November 26, 2008

We had our field trip to the farm today! It was tons of fun. After leaving an hour after we were supposed to, all of the 6th and 7th graders hopped in the rusty imitation of a pick-up truck and headed on down the hole stricken road to the Arno farm. Richie and Kiaben decided to walk 3 hours earlier and skip math – so they earned themselves an hour of weeding tomorrow after school…bad move on their part.

At the farm, however, we got a tour from Nebit (Benjamin is in the hospital sick right now ☹) and he taught the kids all about how to plant and care for all the fruits and vegetables. After that we helped make a cucumber bed and plant the seeds we have been nurserying for about bit now. We learned how to make a bed with the compost and pig manure and how to plant the seeds so they are spaced properly to absorb the compost. The guys loved it and worked hard all day – but the girls not so much. They weren’t the biggest fans of shoveling pig manure and were ‘thirsty’ every 2 seconds. Going to the farm was really good for some kids though because it gave me chance to see them in a different light. The kids that always excel in the classroom weren’t necessarily the hardest workers out side; and the kids that consistently fail most assessments were among the hardest workers. It was nice to get to see that side of them.

After the field trip we waited for the truck for 2 hours and played volleyball with the Arno kids. JunJun was a little on the late side – but I found out after it was because he took the MOE to Lukoj so they could take pictures of our disastrous school building! So that is ok…that means that something might actually be getting done. They told us they were planning to come in January to re-do the school; so I am keeping my fingers crossed big time for that one. (My initial thought when they said January was ‘there is no way they will come, you can’t build with all the snow.’ Thennnn I remembered where I was, and realized…not so much. Hahah)