Questions from Cambridge

Along with writing my blog, I have been communicating with my cooperating teacher in Wisconsin. My students at home wrote down a few questions that they had for me, and she emailed them for me to answer.

Here are the answers to your questions, 4th grade! If a few of you asked the same question, I only answered it one time. Lots of great questions!


Krista
Do the kids have spelling words like we do?
Yes, they do. Some teachers make their spelling list with words that the students are learning about in other subjects. One of the grade 4 classes here has words like carbohydrates, refrigeration, condensation, precipitation, ingredients, substitute, metric, and kilometre (This is spelt differently than at home. We put an -er at the end, and they use -re).

Do you always eat their food?
When we are at the schools, they make us a school lunch every day and I always eat it. For dinner we have been making our own food that we bought from the grocery store, and some of the food is the American brand, but it is much more expensive than the Jamaican brands so we have a little of both.

Spencer W.
What are the kids' favorite sports?
What kind of books do they like to read?
I asked my students both of these questions, and here are pictures of what they told me to write down for their favorite sports and books that they like. 

Netball is kind of like basketball, but the hoop has no backboard. Also, there is no dribbling - only passing. Once you catch the ball, you cannot move. That is all that I know about it so far.
Cricket isn't like the cricket that you see in Alice and Wonderland. It is a bat and ball game, and each team has eleven players. Here are some boys playing cricket during break at one of the schools we visited.

This is a list of only some of the books that the students told me they liked. They wanted me to write down so many more, but we just would not have enough room on the board for all of the books that they like. Charlotte's Web is the book I am reading aloud to them while I am here.

Stone
Can you take a picture of the Cambridge sign?
Unfortunately, I can't take a picture of the Cambridge sign that I saw. We won't be driving past it any more while we are here, but I will keep my eye out in case there is another one.

What is your favorite restaurant? 
My favorite restaurant here that we have been to is called Bloomfield. It is only about a 5 minute drive from the hotel that we are staying at while we're here. The building is an old plantation from the 1800s that they fixed up and made into a restaurant. It looks out over much of the city of Mandeville. The view was beautiful, and the food was delicious.

The view from my seat at dinner

This was the total amount for our large group's bill: $13,358. Still funny to see on a bill. Tax here (where it says GCT) is about 17%! Quite the difference from our 5.6% in Wisconsin.

Kylie
Have you gotten to ride a donkey yet?
I have not gotten to ride a donkey since we have been here, but if I do, I will be sure to let you know and get pictures. I have seen about five of them on farms and along the side of the road since we have been here. I even saw one pulling a cart. 

How many days have you taught?
I have taught for a total of 10 days so far - every day last week, and every day this week. On the two Fridays, I taught Physical Education to all of the grades with my other teacher friends.

Noah
What is the best food that you have tasted so far?
Jerk chicken has been my favorite thing that I have eaten so far. It is better at some places than at others, just like how food can taste different at different restaurants in the U.S. It is spicy, so I love it. The only part that has taken some getting used to is all of the bones that we have to pick out of our meat and fish. There is no such thing as skinless, boneless chicken breast here.

Do they take field trips?
My class said that they take field trips at the end of the year and go to places that are main attractions. They usually go to beaches at places like Montego Bay, and one of the students mentioned a place called Bubbling Springs. One of my teacher friends is going on a field trip with her class this Wednesday to the courthouse and other government buildings. I will be sure to get all of the details of it (and maybe some pictures) from her.

Cooper
What are the pools like?
We have a pool at our hotel, and it's just like any other hotel pool in the U.S.
It has a little waterfall that runs into it,

and it's in a courtyard with all of the hotel rooms surrounding it. This is the view of the pool from our room.

Have you eaten a yam?
I have eaten a few yams, yes. We also have had green bananas and cassava. All 3 of them taste kind of similar to a potato.

Derek
Is it a lot different from Cambridge?
The city is different from Cambridge because it is bigger and everything looks different, and the schools are also very different - they don't have walls that go all the way up to the ceiling, they are very loud, they are open-air, there are no Smart Boards, and there are 30 kids in my classroom here! 

Are the road side eating places weird or are they cool?
They are not necessarily weird, but they are quite different from what we are used to at home. People come up to your car to ask if you want to buy food, and they cook the food right there for you to see. It is almost like a drive-thru window but you pull up and get out to buy the food.

Is the food there good or is the food in the US better?
The food is good both here and in the U.S., but I am much more used to the food at home. Being here for a month has definitely gotten me to try new things (including goat!) and get used to how most things here are served, but I miss some of my favorite foods from home.

Kelsie
Where was your favorite place?
Of the places we have visited so far, I enjoyed Negril the most. The beach is so beautiful there because the sand is really soft and the water is the bluest water I have ever seen. I definitely want to go back someday!

What does the silverware look like?
The silverware looks the same as it does at home. Good question, though!

Spencer D.
If it rains, how long does it last?
While we have been here, the rain hasn't usually lasted much longer than about 10 minutes. The weather here is very steady each day. The morning is a little cool, then it warms up to between 80 and 85 around noon and is very sunny, then the clouds come in the afternoon. It almost always looks like it will rain, but it only rains sometimes. When it does, it doesn't rain hard for very long, if at all.

How many people are in the school there?
There are about 400 students in my school here. Each class has about 30 students, and all grades have 2 classes except for Grade 4, which has 3 classes.

How long did it take you to write your blog?
Each blog post takes me about an hour to write, depending on the post. The writing doesn't usually take that long, but loading pictures can take awhile. Then I check to make sure I included everything I wanted to say and fix any mistakes I made. 

Zoey
Are there different games or songs that they taught you?
The students here sing songs during the day and during devotion, so I have gotten to know a lot of the words to their prayers and songs. My students have shown me some dances, like the ones that I mentioned in a previous blog post. Here is one thing a few girls in my class taught me that is kind of like a song:

Person 1: 1, 2, 3,4,5, my name's ________, I say hi
                6, 7, 8,9,10, back it up & meet my friend.

Hey _________

Person 2: Hey what?

1: Introduce yourself
2: No way

1: Introduce yourself

2: Okay

(Repeat with Person 2 as Person 1, and a new Person 2)

Do you like to play with the kids?
Yes I do. We have had fun playing games and jump roping with the students during lunchtime and during P.E. classes when we teach them. They really like the jump ropes and Skip-Its we brought for them. 

Erika
Does anyone have pets? 
They do have pets here, but their pets don't always stay in their houses like ours do. We see many dogs running around along the roads and in the city that have collars and belong to someone, but are just not in the house. They let them roam around. 

Dominick
How long are the school days?
The school days at my school start at 8:00 and go until 2:30. On Wednesdays, they have clubs after school until 3:30 that students can sign up for. My teacher runs the Reading Club.

Cody
At what age do they start first grade?
The students here start at the same age they do in the U.S. My teacher friend's Grade 1 students here are 6 and 7 years old.

Is their alphabet different or the same as ours?
Their alphabet is the same as ours, and they speak English here. They do have a Creole language here that they speak called Patois. That is the language that Wagwan ("what's going on?") is from. Most of the words are just words that sound like phrases that were shortened. Here are some examples that were in one of the students' textbooks.

Which school do you like better? Cambridge or Mile Gully?
I love both Cambridge and Mile Gully, but for different reasons. I have learned a lot from the schools, the students, and the teachers here, but I also miss parts of teaching at schools in America.

Have you ridden a camel? If you have was if fun or not?
I have not ridden a camel because they don't have camels here. I'm guessing it would be fun though.

What do they eat for lunch? Do they have the same thing every day or do they eat different things every day?
They have something different every day just like you do, but I don't think they have quite as wide of a variety because it would cost too much money. We eat the same meals for lunch that the students do. 

This isn't how our lunches are served, but this is what an normal meal is made up of for lunch: some kind of meat (chicken, pork, goat, fish), a kind of rice (yellow rice, rice & peas), and steamed vegetables (carrots and cabbage). This picture is of jerk chicken, rice & peas, steamed vegetables, and this meal also came with mashed potatoes.

The other day we got fried chicken and french fries for lunch. That was the first time I had french fries in almost 3 weeks.

Olivia
What does the teacher in the classroom look like?
Here is a picture of the teacher that I am working with, Mrs. Skeffery. This isn't the best picture, but it's the only one that I have of her so far.

How big is the school? Will you take a picture of it?
The school is smaller than Cambridge. I have taken a lot of pictures of it. Here are some pictures of the school and my classroom.

Katie
Do you have different times than the US? (time zones)
The time zone is either the same as Wisconsin's time zone or one hour later, like New York's time zone. It depends on Daylight Savings Time, so it's a little confusing. Right now, we are an hour later than Wisconsin, so when it's 12:00 noon in Cambridge, it's 1:00pm here.

Landin
Is it really hot? Is it humid at night?
It is warm during the day, but it cools down at night and isn't usually too humid. We are up in a mountain area though, so it's cooler here in the high altitudes. When we went to Negril, it was much warmer and more humid there because Negril is at a lower altitude.

Rachel
How long is their recess?
They have a break at 10:15 just like you do, and they eat snack and have a recess until 10:30.

Did the kids like the jump ropes that you brought along?
They love the jump ropes! They line up to ask for ropes during each lunchtime. They call them skipping ropes instead of jump ropes.


The last questions I wanted to answer:


What part is your favorite?
My favorite part about being here is experiencing a new culture and noticing the similarities and differences between the Jamaican culture and our own. There are many things that take some getting used to, but it has surprised me a little how many things compare with the United States.


Are you having fun?
I am having a blast! I am enjoying the culture, the food, the schools, and especially the weather! I will try to send some of our warmer weather your way, since I am hearing from family and friends that there is an ice storm there. As much fun as I am having, though, I think I will be ready to come home in a week and a half when I fly back. A month is a long time to be gone from home.


Thank you for all of the interesting questions, fourth graders. I can't wait to answer the new ones you come up with. We are learning a lot together! Also, my students here read your pen pal letters and really enjoyed them. They have started their letters for you, and they are very excited about them.