I woke up a few times before it was actually time to get up this morning. It was probably my excitement/nervousness for the big first day with my new students! I woke up and picked my outfit carefully, showered, and before I knew it, it was time to leave! We only had school til noon but I was still anxious. Patricia and I got to school and students were already there in their uniforms with their parents. I got this huge rush of excitement and could not wait to meet my class! I put my things upstairs and went back down to monitor and facilitate all the students! I definitely stuck out in more ways than one. The students could all tell I was the new teacher around. I asked lots of questions and was trying to pick up the procedures and routines they have as fast as I could. Once we had prayer all together as a school, Mrs. Lopez separated our class to make sure we had the right students and we walked on up the stairs. Many of the parents came up with us and Mrs. Lopez talked with them once we got into the classroom. My students were so welcoming and one of them even said I was pretty! Nothing makes you feel better than a child giving you a compliment because they are so blatantly honest! My students are all really cute by the way. Some of them are very talkative but they are 7-9 so I'm not surprised by any of it. I worked with the 2nd graders a lot today and feel like I already have a good connection with them so I think that is a good foreshadowing of the year. We all sang different praise and worship songs together and they were telling me what they know about Mary. It was just so neat to listen to them talk about God and Mary and what they know about them. I know some of them don't have much but I have a feeling their faith is really going to inspire me this year. On a different note, I am worried about not having the lessons yet and also, the fact that there will be two teachers trying to teach at the same time feet away from each other. Time will tell that's for sure. The students did very well overall today and I am ready for the rest of the week. After school was over at noon, we worked in the room to fix up a few things and I talked to the sisters for a little bit. I met their Mother Superior down here and talked with all of them for a little while. Patricia and I left school around 3 to go have our fingerprinting done for the Archdiocese. We talked with the young lady who was doing it for us and as is normal lately, our program came up. Before we knew it though, the communication director of the Archdiocese was in the same office telling us that we are the perfect angle for their "Welcome Back to School" section for the Florida Catholic, their Catholic newspaper down here. She was so energetic and enthusiastic about the whole idea, asking Patricia and I questions about being down here and what school has been like. We gave our names and information to their editor so by the end of the week, someone will be coming to see us at St. James to talk with us about an article. How cool is that?! We also met the priest in charge of vocations down here and he gave us his take on the possible hurricane headed our way. Everyone in their office was very kind and welcoming. I am thinking I would like to have some connections there for the next year just so I can be involved and maybe meet other people that are active in their archdiocese. Patricia and I left laughing about how unexpected that whole situation was.
After a little driving through some new areas back to our apartment, we both realized we needed to go grocery shopping so we made our lists and went to Publix. I took a few of my coupons with me in attempt to save a little money. We also had to venture to pick up a trash can and broom. I forget sometimes how much everything costs when you are starting from scratch in a new place again. We unloaded all of our groceries and just kicked back for the evening. I finished getting the cable activated and have been updating this blog ever since! Well, I've also been reading about Irene which could very well be headed our way. The priest this afternoon said they stick it out as long as it's under a Category 3. I'm not sure how brave I will be. Amanda says we will be fine but I don't know how brave I'm feeling yet. I already told Andy I might be headed to Naples since it's only an hour and a half away. Regardless, I will be checking the weather everyday and I'm sure someone will be giving me updates from Kansas to make sure I'm safe.
Well school will come early if I don't get some sleep so I will have to head that way! Luckily we get out at noon again tomorrow and Wednesday! Still not sure why but I'll take it! Love you all! I will post pictures of the beach once I put them on the laptop.
"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."
E.E. Cummings
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