Weekend Update

Friday August 19

My friend Cristina doesn’t have internet at her place so that’s why these are all getting posted at once! Thanks for bearing with it! So Friday, I woke up and finished my packing for Tampa.  Patricia and I drove separate to school so I could leave right away after school.  All the staff had Mass together that morning and I got to see our priest at the school and church for the first time.  Let me tell you, he is so tall! He walked in for Mass and I was floored.  I’d seen pictures of him but had no idea how tall he really was.  Fr. Pierre had just gotten back from Haiti either that morning or the night before.   All the staff is very charismatic during Mass.  They were all very vocal in their responses and their singing as well which can be a good example for our students.  Funny story of the day: during Father’s homily, which went for a very long time, he was looking around and talking about all the returning staff and then he was talking about the students.   Patricia and I were sitting in a row right next to two middle school girls whose mom’s are teachers so they have been with us all week.  Father was looking at them when he was mentioning them and then he looked at us as well.  I started laughing and spoke up and said we aren’t students!  Everyone laughed because we have been comments all week about how young we are.  He said he didn’t intend to look at us in that way but apologized nonetheless.  Once Mass was over, Julissa and I worked intensely on finishing the classroom for Monday.  We hung up lots of posters and I kept writing the students names on various items around the room.  We had lunch as a staff and it was nice to relax for a bit but then right after, we immediately went back to work in the room to complete everything.  We stapled up our word wall, the calendars, job boards, etc.  and finally got it done! I left around 4 to hit the road for Tampa.  I drove I-75/Alligator Alley the whole way but did not see any alligators sadly but also maybe that was a blessing! I also got to make a phone call to a friend that I was at Emporia with for two years and was able to catch up with her.  We tend to have really long phone conversations and they normally only happen when I’m on a road trip, which is sad, but true.  I stopped in Naples about half way through to put more gas in and grab a snack since I hadn’t had dinner.  I finally got to Cristina’s and Candace’s apartment around 8:45.   We put all my things inside and Cristina made some delicious pizza aka she discovered Aldi and bought a frozen pizza to put in.  She thinks Aldi is amazing and I told her it is the cheapest grocery store I have been able to shop at yet.  We don’t have one in Miami though which is a bummer.  But the three of us stayed up talking for a bit but we were all getting a little tired so we started to go to bed.  I slept on Cristina’s floor in my sleeping bag.  We talked a little longer about our weeks and current silly dilemmas in our lives and then eventually fell asleep. 

Saturday Aug. 20

The girls and I woke up and ran some errands before hitting the road for the beach! We went to Sand Key beach and it was gorgeous! Cristina, Candace, Amanda, and I staked out our spot and then proceeded to take many pictures, of course.  Funny story of that day: We all started laying out or getting in the water when I started to feel some sprinkles.  No big deal I thought; Amanda said that the dark clouds above us would probably break up and we'd be fine.  Well it did not break up.  Instead, it started to downpour over the entire beach.  Naturally we had our books, food, phones, and other belongings out  so we scrambled to get our things together and ran under the umbrella not too far away.  I had our bags wrapped in towels to keep everything dry but the other girls were trying to get the styrofoam cooler packed and as Cristina was carrying it to cover, it broke in half.  I started laughing from under the umbrella and as she tried to put everything back together, it broke in pieces again and the ice and beverages were all over the sand.  By then, we were all laughing hysterically at the entire situation.  To put icing on the cake, the umbrella that we were all huddled under had to be closed by one of the local hotel guys so we had to relocate once again.  Once we got under a new tent, we laughed and then I ran out into the rain for a little bit.  It eventually stopped raining so we were able to continue on with our afternoon on the beach. We all drove back to Tampa and then went out for dinner and saw a little salsa dancing at this restaurant called the Green Iguana.  It was neat but we definitely felt a little out of place because none of us knew how to salsa.  We made our own fun instead! 

Sunday Aug. 21

Cristina and I woke up a little later and went on an attempt to find the church we had found online through masstimes.org but she didn't know the area well enough and the GPS couldn't find the street so we weren't able to go that morning.  Luckily, she was able to go later that evening and I went in Naples that evening as well.  I stayed and hung out with her until a little after lunch since it was her birthday.  I didn't hit the road til 2 which was later than I had planned but it worked out well because I was planning on stopping through Naples to see my high school friend, Andy Rowe, who was going to law school down there.  I ended up going to Mass at 5 there and then we had dinner and got to hang out for a little while before I drove back to Hollywood.  It was nice to have a friend from Kansas down here.  I might be going with him and his roommates to Orlando over Labor Day weekend.  Harry Potter World maybe?! I have to see if it's in my budget though. I did not get back to the apartment til 10 and then I talked to the roommates a bit before we all went to bed.  Patricia had to start school the next day! 

Read the next post about my first day of school at St. James!