Day 17 ~ Monday 30th January 2012
Went into the school finally to do some teaching but we had to go to assembly first. We sat in a line in front of the kids and introduced ourselves and listened to this long assembly. They all said 'good morning' to us individually which was so cute and then they had to say prayers and sing songs. When I walked into my classroom I had to introduce myself and talk to the kids but then the teacher ~ headmaster Mr. Minoa walked out and said 'I'll be in the office'! I started to teach English which he told me to do until lunch! I used the Fijian comprehension books which the children were obviously finding boring but I had nothing else planned. I can't believe I have to teach the most difficult class, with no teacher and everyone else and everyone else only assists the teacher. They only teach Music, P.E and Art on their own. Guess I have more freedom to do what I want! I was going to do Maths after having lunch in the 'library' but the headmaster shut the school suddenly after it was discovered that a cyclone was apparently on the way. All schools in Fiji were shut for the whole week as a precaution and all the boarders were sent home. Great! Another week sat on base in the pouring rain. Of course the kids were ecstatic.
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| Not such a tidy entrance! |
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| At the school... finally! |
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| Before assembly... little tykes! |
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| After a bit of direction... |
Day 18 ~ Tuesday 31st January 2012
We were called for an urgent meeting and told to pack two bags to prepare to evacuate. Something was headed for us and to be on the safe side we needed to get back to Nadi, on the mainland - a five hour boat journey. All the windows had to be boarded up, all the bags moved into one dorm and the beds shoved next to the windows. We then boxed up all the education resources to put under tables in the middle of the education hut. After all this we sat down and waited and waited and waited until we were finally told that there was no need to evacuate! Argh. Personally, I had been looking forward to a warm shower and a clean bed! We watched the film Death at a Funeral in the evening - very apt. After three kavas - Fijian alcohol made from a root - my mouth felt very numb.
My last diary extract was on Sunday 12th February 2012 - Day 30 which reads:
Haven't been doing much because of the weather but went to the school this week and finding teaching my class difficult as it's only me. Hopefully, me and another volunteer will be able to handle them more easily.
And then it all started to go downhill...
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