Day Seven: Work Hard and Play Hard!

My mother always used to say,
     "Once a job you have begun
      Never leave it 'til it's done.
      E're the job be great or small
      Do it well or not at all." (Actual author unknown)

My classroom, looking from the back to the
front (7 desks in all!)
Note the size of the a chalkboard
(no money for whiteboards...), and
there are zero bulletin boards.

Obviously, that saying has stuck with me my whole life (at least so far), but a teacher's work is never done. Much like being a mom... So today I worked like crazy in my very tiny classroom, trying to get it set for Monday morning.

The view from the front of the room

The view of the "big" wall. That red storage bin is
ALL of my supplies, including scissors, crayons,
 colored pencils, pencils, erasers, etc.

Hannah worked, too, cleaning the outside area where the kids eat lunch and work on things sometimes. It used to be the carport before Abbie's home was turned into a school. She helped Luce, a wonderful Culabrense grandmother who works with Abbie on administrative stuff, wash the concrete with Clorox and then hose down the driveway area, too. She came in a time or two and boy, was she sweaty! 


However, today, we set a time to "be done" and worked in my room until then. After that, it was time for play, and we played just as hard as we worked!

Hannah was disappointed about the scant amount of sea glass we had found during our last time out and after talking with some other folks she tracked down a good spot to find it. In fact, she was given some "inside information" on where is supposed to be the best place on the island for it! Of the two locations she was given, we opted for the one closer to home. Once we stepped foot onto that rocky beach, it was as though Miss Hannah had struck paydirt! Within about 20 minutes she, well, we had filled a discarded water bottle, a can, and a stryofoam cup with her treasure. And I even found a beautiful shell, fully intact! Even better is the fact that it was so easy and plentiful that if she uses up her stash there's lots more where it came from.

One of our Hermit Crab Buddies

Another Buddy

Leaving there we decided (well, actually I decided) to go to a beach Hannah hasn't seen yet. It's near the really popular beach, but you have to hike a bit to get there...probably a mile up over a great big hill (or small mountain, I suppose) and down the other side to get to it. I think it would have tried her patience were it not for the really cool hermit crabs she spotted on the way there. She would say, "Look, Mom!" and I'd respond, "What? Where?" and she'd point and I still couldn't find what she was pointing to until I was right on top of it. It was probably due to the fact my calf muscles haven't been stretched that much since...well, never. Once the novelty of the hermit crabs had worn off, however, she was ready for the sea.

View over Carlos Rosario Beach

Another Breathtaking View

She was quite a bit ahead of me because I stopped to take these beautiful pictures, so she arrived at the beach first. As I was rounding the last bend in the road/trail, I spied her coming back to meet me. With raised eyebrows and hands on her hips, she stated in a disgusted tone, "Mom, there are PEOPLE on the beach."



"Well, Honey, do you want to just skip this beach and go all the way back to the car and go to another beach?" I asked.

And Another....

"No, I guess we can stay here."


Sure enough, there were people on the quarter-mile long beach: one couple and a family in a boat near the shore. Darn, this over-crowding is getting pretty old, you know???

This is water that's PERFECT for snorkeling!

As it turned out, the boat family left within minutes of our arrival, so Hannah loosened up a bit. I challenged her to a swim out to a mooring buoy because I wanted to go out there. On the way, back, though, she was sort of freaked out because she brushed up on a jellyfish. Since Stan's incident with the jellyfish in Miami, she's been very leery of them.

Hannah at Carlos Rosario Beach

Somehow she started a conversation with the couple with whom we shared the beach (go figure...). They had been snorkeling, but we had left our snorkel gear in the car so we were anxious to find out if they had seen anything of interest. They told us they had and offered to share their gear. We politely declined, however, and said we'd come again. They were well-equipped with a lovely beach umbrella and straw mats that you set on the sand and lay on. (They're so much better than beach towels and much easier to cart around than beach chairs.) In our chat we found out they were from Argentina but are now living in San Francisco. We had a lovely conversation with them and they disappointedly told us they were leaving tomorrow. When they found out we were here for the whole school year, they were pretty shocked.

A Beach Buddy Standing at Attention

Beach Buddy

Then Hannah and I headed down the beach toward some of the rocks to see what new and exciting things we could find above the water. As we were headed back, the young man walked toward us and generously presented to us their beach umbrella and the two straw mats they had just bought a few days ago! He claimed they would just be a hassle to take home on the plane and since we are going to be here for ten months we'd get much more use from them! Wow! We were both so dumb-founded we were almost at a loss for words. We thanked them profusely and once he showed us how to set up the umbrella I happily plopped myself under it on my "new" mat and enjoyed a few minutes of just watching Hannah.

The Pack Mule!!!

Our return walk was without incident and we came home, showered, and then headed over to Abbie and Billy's house, as they had invited us for a spaghetti dinner! Their home was built completely by Billy, and he created much of the furniture and artwork himself as well. It is a wonderful home that really shows who they are.


Hannah and I both enjoyed stories of their wedding, their travels, and surviving hurricane Hugo. It was a wonderful evening and our first night out!


Hannah is completely wiped out and so am I. She's now fast asleep and I'm there shortly. 


Thank you, God, for your provision AGAIN. We are experiencing a very full life.