I started my in class observations a couple of weeks ago. I'm observing a first grade class at Walt Disney Elementary in Mishawaka. I spend about four hours there a week. The kids are absolutely adorable and the teacher is wonderful. She always has something waiting for me to do when I arrive in the mornings. It's usually along the lines of grading papers/getting papers ready for the kids. This is the second Title 1 school in which I've observed. The more I experience this kind of atmosphere, the more I want to work in a school with a similar demographic. I spend about four hours there a week.
Friday night, Peter and I went to his brother's house in Mishawaka for a bonfire. We stayed just long enough to help build the fire and fill the tiki torches before we headed to his oldest brother's house in Michigan. After we found enough change to pay our toll (it was a close call), we arrived without much difficulty. We didn't do much that night - made some corn bread muffins (very good! they served as both a late night snack and breakfast the next morning) and watched some TV. Peter then took me to his aunt's house for the night and he headed back to his brother's place. It was a bit strange falling asleep having not yet met the owner of the house, but I was tired enough to get over it pretty quickly.
Saturday morning, when Peter came to pick me up, we found an emu in the front yard! Billy, the dog, chased it onto the road. The dumb thing ran down the middle of the road in front of the car for quite a ways. It could very well be the funniest thing I've ever seen. After all that excitement, the three of us headed to an estate auction. This was a first for me, and a very interesting one at that. I really enjoyed digging through the many boxes of stuff even though I didn't buy anything. We spent the afternoon shooting guns in the pasture field. I actually hit two clay pigeons! I'm not going to say how many I missed .... I met Peter's cousin's family that night when we went over to his house for a delicious supper. After eating, we sat around the table talking and playing with flarp.
Sunday morning, there wasn't an emu in the front yard waiting for us. It was a bit disappointing. We went to Pleasant Hill Missionary Church. It was a very good service. While there, I met several more of Peter's extended family members. After lunch, we headed back to Bethel and homework :(
Last night, Peter and I got to babysit his niece for a couple of hours. She's so much fun and so, so cute!
Today was Bethel's annual service day. I went to the Habitat for Humanity Re-store in Mishawaka. Several other girls and I pulled weeds in the front flower bed and measured, stacked, and sorted lumber. Other groups at the same place helped people unload donations, sorted through paint, and swept the store. I find service day a fun diversion from the monotony of school.