What have I been up to lately

Sometime ago, I got hired to be a teacher at one of our county's local schools. Maybe that's why my fellow bloggers haven't heard from me in a while...or my blogs have became less steady. Let me tell you guys upfront, it is one very stressful job but you can have tons of fun too, especially if you are really into the subject that you are teaching. The kids are awesome! They always come up with something that will make you laugh when you think you couldn't take the administrative stress anymore. I mean, there are days when the same kids will try your very last nerve but they are also the best part of the job.
Actually, these are not kids but they are 11th and 12th graders. The first two weeks of school were trying. I was getting to know the kids and I really had to work with them to gain their attention. Now I know them by face and name and their personalities. As a teacher, you walk the fine line between being too harsh and then being too nice. I've seen that. However, the kids need to know that you really want to help them and when they see that, you can go from there.
The best thing about this job is the questions you get. Just when you think that they cannot come up with something crazy to ask, they ask it. They are curious but then again, I encourage that too. Yesterday, they asked me about frogs and why they die when you throw salt on their backs. It was off the topic but nevertheless, related in some way to what I was teaching. You always have to have these little factoids on hand to throw out at them when you see them understanding the topic. It's like giving them a treat. You teach them what you want them to learn, stop, let them absorb it, they ask questions, and then they come up with the association questions. When they get this far, I tell them something really cool about the topic that they will remember...the factoid. That's when I see the lightbulbs going on and really, you do notice it.
Today, I got a day off and let me tell you, I completely agree with getting so many holidays as a teacher. you need to recover.
Apart from teaching, I've been planning my wedding. It's only three months away and it's a lot of work to get done. This is when you get happy to know that you have a big and extended out family. You have some of them just waiting for you to tell them what you want to get done. I think Ami is doing more of the planning that I am....and he's the groom! It's not that I'm not excited about it too but he does better when it comes to having things planned and on a schedule. I pretty much get a picture in my head, research a lot and act at the last minute when I have the entire thing drawn out in my mind. Yesterday, I went all by my lonesome and got my sari. I guess it was strange that I would go by myself to do shop for the dress i would wear on my wedding day but I'm weird when it comes to shopping. When there are people with me, I will look but I don't buy anything so when I want to get something, I've realized that I'm better off alone. Actually, I hate shopping for myself. It took me ten minutes to decide on the sari I wanted, get the deal, and I exited out of there. Sometimes we make too much of a big deal about things. The wedding is not as important to me as the marriage I guess.

And finally, we've made a little progress with training Papo. He allowed us to trim his nails the other day providing that I had to sit and give him a treat for ever nail that he allowed furgie to clip. He was such an angel too! He's chewed all the door jams and eaten off the heel of of of furgie's favorite shoes as well as the spine of a book she likes a lot. Furgie's response to that was that the shoe was old. Training-wise, he responds to two commands, Cheeeeeeeese and Leave it! For his progress, Furgie gave him a blanket which he completely loves!

Jumbie talk

You can always find a good laugh somewhere in the Trinidad Express! Today it happen to be in the front page news. So we have a lil problem in Cedros....again!

EVIL IN THE AIR Cedros holymen hold exorcism ritual Richard Charan South Bureau

Three weeks ago, a young mother with a seemingly perfect life, placed her infant in a playpen, walked to the backyard and set herself on fire. Before dying, she told of being tormented by a voice that compelled her to do it. She did it shortly after attending the funeral of a woman from the village. And thee other women living in the village of Granville, Cedros, have since told their pastors and pundit of being possessed by something asking them to kill or die. The supposedly supernatural event unfolding in the village has spawned genuine fear-women afraid to walk the roads after dark, men scared to go tend to their crops in the forests around the rural village. Several people told of sensing the thing, others of seeing a white goat wearing a gold chain ( Laugh starts here.....ah gold chain...) moving in and out of the forest at night. The fear has been heightened because the "demon" visited the village before. Nine years ago, it was said to be responsible for the double suicide of a young couple, cousins Vanessa Behrue, 14, and Balraj Baboolal, 18, who hanged themselves from an almond tree. (Allyuh remember dis?) Within a week, three other teenagers killed themselves in the village. People prayed then to stop more deaths. So the village has responded to this new threat with religion. Residents were told of the plan by megaphone. On Friday night, the leaders of churches, a mosque and temple assembled at the entrances to the village with their believers. They walked every road, carrying burning incense, to "smoke out" the bad spirit. Others held deyas and flambeaux. Pundit Praboodeo Maharaj blew his conch shell and chanted. A pastor read from the scriptures. (At least people here don't fight about "my God bigger than your God!" They need all the God they can get right about now it seems. You gotta love TnT!) Hundreds met at the Granville Community Centre for an interfaith service. Christian holymen, including those from the Roman Catholic, Open Bible, Church of God and Pentecostal churches prayed and sang. (Where else in the world you will hear of this?) Pundit Maharaj led a Shanti Paath pooja-a prayer for peace and the removal of evil-which began on September 3. Not all agreed that the village was possessed, but most welcomed the intervention. Seroma Bedasie, 71, said "I am not a superstitious person but I was part of this vigil to make our village stronger I will do anything I can to help". Farmer Shammie Toolsie said "everyone in the village talking about this thing that taking over people's minds. So we are trying to do something about it". Rooplal Mahabir said "even if it have no ghost, at least this bringing the community closer and making people more prayerful". Pundit Maharaj believes. He said events began with the sudden death of a young woman-a 27-year-old supermarket worker, who was diagnosed with a blood-related illness and was dead within days. Dohmatie Seebran, 32, attended that funeral. Maharaj said soon after "she complained of feeling nauseous, vomiting. She was not ill before. She complained to her pastor. He tried to pray for her. She stopped him. She said he could not pray for her. Her husband was away that day when she put her child in a playpen and became a ball of fire". Police confirmed the death and the report that Ramsaran told friends that a voice in her head told her to do it. And her husband, Mookesh Seebran, said she was never suicidal. He said some days "she was not herself. She said something talking to her. I just thought she needed rest". Maharaj said that since Seebran's funeral two Tuesdays ago, "three women I know have had an experience. One said she felt something hold on to her, telling her to go kill her child and then her life. When she turned there was no one there". He said other holymen he consulted believe that the spirit may have been invoked during an occult ritual, and now could not be bottled. Maharaj said "this evil will be removed with a forceful fight. And I do believe it is something evil. Can you feel it in the air?". Dr Harry Ramnath, a psychologist specialising in the paranormal, does not believe that prayers will help the people of Granville. He says those who have experienced a supernatural event, are exhibiting symptoms of mass hysteria, caused by a belief that becomes real in the mind of the "victim". Ramnath said the people needed counselling, and without it, villagers will continue to panic. He likened the Granville incident to what happened at schools where one child fell ill, and dozens of others complained of similar ailments, when they have none. He said the incident needed investigating to determine the source and education to help the community understand their fear. But what of the voice Dohmatie heard before her suicide? Ever heard of The Crucible?