Jeudi 31.05.07 Horsing About in the West
Success! Today I’m told I’ve got a tan and not just one person remarks on my brownness but two, and they’re both locals.
Nicola’s a bit brown too but she’s more browned off than anything else. Firstly, she received some gibberish email from ebookers asking her to reconfirm her flights. Secondly she got an email from Dorian; at least it’s apologetic but despite her reply it seems as if he has been struck off her love list.
The piece de résistance has to be the letter she gets from her mother. About three weeks ago a letter from Europcar arrived addressed to Nicola’s Irish address and even though it was promptly returned here it seems it wasn’t quick enough. Nic’s Mum isn’t au fait with French but anyone can make out that it’s a speeding ticket fine, and not just one but two; she was clocked doing 71km per hour in a 60km zone and 100km in a 90km zone. Each fine is for €180. They were initially both for €45 but as the 45 day limit has been passed they could be more at this stage. We’ve just paid for our flights home, our rent is due tomorrow and we were planning a grocery shop soon so needless to say we’re in a flap.
Fines aside we’ve also had run-ins with various crazy characters around Fort-de-France. I thought I was doing well when the pervy old man who gropes girls at the port decided to backtrack along the path after me but Nicola comes up trumps again after being flagged down by her pervy school security man, Guy, and, wait-for-it… Will, with his sweaty Rasta rag in hand!
My own school security man is far more tolerable. He tells me that he’s off to Guyane today for a long weekend. He bursts out laughing when I tell him to behave himself.
Today I continue with pastimes and hobbies with my classes. The past few weeks have been a jumble of assessments, excursions and other disruptions so it’s good to get back into teaching mode. We backtrack a bit and work with days of the week and various activities before taking down a list of what the pupils like to do every day.
With the younger years I concentrate on one activity for each day using flashcards to show someone skipping; cycling; playing piano; playing with hula-hoops; watching T.V; roller-skating; doing art. I think that the images are a bit limited but we play listen and touch and listen and tick so in essence they work even if they’re not the activities they do themselves.
As its Mother’s Day here on Sunday I let them make cards for the last few minutes. Happy Mother’s Day. For someone special on Mother’s Day. I love my Mum/Gran/Dad… A few of them gurn as I explain the use of x’s and o’s when signing off a card!
The older kids are taken by the activity rap and we brainstorm to make a list of their weekly activities, hobbies and pastimes. The list is infinite and although we touch on most of their preferred activities I backtrack again to explain why different activities are conjugated in different ways and by different verbs.
I go: to school; to the beach; to the pool; to the cinema; to my friend’s house; to the countryside; to the supermarket; to the museum; to the zoo; to the park; to church/mass.
I play: the piano; the guitar; the flute; the drums; the saxophone.
I play: football; tennis; volleyball; basketball; hockey; water polo.
I play: with my pets; with my siblings; with my friends, with my toys.
I play: videogames; board games; dress-up; make-believe.
I go: running; dancing; swimming; cycling; horse riding; roller-skating; surfing; fishing; snorkelling.
I do: tai-kwon-do; karate; judo; athletics; archery; art; painting; sketching.
I watch: T.V; videos; DVDs; films; the news; documentaries; cartoons; Star Ac’; soaps.
I listen: to rock music; to Beyoncé; to Akon.
I read. I’ve started on another book today; Small Island by Andrea Levy. It’s another absorbing read – even more so when I take it on the navette!
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