Day 50- March 17th
Happy St. Patrick's Day from Oz! After a nice evening in finishing some homework (I know that comes as such a surprise for some of you) I woke up early to get a quick workout in and most importantly write a bio. Apparently, my school will be spotlighting me in this month's newsletter. No worries, I will be getting extra copies for mementos for all of you dying to have one! It was much cooler than it has been today which was nice compared to the grueling heat we have faced the past couple of weeks. Janette even said it was freezing out! Not to Stacey and I!
Later that day we made the long trek down to Mandurah, a small city about an hour and a half east of Perth. After riding the train through the bush aka country in the middle of nowhere we finally made it to the Mandurah crab festival. The setup was similar to any event you would see at home but was hosting a special event- a boarding competition. We sat and watched several boarders do some pretty impressive tricks and even met a few famous ones. Don't ask me their names... But apparently, they were a big deal. So we got a picture and an autograph just for good measure.
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| Mandurah |
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| Gnarly |
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| St. Patty's fun |
Day 51- March 18th
Well after staying up half the night planning things for Will and I to do in the short amount of time we have together I was up early as usual. I am being pretty consistent with my 10K training so figured might as well get up and do it to pass some time while waiting for Will to arrive. I always see the same people when I am out on the running trail and we have even began to exchange a friendly hello or wave. My favorite is an older gentleman who practices riding his unicycle. Entertaining is an understatement. He has improved tremendously since he first started. I feel as though I am watching a child learn to ride their bike without training wheels. I always get the giggles as I pass him. I never let him see me laugh though because his dedication proves just how much this means to him!
After finishing some things around the house it was off to pick up Will at the airport. Once I arrived, I rushed over to his terminal to make sure he would see me as soon as he got here. I quickly realized I was at the wrong gate and sprinted halfway around the airport to make it just in time. Obviously the 10K training is paying off because I wasn't nearly as exhausted as I normally would have been once I finally spotted him. One thing that is very nice about Australia is their security in their airports- it's a breeze. You literally can walk right up to the gate of where someone is arriving to get them the second they get off the plane. Once I saw Will I began shaking! It was so strange, a good sort of strange though. A sense of relief filled my body. It was reassuring to see that someone I know and care about still is real as silly as that may sound. Social media has made home seem less far away but it was so nice to actually be with someone I knew all over again. After waiting for ages for Will's lost luggage (it was shipped back to LA, way to go Quantas) we were off to his hotel. Just to give you an example of how small our world is, the conceigre picked up on my accent and informed me he was a boog fan.... Of course I gave him a big Roll Tide as I got on the elevator. Once Will got settled in we took the train down to Cottesloe Beach so I could show him the Indian Ocean for the first time. I must admit, I was very impressed with his ability to stay awake and be a trooper throughout the long day of walking. We had a late lunch/early dinner at a lovely restaurant and walked along the beach to see all of the sculptures by the sea.
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| Cottesloe Beach |
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| Indian Ocean |
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| Will really didn't like my clumsy self climbing these rocks... |
After getting a good night's rest, in bed my 8 PM might I add, I was well rested to take on another week at my wonderful school. Will woke up to walk me to the train station to keep me company, I'm sure he went straight back to rest to recover a bit from his jet lag. I gave him so info on places to see while I was away to keep him entertained and of course some sunblock!
Today was one of those days at school where I realized just how fortunate I am to enjoy what I am doing for a living, or will eventually be doing for a living, for now I am just free labor. One of my students who has Down Syndrome is such a little rock star. He has awesome spiked hair that he rocks everyday with huge boots and to make it even better his name is Axl Kane. I mean does it get any better than that? His personality definitely matches his rocker appearance. Any who, he can be quite the challenge to work with, especially because he bats his big blue eyes at you making it hard not to giggle when he is misbehaving. Most of the kids in my classroom use sign language to communicate. Axl's speech is limited but he is able to get out a few words. I have been working with him to sign my name, which for him is just the letter E. Over and over again I sign it to him and say the letter E with no response. Today on the playground I look over at Axl on the slide and hear him screaming "E! E! E!" as he is using the appropriate sign at the same time. My heart melted. I had taught him something, something he remembered and even knew how to use. It may sound quite silly but something as simple as that means that I have done my job and that makes me one happy girl.
After school, I met Will and we went off into the city to see all of the sites. We did all of the touristy things of course- the Swan Bell Towers, Northbridge, Supreme Court Gardens and stopped for a quick Mexican meal at Zapatos. We covered a lot in the few hours we had and were quite exhausted pretty early in the evening.
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| Perth City |
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| Swan Bell Towers |
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| Supreme Court Gardens |
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| Seeing his first roo! |
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| Drinks at the Bird's Nest, way too "posh" for us Alabamamians. |
Day 53- March 20th
Once again, Will was nice enough to walk me to the train station. I was extremely jealous that he was able to go spend the day at Hillary's Harbor and visit the aquarium while I was stuck feeling not so good at school. As soon as I walked in, I went straight to the nurse who suggested I go home. Fortunately, I was a good sport and toughed the day out. I'm glad I stayed because I was able to work with one of the students who is severely autistic and do some intense behavior management assessments which will really help me in the long run.
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| Braving the windstorm, wearing a dress wasn't the brightest idea... |
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| King's Park |
After a staff meeting, I met Will in the city this time to see King's Park. Google it. The walk up the steep hills (when I say steep, I mean steep...) was well worth it once we were able to see the breathtaking views of the city. We also were able to wonder around the WW2 Memorial which honors all those lost, not just Australians. I enjoyed a quick coffee as we watched the sunset before making the trip back down the dreaded hills. After a twenty minute detour to the train station, Will's sense of direction is about as good as mine..., we finally made it back to his hotel for a nice dinner at Paddy Hannan's another Irish Pub. We made our way over to the Burswood Casino where I was carded right when I walked in. Let me remind you the drinking/gambling age is 18 here. The bouncer giggled as he checked my passport and knew he had just made my day. I won $20 playing roulette and figured my odds couldn't get much better and called it a night...
Day 54- March 21st
I slept in a bit late since I wasn't feeling too well, knowing I would need all the rest I could possibly get for what the day had in store. It was my first excursion (field trip) since I have been in Australia and we were off to Bike Week. Each year, the school goes out to Burswood (where Will was staying) to ride bikes, see farm animals, have a "sausage sizzle", and have a go on a tractor ride. The smiles on the kids faces were priceless.
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| My little rocker Axl Kane |
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| Tractor Shenanigans |
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| Farm animal fun |
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| Not everyone was a fan of the animals... |
To celebrate Will's last night down unda, we found a lovely Japanese steakhouse in his hotel complex called Nobu. Normally, this isn't our scene at all but why not branch out when you can. Well it was quite worth it, we nibbled on four different courses and of course I splurged and had a yummy dessert- fried bananas with ice cream and passion fruit. Bill if you read this, I looked to see if they had key lime pie but unfortunately they didn't...
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| Amazing light fixture |
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| Appetizer |
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| Appetizer 2- Tuna, my fave! |
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| Creamy Crab, lucky for me it had eggs in it... I scraped the plate just so Will wouldn't feel too bad... |
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| Cod |
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| Dessert. Heavenly. |
Day 55- March 22nd
Thursday was a bit of a sad day, I knew waking up that I would have to tell Will goodbye. I also was a bit nervous because my teacher was evaluating me on my Science lesson. Since the students are high needs, we have to keep lessons simple and engaging which can be extremely challenging. I chose to do something with a bang- the bubble bomb explosion. The first round was a dud, the second a hit, and the third nothing to write home about. The kids loved it though, the thought of something popping and spraying water on them had them intrigued. After school Will ran a couple of errands with me and I showed him around my neck of the woods here in Bayswater. He was able to meet my host family and Stacey which was nice. Once his taxi got to my house I was immediately a sob fest. For those of you who know me, I cry over anything, especially saying goodbye. It was back to reality and back to my normal boring routine of school and homework...
Days 56-57 March 23-March 24th
March 23rd
Back to the real world, John my supervisor came in and watched my cooking lesson with the students. To say I was worried would be an understatement. Most of you know, I am no Betty Crocker in the kitchen, so teaching students cooking wasn't something I was especially experienced in. I chose to keep it simple with an easy sweet treat- "Bananas in Pajamas." I froze bananas over night and had the kids melt chocolate and dip them in their favorite toppings, it was a hit. The cleanup wasn't bad at all because most of the students ate whatever they dropped on the floor, extremely sanitary but oh well, you do what you can. John was overwhelmed by the needs of the students and thought I did a wonderful job of managing their behavior and meeting their individual needs. Point for me. The day ended nicely with another student's birthday party our classroom was invited to. After school I decided to stay in and catch up on some work. Out on my run I heard Willie Nelson blaring out of someone's car, felt like I was back in Alabama again.
March 24th
March 24th
Stacey and I met Bob, another COST student, in Fremantle today. We both are always so tired after the week so we decided to keep today low key. We did some shopping and had a yummy Mexican fiesta before needing a much-needed siesta...
Next week is my last full week at my school. I am so sad to leave these kids behind, they really have a special place in my heart and have taught me so much in such a short amount of time. It's unbelievable how fast my time with them is flying by. Only 25 days before I am back in Alabama the beautiful and to all of your lovely faces!
We can not wait for you to be back in Alabama either.
ReplyDeleteWe are so proud of you and have enjoyed this adventure from afar with you so much.
You have touched so many lives.
We love you, The Fam