Monday, November 14, 2011
When in doubt, tell them you're Canadian
This place is a tropical island and a destination spot for semi-adventurous people looking for that romance movie moment that they've played over and over in their head for years. The Cinderella story of tropical holidays... girl comes to island, meets local, gorgeous, dark skinned man, vacation romance commences. You think it's a joke? Not at all, in fact apparently it's so far from a joke that a popular DR website has devoted an entire article to this phenomenon of "Sanky Pankies", and if you are up for the condensed version there is even a movie...
Thursday, November 10, 2011
1st Annual Yemma-girls trip
I know I'm supposed to be practicing living in the moment, but GUESS WHAT - I'm going to NYC over break!!!!!! Yes, I'm already excited about December 18, and it's not even November 18 yet... That just happens when you are a teacher and thinking that the best thing about quarter 2 is winter break...
This will be my first Christmas back to North Carolina in many years. I started to freak out a bit, with the thought of having 3 weeks off back home, so I decided to plan a little trip for my sister and I. We toyed with the idea of kayaking in Belize and as we looked around we realized that the cost and time weren't going to be on our side. So then we thought, let's go somewhere in the US that we want to visit. I have 5 states left to make a perfect 50, so I thought, Seattle, Portland, but that's ALL the way across the country. Then we thought Chicago, but Laura is going to be sunning herself in Mexico over break and seriously, I can't go to Chicago when she's not going to be there. Then I remembered that Mary has never been to NYC and that's when the real plans began.
You all know that I have issues booking tickets. It's a combination of buyers remorse and the simple fact that I turn into an idiot and end up with the wrong dates or the wrong destinations. I'm always searching somewhere to visit so my brain gets all mixed up and when it's time to actually book a ticket I usually screw it up. So, I waited and waited and this week checked on prices, only to discover that tickets from Raleigh to New York have gone up almost $100 each... shit. I mustered up some impulse and thought, eff it, let's just make this happen. Sure enough I started getting more and more excited looking for hotels that I decided that my mom should come with us. Mary is getting married and we've never had a girl trip, so let's splurge!
Mary, Mom and I are going to New York for 4 nights! I've been to the city a few times, but in my life I have NEVER seen a Broadway show and for years I've wanted to see Lion King, so in an additional moment of splurging I bought us tickets for a show! Then my Aunt got wind of our trip and decided that we need to see the Rockettes, so we're going to that too! Yesssssssss
This will be my first Christmas back to North Carolina in many years. I started to freak out a bit, with the thought of having 3 weeks off back home, so I decided to plan a little trip for my sister and I. We toyed with the idea of kayaking in Belize and as we looked around we realized that the cost and time weren't going to be on our side. So then we thought, let's go somewhere in the US that we want to visit. I have 5 states left to make a perfect 50, so I thought, Seattle, Portland, but that's ALL the way across the country. Then we thought Chicago, but Laura is going to be sunning herself in Mexico over break and seriously, I can't go to Chicago when she's not going to be there. Then I remembered that Mary has never been to NYC and that's when the real plans began.
You all know that I have issues booking tickets. It's a combination of buyers remorse and the simple fact that I turn into an idiot and end up with the wrong dates or the wrong destinations. I'm always searching somewhere to visit so my brain gets all mixed up and when it's time to actually book a ticket I usually screw it up. So, I waited and waited and this week checked on prices, only to discover that tickets from Raleigh to New York have gone up almost $100 each... shit. I mustered up some impulse and thought, eff it, let's just make this happen. Sure enough I started getting more and more excited looking for hotels that I decided that my mom should come with us. Mary is getting married and we've never had a girl trip, so let's splurge!
Mary, Mom and I are going to New York for 4 nights! I've been to the city a few times, but in my life I have NEVER seen a Broadway show and for years I've wanted to see Lion King, so in an additional moment of splurging I bought us tickets for a show! Then my Aunt got wind of our trip and decided that we need to see the Rockettes, so we're going to that too! Yesssssssss
Thursday, November 3, 2011
GIN Conference in Lima, Peru
I've been a blog slacker, I know. I've wanted to write about my trip to Peru for the GIN (Global Issues Network) conference, but every time I sit down to start I get overwhelmed and end up downloading a bootleg show.
Where do I start? Remember the zoo project I did with the kids in Bolivia last year? Well, my old school decided to start a GIN group to present at the conference in Lima, and they chose to work on biodiversity, and education and focus their efforts at the Zoo. As you know I no longer work at that school, but I have kept in touch with many of the students and teachers there so I was in on their project. So then I come to my new school and am going about my own business when I read in the weekly announcements that they are sending our high school librarian to "scope" out the GIN conference. Wait, what? I KNOW what's happening! I immediately contact my principal to see if I can help in any way and possibly travel to Peru as well. After two weeks of no news I find out that the school doesn't have enough in their budget to send me. I had told my former colleague, but not any of the students, so I just decided to accept the answer and not worry about it. Yes, I know, it's unlike me. I'm not sure why I reacted that way, I chalked it up to maybe learning something over these years of making lots of mistakes, or maybe I was just so busy thinking about school that I didn't have time to worry... regardless I let it go.
Then 4 days before the flight I get a message that the person they were supposed to send from our school has dengue and under doctor's advice can't go. Wait, what? You mean I AM LEAVING FOR PERU IN FOUR DAYS??? Yessssssssss
This is perfect! Not too much time for me to tell all the Bolivia kids, so maybe I could make this a surprise! Yes! So long story short I got to travel to Lima, Peru to "scout" out the conference and hang out with my kids!
That's a lot and difficult to imagine for our human brains. Population is a problem.
As the conferenced neared the end I knew, without a doubt, that I would see this group again. You know me, I get attached to my students, we become a family, but there is something special about this group, something unique. I will see them again soon!
Where do I start? Remember the zoo project I did with the kids in Bolivia last year? Well, my old school decided to start a GIN group to present at the conference in Lima, and they chose to work on biodiversity, and education and focus their efforts at the Zoo. As you know I no longer work at that school, but I have kept in touch with many of the students and teachers there so I was in on their project. So then I come to my new school and am going about my own business when I read in the weekly announcements that they are sending our high school librarian to "scope" out the GIN conference. Wait, what? I KNOW what's happening! I immediately contact my principal to see if I can help in any way and possibly travel to Peru as well. After two weeks of no news I find out that the school doesn't have enough in their budget to send me. I had told my former colleague, but not any of the students, so I just decided to accept the answer and not worry about it. Yes, I know, it's unlike me. I'm not sure why I reacted that way, I chalked it up to maybe learning something over these years of making lots of mistakes, or maybe I was just so busy thinking about school that I didn't have time to worry... regardless I let it go.
Then 4 days before the flight I get a message that the person they were supposed to send from our school has dengue and under doctor's advice can't go. Wait, what? You mean I AM LEAVING FOR PERU IN FOUR DAYS??? Yessssssssss
This is perfect! Not too much time for me to tell all the Bolivia kids, so maybe I could make this a surprise! Yes! So long story short I got to travel to Lima, Peru to "scout" out the conference and hang out with my kids!
The conference was super amazing. It is based on a book that was written 10 years ago about the 20 global issues that we have to solve in 20 years. Well, it's been 10 years and ALL the issues have gotten worse. Issues like poverty, access to clean water, biodiversity, deforestation, air quality, waste management, etc... You know, global issues. The goal of the conference is that student groups present their projects and that by empowering high school students to make sustainable changes in their communities they will make a difference globally.
The conference was organized by an international school association of South American schools, and most of the groups were from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. There were several well known and respected key note speakers in addition to the student run presentations.
I cherished every moment I had with my kids!
The conference was truly inspiring...
What are you doing in your life to help? Do you feel helpless? What can you do? Don't shy away from these questions. It's ok to feel overwhelmed and like your small part doesn't matter. It's ok to feel like a hypocrite and to feel frustrated that you live in a world filled with contradictions. This past week we reached 7 billion people on earth. 7 billion. How much is 7 billion? I found this...
1. Seven billion M&M’s would almost fill three Olympic-size swimming pools.
2. There are probably 7 billion bacteria in your mouth right now — or maybe even more!
3. Americans consume 7 billion bananas, the nation’s most popular fruit, roughly every four months.
4. If the Wizards played a game every night at Verizon Center, with every seat full, it would take 950 years to play for 7 billion fans.
5. When you are between 31 and 32 years old, you will have lived for 1 billion seconds. To reach 7 billion seconds, you would have to live to be 220 years old!
6. If you stacked up 7 billion sheets of copy paper, the stack would be 504 miles high — about the distance to the international space station and back again!
7. The Earth measures 24,900 miles around the middle. To travel 7 billion miles, you would have to circle the globe nearly 300,000 times.
That's a lot and difficult to imagine for our human brains. Population is a problem.
As the conferenced neared the end I knew, without a doubt, that I would see this group again. You know me, I get attached to my students, we become a family, but there is something special about this group, something unique. I will see them again soon!
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