Friday, February 10
After keeping myself up to the wee hours of the morning thinking of everything that could go wrong with my lesson, I was one sleepy girl when 6 AM rolled around. Once I got to school, I perked up and was ready to teach my kids their English Lesson. The lesson didn't go exactly as planned, but I still think it went pretty well. My teacher provided me with wonderful feedback and the students were very well behaved and respectful of me. She was nice enough to give me a lesson to teach every day next week so I can really be prepared for when my COST Supervisor comes to watch me do my ten straight days of teaching which starts in a week, aghhh!!
After school, I rushed home to pack and it was off to the train station. I feel like I am in the movies every time I am catching the train because I am constantly running through trying not to miss my ride! But I do make it every time and I am getting some good jogging in! Once I got over to Chelsea's place, we rode into Subiaco for dinner and drinks. "Subi" is a very trendy sort of place and can get quite pricey. We had a wonderful meal at Jus Burgers and had a couple of cocktails at the Subiaco Hotel, which is absolutely gorgeous. Very vintage Hollywood glamour sort of style. While we were there we began talking to a guy who just got transferred here from work who is a die hard Texas A&M fan. Of course I chatted his ears off about the aggies joining the SEC, it was nice to catch up with someone who actually understood college sports, so many young people here only follow pro sports. He even gave me a big roll tide! Once we left Subi, we went back down to a swanky little bar in Hillary's Harbor and met a nice fellow who knew someone from Ozark, Alabama. I know I have said this before, but really what are the odds, it really is such a small world! One thing that was reassuring to hear was being reminded how wonderful we do have it in America. This little guy would not stop talking about how he would do anything to be able to move to the states but waiting for a VISA is just too time consuming. This experience has allowed me so far to see the up's and down's of living in another country, which I am very thankful for.
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| A healthy burger choice that was yummy in our tummy's! |
Saturday was quite a chill day for us. After having a late lunch at Sharky's in Hillary's Harbor, we wondered around and looked at all of the markets that come into the Harbor on Saturday's. It was lovely to see all of the unique jewelry, artwork, toys for children, and everything else you could possibly think of. I found a lovely elephant necklace that I plan on wearing next football season, which seems like years from now, haha! After a little fro-yo, for those of you who might not be familiar with the hip lingo these days, that means frozen yogurt, we wondered down and napped on the beach before heading home to get ready for our BBQ. The BBQ was very relaxed and everything I expected a really Aussie Barbie to be like! We had sausage dogs by the pool and mainly just sat around getting to know people. It was a bit awkward finding out that only one other person there was close to my age, most of the people there were 18-19 and joked with me if I brought my cane along with me! Nonetheless, they were very friendly and invited us out with them to a club near Chelsea's house. They warned us before hand that the club was quite "bogan" aka red neck, low life, that sort of thing and it most certainly lived up to what we expected it to be. We had a great time dancing to music that was far behind what you would hear back home. The atmosphere of bars here is quite different than anything we have in Alabama, but hey it's nice to try new things. After we left, all of the kids we were with insisted on swimming in the ocean. Chelsea and I sat out of this one, there was no way we were getting our cute outfits soaked in the cold water before going home! And not to mention sharks.... not a snowball's chance in Haiti.
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| Lounging by "Breakie" |
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| Out and about |
Sunday, February 12
Once again, Chelsea's family prepared a lovely breakfast for us. I absolutely love spending time with them. They are so intelligent and interesting to listen to, I feel like I learn so much any time I am around them. After a little breakfast, it was off to Swan Valley for a couple of wine tastings. Swan Valley is very unique and has over fifty vineyards that go for miles and miles. No worries, we didn't go to all fifty today, just three! It was wonderful going up to some because they were run out of people's home. My favorite was our second stop where a man sat us down at a nice table and let us sample all of his wonderful wines. Did I mention that Chelsea's host family are quite the wine gurus? They gave us tons of wonderful tips and before you know it, I am going to be an expert just like them! We had lunch at a wonderful little cafe where we sampled anything and everything. It was delicious, but I think I am still full. Not to mention the ice cream I had after at a chocolate factory we stopped at nearby. Once I got home, I went on my usual run and came home to some not so great news. Janette is still in the hospital and won't be out for another week. Fortunately, the doctors determined what type of infection she had and are able to treat her but want to keep an eye on her as she recovers. I talked to her on the phone for a while and she sounded much better! Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
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| Hot Cakes, Mango yogurt, figs, cantaloupe, peaches and bananas :) |
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| The purchases made by Chelsea's family at Swan Valley... |
As I mentioned before, I will be teaching every day for the next three weeks so my apologies if I can't update my blog as frequently as I would like! Hope you all are doing well back in the mainland!!
That breakfast looks delicious. Looks like you had a great weekend. We miss and love you lots.
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