First week of Christmas vacation

I've had a good first week of Christmas vacation.  I hung out with Jeana a lot.  She and I went to Trinité and the ruins of Dubuc Castle, which was really impressive.  I'd like to go back out there.

The next day, Thursday, we went with Irene to St. Pierre and visited the city.  We were a bit awkward altogether, but we had fun.  Irene tried to teach me to swim... it didn't work, lol.  I have no coordination for swimming.  I hadn't tried to swim in years since I was about 10 years old.

Yesterday, I and Jeana parted ways and then I went to the Balata Garden.  It is SO BEAUTIFUL!  I said to myself that if I left Martinique after visiting the garden that my whole experience of living on the island was totally worth it!  I love that place and I'll go to its sister garden in Le Carbet soon.  I also want to climb Mont Pelé.  Irene should go with me to Pelé.

I'm already thinking of applying to teach in Taiwan after Martinique.  It was my other destination of choice along with South Korea at the end of my first year of being an assistant in France.  Allister is there now teaching and he enjoys it.

I want to go to Haiti for vacation.  I really intended to volunteer there, but it seems that I would have little freedom to visit the country.  I'm thinking that it would be more reasonable that I earn money to repay my loans instead of living for 10 months in Haiti.  I still haven't completely made up my mind for now.  I may not know what to do until after I complete my Master's degree.

Success!

I saw 007 Skyfall with Lucienne, a colleague from Neris High School.  She was kind enough to treat me to the movie and to dinner at a Soup restaurant.  The soup was delicious and the movie was great!

The film was made in Shanghai, London, Turkey and some other countries.  The locations made me think of traveling further, in particular to Shanghai since I had thought of teaching English there.

I also revived my interest in joining the Foreign Service.  Nothing is certain for now, but I think I will take the Foreign Service exam at least to give myself the chance of joining.

I feel like I'm in a personal conflict of trying to decide to lead a life in Georgia and trying to keep up my travel  endeavors.  I'm so unsure for now of what to do after Martinique.

At times I think I should do more here, but I'm content enough with my activities.

I just saw my grade for 285, it's 80%!  I'm so happy!  This means that I can graduate in May 2013 as long as I pass Spanish 132 and LIBR 289 in the spring.

Now I'm just waiting for the final grades to be posted to my transcript.

I saw Naima today.  I was going with her to see her friends, but I'm not sure now.  A teacher told me that she saw them, but I thought that Naima would call me.  No worries, I'll see them later, I guess.

I think I'll buy sunglasses now.  The light is beginning to affect my eyes.

Don't give money to students

I learned not to give money to students today.  It's something that I knew already, but I had forgotten.

I gave two euros to a girl yesterday at DIA, the local supermarket.  I wish that I hadn't, but she seemed sincere enough.  I talked to one of the secretaries and she said that I should not have given the money since there is social assistance for Martinicans.  I didn't know about that.

I've decided not to give money again to avoid consternation.

Otherwise things are going good.  I failed 246, so I'm looking forward to taking Advanced Spanish.  That should go well.  I will probably go to a jazz concert tonight with a fellow English teacher.  The event is in Fort de France.  Most fun things go on there.

Mr. Rangoly wasn't at school today.  I guess he doesn't want to teach with me.  I don't know what his deal is.  Mrs. Dieng was absent for the first time.  I guess she had too little work today.  I'm slowly learning more and more about school life in Martinique.  I must ask more questions.

I saw Hana Wednesday and we had a good time at lunch and just talking with each other.  She lives in Le François and will host a Thanksgiving dinner Saturday night.

There's a students, Ludovic, who is very interested in living in the U.S.  I think he will make it there.  I'll help him to learn how to do it.  I would have had his class today with Mr. Rangoly, but most of the students were not present, thus no formal class.  Oh well, better luck the next time.

Failing 246!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   LOL!!!

Oh, well, you win some, and you lose some.  You pass some classes and you fail some classes!  LOL!

Oh, boy.  I tried my best, I really did, but 246 is a pain in the ass!

I might not bother trying the last assignment now the quiz.  I'm not sure yet.  Though, since I must still pay for the class, I suppose I should still make the effort.

I wish that I had taken Spanish, Chinese or French instead of 246.  I don't know why I didn't think of that before?

Why did I challenge myself with 246?  240 was pain enough... but I passed it with an A-.  Though Professor Dean had a very different style of teaching than Professor Perry.

Oh, well.  It's my own fault.  I was warned repeatedly about Perry and the difficulty of 246.
At least I tried what was difficult.

I'm hoping to pass spring semester.  I'm not sure if I should keep on studying or just give myself a break and recommence studying next Summer.

I think that I can do it especially after taking a break during the winter.  I'll just focus on 285 since I'm doing well at it.  I just pray to God that my literature review earns a good grade.  I did work hard on it, though I wonder what the professor thinks of it?

I think I should give myself the break and just keep things simple for myself next semester, then I'll enjoy myself better in Martinique.  I don't need to chase this Master degree so hard.

In month two

I'm learning more about Martinique.  I just had Toussaint holiday and spent most of it worrying about being paid.  We were paid about a week later than I expected, but things are OK now.

I'm at school expecting Mr. Rangoly, but he's not here yet.  I'll wait for him, but I don't expect him today.

I just spoke with one teacher about Martinican identity.  He says that the youth identify better with African Americans than with mainland French.  I think that makes sense since most Martinicans are black and in general some white French reject blacks.  I know that some white French are racist... but... I have to synthesize what the teacher said into my conception of French race relations.

Well, otherwise things are going well.  I've made friends with Maguy, a restaurant owner in Le Marin.  She's great and very kind to give me free food at times and lets me use the Internet at extended periods of time.

I am learning to socialize at the marina.  Lots of people hang out there.

I'm re-reading Harry Potter 7 for the second time.  I hadn't read it all since it came out five years ago.

I'm in the last four weeks of the SJSU semester--Thank God!  I just submitted my literature review and I pray to God that I earn an A for it.  I worked hard on it, which I'm proud to say.  It was a year ago that I started to slip in my studies and that led to my C- grade the first time that I took the LIBR 285 course.

My work for LIBR 246 is not so bad if I do assignments on MySQL.  PHP is practically murder on me, though I am getting better at recognizing some aspects of the programming.  I pray that I pass that course with at least a C grade, as long as the grade allows me to pass it and earn credit towards my MLIS degree, then I shall be happy.

It turns out that Marielena, a Venezuelan friend will move with her French American husband and their daughter to Sarasota, Florida.  I hope that they adjust well to life there.  I gave Marielena access to an online program for learning English.  I hope that she finds it useful.

As for me personally, I'm trying to decide what to do after living in Martinique.  I don't know for now, but the same ideas come to me... 1. Continue to travel, 2. Volunteer with AmeriCorps in Georgia, 3. Apply for full time work in Georgia, or 4. Apply for full time work anywhere.

I'd like to teach adults next... Indonesia may be a good opportunity for that.  I will wait and see.  I'd be happier going to an African country or to a South American country since I haven't been to those continents yet.

I'll figure it out.  For now, I just want to explore Martinique, visit some of the islands, go to Haiti and Honduras and finally graduate from San Jose State University.

I'm so tired, lol

This is the first week back from the Toussaint vacation and I'm so tired.  My head hurts and I feel... sickish.  I probably just need a serious dose of orange juice for its vitamin C.

I am disappointed in the lesson that I did today at the Middle School of Sainte Anne.  I should have prepared it better.  But, I need to stop being so hard on myself.  I didn't seek help from any of the English teachers, so I shouldn't despise myself so much for it.

I get so worked up only because I know better and I feel that after my experience in France and in South Korea that I shouldn't make the same mistakes anymore.  Though, I'm not a professional teacher and I'm not seeking to be.  I just want to share some American culture with my students and help them to speak English better.

I believe that I'll work out a formula that will help the students to learn English and practice it in class.  It's just taking me a while to remember what to do and how.

I just don't want to waste the students' time nor my own if we end the class with them not feeling that they had learned something useful.

Well, I will do better tomorrow.

A good day

This Friday has been a good day.

The weather is good.  I finished assignment five for 246 successfully.  THANK GOD!  That assignment was much easier than assignments three and four.  I highly expect to earn an A for assignment five to reverse the harmful effect of my 5/10 and 2/10 grades for assignments three and four respectively.

I'm thinking of going to Baie des Anglais and to Savane des petrifications.  I'll invite Tifanie.

The first week

I've been spending my first week getting things together and learning how to navigate Le Marin.  I have yet to leave the town.  I almost feel that I shouldn't until I do all my necessary course work.  I admit that I am behind and I really need to catch up.  I understand what Melissa Grammont was talking about.

I'm at my high school, Neris.  The teachers are decent, though I must wait to see how they behave during the seven month period.

The students seem typical, but I have reservations that I may be too reserved for them.  We shall see.  I will try my best with them for sure.  The majority of the students are black, some are mixed, some are white, some may be of Indian descent.  I think that one teacher is of Indian descent.  The others have a similar variety as have the students, being blacks, whites, and some mixed.

I'm going to download more articles for my annotated bibliography.

First Night in the Caribbean

I just spent my first night in Vieux-Fort, Saint Lucia.  I had a good rest.  I'm staying at Charlery's Inn and the location is ideal.  I'm right in the town and many places are approachable from the Inn.

I would explore further today, but I'm heading to the north of the island to Castries to take the ferry to Martinique.

The people seem nice.  I met a lady who was friendly enough to refer me to her sister who lives in Martinique.  I met her at the Vieux-Fort Library.  The library offers wifi, has a children's section and an adult section.  I noticed that it has a good selection of books, but some of them are quite old.  I thought to ask a former library supervisor if my county library could donate some books to the VF Library.

Well, my life in the Caribbean is off to a good start.  I'll see what I end up doing in Castries if I end up with a lot of time to spend before taking the ferry.

Preliminary Departure

This is the week that I leave for New York.  I'm taking MegaBus from Atlanta, to Charlotte, then to Washington, DC, then ending in New York.  This will be my first time to take MegaBus.  I hope that I enjoy the ride.  I still need to pack my bags.  I might buy a few things, but I will probably go with what I have.

After waiting since last December when I applied, to finding out that I was chosen in April, to finally leaving this month, I'm so glad that it's nearly time to go to another country!

I still have three courses to complete to earn my Masters degree.  I'm taking Advanced Information Technology Tools and Applications and Research Methods.  I like both classes, but one assignment for 246 is giving me some trouble.  I don't know how to modify the code to make my website do what the professor expects.  I'm still working on it.  I figure I must retype all the PHP code and then the website will work.

I am trying to be patient, but I may just stay at a hostel in Vieux-Fort and then head up to Castries the following day instead of worrying about staying with a couchsurfer in Castries.  I hope that Marren will be able to see me.  She advised that I not walk from the airport to the town.  LOL... let's see if I obey or take the bus.  Nah, I will probably do as she said.  The walk would take about 45 minutes.