SO, on a different note.
Victoria and I are trying to get an assembly hall-lunch room-library-study area building put up at my high school. My school is only 4 years old, but we're fast becoming one of the best in the nation, the teachers and students are all so dedicated, and they work so hard, i really think a lot of these students will go on to do something great with their lives.
Because my school is so new, they have very little in terms of resources. The entire school consists of 9 classrooms, some outdoor latrines, a lab (with almost no actual lab materials), and a building with a staff room and principal's/secretary's offices. They have to have daily assembly outside, which is really unfortunate in summer because it's always raining, and in winter because it's freezing cold and very windy. They have nowhere to sit and eat lunch, and I'm organizing a library, so about 1000 books will arrive next may, with nowhere to be stored or read. Also fofr the standardized tests they have every year, there is nowhere for the students to take the exams. This building will be great for all of these things (Assembly hall, library, study space, exam hall, lunchroom, etc). An estimate and a sketch are going to be made up soon, which i will post.
The idea was put to me by my host family, my "mom" is chairman of the school board, and her oldest daughter owns a contracting company, and they are very motivated to organize everything, we are getting windows and doors donated, and we will hold fundraisers in town, BUT, this building will cost about $20,000 US, which is waaay more than these villagers that live on 2,400 USD a year can raise. So soon i will begin fundraising in earnest, but for a heads up, anyone who was interested in sponsoring a child (which is still an option) may want to divert their funds to the Hall! A website is being set up that you will be able to donate directly to.
I realize America/ the world is in some sort of "recession" and whatnot, but as poor as you guys feel, you are still incredibly unimaginably rich compared to my students, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. And this hall will last a long time, and make such a HUGE difference to these kids.
Please tap into your sense of compassion, forego eating out or candy or something superfluous for a little while, and instead give the money to these wonderful kids who have all the odds in the world stacked up against them.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wah- waah (sad face)
So.... my ipod spontaneously combusted. literally (kind of). i was listening to it in my speakers no prob, and it paused for no reason, so i turned it off, but it was frozen, which happens plenty so i did the magic reset thing. and when it reset it insisted i plug into itunes before it can be normal again. so i plug into itunes, and itunes sez i must "restore" it. which means EVERYTHING will be deleted.
So i get scared, and take it to the IT specialist in the office in the capital. and he uses his linux system to look at it, and it says there are only 1.16 GB of corrupted music. There should have been 60 GB music, 4 GB pictures, and like 10GB of movies....
So i get real sad, have 2 whole beers with lunch, and decide i will restore it. But my ipod decided to get all sassy and won't let any computer restore or reformat or anything! It won't let me move on! So IT specialist has it again for the day. i think he is intrigued by this.
I am just real sad. I'd think, a lot of times while on the bus or travelling around, what if my stuff was stolen, what would i miss the most? it's my ipod. ok. but, i am putting it in a box. i will not dwell.
Other than that, i'm too lazy to tell you the story of the 3 week old cous cous. it's a good one though. In general, i feel like everything is just same old same old, and so i just can't get inspired to write an actual blog post. hence all the photos and lists.
People who are writing me letters are getting good stories in return though. well, good stories is interpretable, they're getting random stories from day to day life. Maybe if you write me a letter (even writing an email, then printing and mailing it to me works well), i will tell you fun stories!
love you all
So i get scared, and take it to the IT specialist in the office in the capital. and he uses his linux system to look at it, and it says there are only 1.16 GB of corrupted music. There should have been 60 GB music, 4 GB pictures, and like 10GB of movies....
So i get real sad, have 2 whole beers with lunch, and decide i will restore it. But my ipod decided to get all sassy and won't let any computer restore or reformat or anything! It won't let me move on! So IT specialist has it again for the day. i think he is intrigued by this.
I am just real sad. I'd think, a lot of times while on the bus or travelling around, what if my stuff was stolen, what would i miss the most? it's my ipod. ok. but, i am putting it in a box. i will not dwell.
Other than that, i'm too lazy to tell you the story of the 3 week old cous cous. it's a good one though. In general, i feel like everything is just same old same old, and so i just can't get inspired to write an actual blog post. hence all the photos and lists.
People who are writing me letters are getting good stories in return though. well, good stories is interpretable, they're getting random stories from day to day life. Maybe if you write me a letter (even writing an email, then printing and mailing it to me works well), i will tell you fun stories!
love you all
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Easter, Shmeister. Put it in Your Keister!
Goals for Easter Vacay 2009
1. Climb to the highest point in an area
2. bathe in a waterfall
3. build a badass sandcastle
4. hammock joust
5. find monkeys
A. befriend a monkey
a. trade headband for very powerful ring with said monkey
a.1. convince said monkey to wear said headband
6. Madeline needs to buy jellies and a floppy hat
* Please note: Rebecca would also like a floppy hat
10 Things to Quicken My Heart [Easter]
10. Backflips in the waves
9. midnight full moon shark infested waters of the indian ocean skinny dipping
8. building drip sandcastles
7. drinking with friends
6. sangria
5. foliage
4. cuddling
3. making fires and sitting by them
2. hammocks
1. Brett the helper -- with headband
Highlights [Easter]
1. See previous list
2. food poisoning twice in two weeks (doh!)
3. meeting a former employee of Jaime Oliver
4. burning myself 3 1/2 times on various hot substances/objects
5. Dreaming of a chuck-e-cheese shipwreck
6. Sitting on a couch with jack/brett/mad watching the foliage for 5 hours
7. Creepy assholes harassing/molesting me in my sleep (3 times) (triple doh!)
8. My hair= a fro the whole week
9. Wearing dresses that end above my knees
10. Minimal sunburnage
11. Buying purple tights
12. Road trip with best playlist evar
13. Harassing the attractive bartender into having a dance party, then being unable to attend
14. Not getting eaten by sharks
15. 3 giant friendly dogs adopted us for the day! (we named them jellybean, fetch, and lamp)
16. pineapples (with rum, sometimes)
17. monkeys of indeterminate species
18. untended cows that go for a jaunt to the beach to sunbathe and wade in the shallows
1. Climb to the highest point in an area
2. bathe in a waterfall
3. build a badass sandcastle
4. hammock joust
5. find monkeys
A. befriend a monkey
a. trade headband for very powerful ring with said monkey
a.1. convince said monkey to wear said headband
6. Madeline needs to buy jellies and a floppy hat
* Please note: Rebecca would also like a floppy hat
10 Things to Quicken My Heart [Easter]
10. Backflips in the waves
9. midnight full moon shark infested waters of the indian ocean skinny dipping
8. building drip sandcastles
7. drinking with friends
6. sangria
5. foliage
4. cuddling
3. making fires and sitting by them
2. hammocks
1. Brett the helper -- with headband
Highlights [Easter]
1. See previous list
2. food poisoning twice in two weeks (doh!)
3. meeting a former employee of Jaime Oliver
4. burning myself 3 1/2 times on various hot substances/objects
5. Dreaming of a chuck-e-cheese shipwreck
6. Sitting on a couch with jack/brett/mad watching the foliage for 5 hours
7. Creepy assholes harassing/molesting me in my sleep (3 times) (triple doh!)
8. My hair= a fro the whole week
9. Wearing dresses that end above my knees
10. Minimal sunburnage
11. Buying purple tights
12. Road trip with best playlist evar
13. Harassing the attractive bartender into having a dance party, then being unable to attend
14. Not getting eaten by sharks
15. 3 giant friendly dogs adopted us for the day! (we named them jellybean, fetch, and lamp)
16. pineapples (with rum, sometimes)
17. monkeys of indeterminate species
18. untended cows that go for a jaunt to the beach to sunbathe and wade in the shallows
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