In VI

 The time back in the Virgin Islands this time has been really positive. Going back to schools and being with people I have known before makes the work so much easier... perhaps not easy but far more enjoyable. Especially when they are working on things that I have helped them put in place and have obviously thought about the processes and needs of their classes.
Trevor is here at the same time and he is far braver than I. He hires a car and drives to and fro. Braver because the cars are left hand drive and they drive on the left hand side of the road. Braver because the roads are narrow and pot holes abound. Braver because there are many places that really are not good for one to be traveling by oneself. But then he's a bloke and can be in those places far more safely than I.

Two coconuts on a motor bike... one says to the other...

 Juxtaposed with Trevor's form of transport was this motor vehicle which was outside the entrance to my room. The sight of it made me smile as I came out to go to work in Big John's taxi.
The two coconuts were a bit of a mystery ... were they there for balance? was it the start of a joke? Did they drive the bike there and were waiting for the palm tree?

At the middle school

 
 Over the summer break the schools had been spruced up either fresh coats of paint ( that blazing sun really fades the bright colours quickly) murals were added to the middle school, junk had been removed from many rooms, new materials beginning to be used.

Thinking on Thursday

How did it get to be Thursday so soon.... ah yes .... that's right... work!

It has certainly gotten in the way of me getting to the computer but I plan to make up for that and catch up on my posts for the week thus far!

I love this photo and I haven't taken any today so here it is again!

A lesson I have learned during the week is lesson #76- when one can't find one's "photo uploader thingy" don't bother looking under the bed, beside the bed, in the top drawers or any of the drawers really. Don't look on the window ledge in the dining room or on top of the bookshelf or in all the desk drawers. In fact don't even think about looking in the fridge or contemplating buying a new fancier one on line just .... look in the back of the computer it'll be there from when last you uploaded photos! That's where the little sucker has been hiding the last few days and where I found it comfortably nestled waiting for me to find it and use it again.

Work has had me flat out like a lizard drinking and has exhausted me. Yesterday it was frenetic and today was so calm and "normal" in comparison.

I don't get tired of the view.

Up earlyish and the train to 125St. I have yet to take photos of the #1 station but it'll happen as I have a few days to do at the school. Today's work focused on helping teachers settle in to their classrooms and working out with some what they can do with their groups of students. I'm back there tomorrow following up on things- like demonstrating a reading lesson for one teacher and helping another with managing her role in the school.

Ponderings in the park and beyond...

How photography has changed! Sitting in City Hall Park waiting for Anne Marie and Barry to finalize their purchase of a movie camera I was watching the world go by. The fountain in the park is lovely and is indeed a very good spot for "that perfect travel photo". Loads of people were coming and going one group were clustered around one part and it would seem one man had offered to take a photo of a couple using the couples camera. The pose was all set up but the "photographer" couldn't see anything on the camera's screen. "That's because it is an SLR!" I felt like yelling at them (yelling only so they'd hear). The camera owner said something to the guy and the guy then proceeded to take the photo with the camera at arms length! What is the photography world coming to?! I have no idea how bad that photo would have been but the camera owner took it with good grace and moved on- they were too far away for me to leap up and offer to do a better job of it.
Digital photography has really changed how people approach taking photos. Watching people holding their cameras at arms length is quite amusing to me- you hold something away from you to look at it?
In the park there was a German (sounded like German that they were speaking) family - father daughter & fiance/boyfriend and younger brother. The young boy was standing over near the side spout of the fountain and the sister was giving directions of where to stand to the left further this way or further that way and then took a photo. The brother came over unaware of why she would have been taking the photo in that way. She showed him the photo and he started crying- the effect she was aiming for was to make it look like he was peeing in the fountain. It must have been effective as he was very upset. They all talked and she then went over to the fountain for him to take a photo of her. This appeased him and they all headed off.









I noticed two men digging up plants in the garden beds and putting them in a wheelbarrow. The thought crossed my mind (as it is Sunday) were they finding plants to replenish their backyard? Or were they NYC Parks people working on Sunday? Hmmm too much Law and Order on my part perhaps. although I do believe there is no such thing as too much Law and Order!



My toe although an interesting shade is recovering very well. I managed to walk with AM & B from the park (it is a square really and one merely crosses it) to Century 21 where we , Barry and I, assisted Anne Marie in her purchasing. Standing in one place does put pressure on one's back- I tried relieving that pressure by strolling through the endless array of not terribly wonderful clothing. The fitting rooms are in the middle of the designer clothing one very froofy
skirt which looked unfinished to me was marked down to $669.99. I resisted!!!






We returned to the apartment with Anne Marie's purchases and the video camera and rested up heading out at 6 to walk down Broadway to 42nd St to see Mary Poppins. It is a wonderful production and so wholesome in the beautifully restored New Amsterdam Theatre.
As we crossed 48th St to head for Broadway Boeing Boeing's matinée had finished and people were hanging around the stage door but standing where we were just crossing was Mark Ryance the English actor who played Robert in Boeing Boeing so I walked up to him shook his hand and congratulated him on his performance in the play (which I have seen) and particularly congratulated him on his TONY award. I think he was stunned and tired, he took it all with good grace. Don't know if the crowd at the theatre door had seen him there and I had blown his cover or perhaps he hd already braved the hordes and was merely waiting for a cab. I didn't recognize the man standing with him.

In looking back it was a bit of an action packed day completed with a great dinner on 9th Avenue and a stroll home in balmy weather.

I just don't get it...

There are signs and posters everywhere and many I understand and can in some cases even applaud their message but this one has me puzzled. In an effort to empower women and encourage boys and men to respect them whoever put this campaign together has managed to link eating vegetables and doing homework with respecting women. I do understand what underlies the theme of it should be automatic and unquestioned but to my thinking it is a long way off the mark.
Having seen this on the way to work I pulled out my camera and photographed it then as I was walking past the phone booth I looked back to see what was on the other side and it was a poster that did exactly the opposite that is it disrespected women. I guess that was going to be a given as it was advertising after all.