8 p.m. Dripping with sweat, I thought I’d take a shower and then begin to do my lesson prep (I knew I had about 4-hours worth of things to do). Since the power had gone out the day before when I’d taken a shower (in the morning), I knew that it could happen again. So I turned off all the things I could, BUT it went out anyway. That in itself was no big deal; I simply rinsed my hair in the pitch black, found my way to my computer, opened it for some light, found my book light, got dressed, etc. But . . . when it started getting creepy for me was when I realized how locked in I was, my room was locked, the store was locked, there were no windows to open, there was no direct link to the outside. And the air con was off and the shower was quickly forgotten.
“Okay, Susan Jane, stay calm; it’s not like you’re locked in prison and can’t get out.” So I opened the door to the meeting room in the store. Fortunately, that power was still on. There’s no air con in there, but there was light, and I could carry all my materials into that room and do my preparation there. And, there was a fan, which I pointed directly at me : ).
Writing about it now, it doesn’t seem so bad. But for me, a closet claustrophobic (no pun intended), it was tough. Sweating in the dark, feeling trapped, waiting for the light of day (yes, I meditated and that calmed me down greatly) . . . and after reading Phaly’s story and visiting S21, I realize that I’m a “light-weight.” Yes, I’m used to cool air when I sleep and being able to step outside whenever I want. My room in the guesthouse was such a treat when I moved there the following day . . . -sj

Guesthouse as seen from the garden area.