Today I again experienced the perfect way to say good-bye to the year 1,2 and 3 special education majors from Sam Sharpe…over lunch. I had heard that the students wanted an end of the year party but no one seemed to be taking the lead in planning something so I offered to host a party at the pool and restaurant adjacent to my condo, a place where I have spent MUCH time this semester. The students were all for it so the planning began.
I’ve learned that planning anything in Jamaica is challenging because of the ‘fuzzy’ time element that everyone seems to live with, but I persevered and we ended up having a pretty awesome party.
I talked to Ruth, a caterer from the hotel, El Greco, that manages the restaurant and we were finally able to settle on a menu that the students could afford with a little help from me. Then we talked about the type of party we could throw poolside. Our party was planned for 12-3 or 4 but of course, no one came until close to one and we finally started eating at about 1:20 but once we began, we had a party!
Our lunch of small sandwiches, French fries, salad, muffins, ice cream with chocolate sauce and fruit punch was perfect for the group of almost entirely young women. We took over most of the restaurant and had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch.
Then we made our way over to the pool and the real fun began. I had planned some simple games, had students sign up for at least one game and they were certainly not shy about singing up to participate! The first game, a race around the pool with a hard boiled egg on a spoon, was something entirely new and a bit crazy to these Jamaican students but once they got the hang of it, they were into it, and I mean INTO it! The second game, a water balloon toss was even more foreign to them. Why would you throw a water balloon at your partner? But again, once they got the hang of the game, the purpose being to NOT let your balloon pop on your partner, they jumped right in and had a great time. The bun eating and Pepsi drinking contests were much more familiar to them and I found myself scrambling to find more buns and Pepsis for all of the participants. Our final event, a dance contest, complete with a DJ, was the most fun since Jamaicans KNOW how to dance! It must be in their blood because just about everyone participated and had quite the moves.
It was time to say good-bye, a difficult but necessary closure for me, and I did so hoping that I will be able to stay in touch with many of my new students. I’m anxious to see where they end up teaching (the year 3 students) and how student teaching progresses for the year 2’s. I asked them to find me on Facebook so I expect to have many new ‘friends’ very soon.
Saying good-bye over lunch was VERY good!
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