Shangilia - Introduction Day

Today I stayed after school for the introduction for Shangilia. I will be going to this school to teach the children various subjects (I will be focusing mainly on art), and to bond with them (every other Wednesday afternoon).

Today we arrived at the upper parking lot and checked our names off of the register and all ate lunch by the buses. Afterwards we assembled in the gym and Mrs. Redler gave us all a talk about what we should do and avoid doing on the trips (dress code, respect, etc.). When this finished we all set off to the separate classrooms in which our meetings would be held. Mine was in the music room in the arts centre with about 10-12 other people.
The manager (?) of Shangilia came in and showed us a video he had made of the school. This included a detailed tour of their campus, what they have at the moment, and will need in the future. It also told us about the achievements of this foundation, and how it came to evolve. He educated us about how to act around the children, their emotional background, and the fundraisers we will be doing (assisted by Mrs. Haskel).

After this the seniors went up and organised us into different teaching groups (one for art, math, etc.) that we will split into when we travel to the school. They also told me that I'm to write the first link article!
After this was over we did some ice-breaking exercises. The first was a memory game, where you have to repeat the action of the person in front of you. Secondly we made a 'human knot' of arms and worked together to try and untangle ourselves back into a circle. This took a LONG time, but we eventually succeeded. The final game was the ninja one, where you have to block the various slices and slaps of the other ninjas (students) as they strike out at you.

Today was a great start to the year of service, and I can't wait to travel to Shangilia and meet the kids! I think that this trip will help me realise how little these children have, and how much they need to be helped. It may also inspire me, as I've heard that they're amazing gymnasts/performers!

ARTSCO Bake Sale

Today we had a bake sale during lunch for ARTSCO. I made brownies, with cinnamon and cashew nuts in them. There were only two left by the end of lunch. My friend Hannah made a heart shaped cake, Lucie made awesome purple fairy cakes (which all sold out after about 10 minutes!) and Shanti made lots of yummy muffins.

I sold with Lucie and Niamh, everything was 50 shillings, and the high schoolers went cake-crazy! We took the muffins and other goodies around the school so that the teachers could buy some. The middle schoolers even bought a few.

I think that we made a fair amount of money, and did a great job with this event. It was really fun doing something for ARTSCO with my friends.
The following are photographs of us:

Me and Niamh in charge of the stand!

Me and Lucie give out cake. 

Swim Team - First Week!

It is the second week of tenth grade and this week I had / am going to have my first four practices in swim team. I swam on monday afternoon, and wednesday morning, and today I will swim on thursday afternoon, and tomorrow on friday afternoon. I was happy to get back into the pool and start working out again, but I was surprised at how unfit I have become over the summer!

The new ISK swim coach is really nice, and his assistant coach (a young lady) is also very encouraging and friendly. The workouts this week consisted of endurance exercises and sprints. We did the normal thing of covering each stroke, kicking, and pulling. On monday afternoon we also did a relay race near the end of the session. The coaches pushed us to do flip turns during the practice, so that we would be prepared for competition.

Some teammates and I

The basic requirements for swim team are a water bottle (to stay hydrated), goggles, and a swim cap (so that you'll get used to the feeling of wearing it).
I can't wait to get back in shape, and do some competitions!