Arrived in Quito

We arrived in Quito to a sea of yellow shirts in anticipation of the Ecuador - Curacao World Cup match.  There was high expectations from Ecuador to play this small Caribbean island with a population of 158,000.  We got back to Luis's sisters house intime for a quick hello before settling in to watch the game.  But with every passing minute the excitement dwindled as Ecuador struggled to make a goal.  The game ended 0-0.  But among the disappointment we still had a very excited Sebastian on our hands.  He is so happy to be here.

School is Out for Summer

Another school year done.  A good year altogether.  Sebastian loved his teacher and his class.  Luis enjoyed his official first full time year at NIST.  I enjoyed my classes and my decision to do a Masters to start to transition from Maths teacher in the next few years.  We stayed after school broke out for the annual BBQ while Sebastian had a playdate before his long break from his friends.   And then we started our long journey to Ecuador.  

The 'littles' we call them. Willa, Sebastian and Zoe playing strong for 4 years.  Here they are apparently playing dead at Janelle's house.

Some picutres of the last day, everyone all smiles.

And then we were off!

Last Week of School

The last week of school is always busy.  We have to wrap up there while preparing for our 7 weeks away.   The week has been full of packing, cleaning and celebrations.  We had Antonella's birthday celebration Wednesday, my Year 11 team debrief at Hemmingway's and then a retirement breakfast for one of my favourites, Alan.  Now finishing the last few hours of school before jetting off this evening. 

Amazing Thailand Toyota Triathalon

This triathlon sold out in 3 hours.  I thought there was no hope but Lyndsey got Toyota to get us in.  When I got there I thought I had made a huge mistake.  It had all the pros and was so impressive.  TV crews, amazing set up and about a million people. I had never ridden my bike before this weekend and every bike there was like a BMW and my bike like a 1982 Toyota station wagon.  The sea was rough and the swim long.  I was in panic mode by Sunday morning.  The swim was hard.  What made it harder as there were five level of swimmers set off one group after another.  I like, many women, put myself down and in the medium category and I think most men did the opposite.  It made the swim far more difficult as I had to swim around many poor swimmers.  I ended up coming out with some of the top swimmers, but it was tough.  The bike was awful as I could not work out the gears (probably needed to ride it once before the actual day) and ended up in the small gear for the entire thing.  And it was hilly.  The run I was overall frustrated and hot.  I was hungry and really the last 1km had given up.  I swore I would never do it again but certainly not at this level.  And turned out I cam fourth by 9 seconds (very annoying) and second 30 seconds away.  I could not believe it! As the only one without clip in bike, in the wrong gear, in an ancient road bike, I was happy.

The Deck - Mark and Alan Retirement Party

Next year my department is going to a different place when I started four years ago.  I will actually become one of the longing serving members as we say goodbye to another two this year.  Mark, my head of department, and Alan will both retire.  Of course, we needed to give them a proper send off and where better than one of our favourite spots, The Deck.  We have been a few times here to do the pub quiz and it is always a fun night out.  I divided us into 'Team Mark' and 'Team Alan' and we battled it out.  Neither team did well against the full pub but amazingly we drew and ended up with the same amount of points.  It was a great evening.  They both will be well and truly missed next school year.

Sebastian's Rhythm, Rhymes and Art Day

Yesterday morning Sebastian's class presented Rhythm, Rhyme's and Art day.  I was so sick, but I dragged myself there (I almost passed out during it and dragged myself home after).  It was great to see him perform and see some of the amazing work he had been doing in school.  He was very proud of himself and well worth the energy it took to get me there.  He did so well, particularly in reading, and this had been over the last few days.  He is feeling much more confident to take chances in reading and his confidence is developing.