Firstly, I don't think it's possible to put on weight out here; that is unless you eat Creole chicken and chips everyday. Believe me, some people do! What I mean is that the selection in the supermarket is so unpredicatble, meat is pricey and the variety of veg is somewhat limited. Kind of related to this chat about products, we watched Tim Harford's talk today about increasing complexity in the modern world during an INSET session.
He stated how in a typical supermarket, there would be 100,000 products, yet in a hunter gatherer society, there were only 500. I joked to Boatswain M, that our beloved local supermarket (MAS) probably had less than 500 products. Being a hunter gatherer is fun for a while, but when you can't get basic ingrediants like lemons or limes, you do get a tad frustrated. You also become more inventive with your culinary concoctions and inevitably, you lose weight. It got to the point where I saw lemons for the first time in 8 days in our local supermarket and I literally got an adrenaline rush. Excited by the prospect of a bit of zest in my life. Silly me!
The only thing keeping us afloat is Jenny's bakery. Anyone who builds their bakery on land owned by the school is a) awesome b) going to do a LOT of business!
Keeping on the positive side, I discovered yet another wonderful classroom view to rival Professor G's this week. Ellie L (AKA "My so called sister who likes to go to the beach and butchers without inviting any other family members") has this stunning view from her classroom window:
We're also situated on the same grounds as the local church. It seems I have moved from one school with an ajoining church to another. This one is Roman Catholic (I think) as 90% of the Church's on the island are Roman Catholic. Based on this, I wonder if my long-time mentor/mother Mrs H could get a job out here? Or just come here on "school business".
It's hard to believe you're in a work environment with views like these surrounding the school, but when your Windows Server has been hacked and there's no Internet access in school. You kind of feel the pressure, it also means I'll be coming into school on Saturday to help our technician out with all the little jobs that he has no time to do. Alongside that, like all schools we have an INSET program and lessons to plan. Some people doubt we actually do much work out here, so here's more proof.
For those teachers that drink coffee, i.e. every teacher with QTS, you'll be pretty shocked by the price of coffee out here:
That's a medium size jar and it translates as £10.50! Moral of the story, get rich or drink tea!
Working in an international school does have its pro's. Practically anyone of influence on the island is on the board of governors or as I like to refer to as being "on board", given the Captain/ship metaphor. We get frequent offers, such as this "optional TGI Friday's pool party at La Reserve hotel". Happy hours from 6pm-8pm.
"OPTIONAL" I hear you say? Even on this slightly overcast day like today, I think it would be rude not to represent the expatriates to the fullest. Unlike HRH Prince Harry of Wales, there probably won't be any strip billiards or indeed any billiards involved. There is however a swim-up bar. As designated driver, I'll be swimming up for my Mango and Orange juice then! It might just be me, as I only learnt how to swim 3 months ago-but I've not yet figured out how you swim back with your drinks. I'll report back after le weekend.
Posts will be less regular due to a) unpopular demand b) workload!
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