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Teacher Aboard Logs |
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For my first school visit, I took a 45 minute train ride outside of Lisbon to a beautiful area called Sintra. Marked with castles and former summer palaces, the town has kept an old-world charm about itself. |
| Lisbon is famous for its painted tiles known as azulejos. The first was imported in the 15th century. I found this beautiful example on the street corner in Sintra. The tiles portray individual scenes or sometimes work together in a collage to present an intricate view of a subject. |
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The school I visited was the American International School, Lisbon. Ms. Cindy Ferrell, the Director of Admissions and Marketing, was very charming and helpful as I arrived in a state of panic! I had not anticipated how long it would take to reach the school, so I got there just in the nick of time! I hate being late for anything! In any case, I was on time and she gave me a minute to gather my thoughts as we tried to get the slide projector working. Apparently, the carousel projector I was scheduled to use had taken an accidental leap off something the day before and took an early "retirement!" Yikes! This was really getting exciting!! |
| I plowed ahead with my presentation with the assistance of one of the instructors who got stuck with the job of loading the slides one at a time. You can tell by my attire that the laundry was out! |
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The students were wonderful as they sat through a somewhat disjointed, but fun assembly! At the end, I presented them with the scrapbook from North Chevy Chase Elementary School in Maryland. Needless to say, the students were elated and they already have something to send in return. They hoped to present it during my visit, but we were out of time so it will be sent by mail. |
| I snapped one last picture of my "assistant" with her students and the scrapbook, and I was on my way! Farewell, and thank you for a lovely visit! I hope to visit you again someday soon! |
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I wandered through town for a few hours and then caught a train back to Lisbon. I had something to eat and walked back to the boat. I had made arrangements for the next school visit to take place the following morning. When I found out that it also required a train ride out of town, I knew I couldn't stay up late. So off to bed I went!
Rain. Yuck, yuck, and more yuck! I don't mind rain in the garden and I don't mind rain while I'm sleeping, but I hate rain when I have to go somewhere! Arrrrrggggh!! So with umbrella in hand I walked to the train station, asked which train to take, and off I went. BUT! The train was the wrong one and didn't go to my stop. SO.....off I went, walking down to the next station where I asked a kind policeman which train to take. He pointed at the train just arriving and I quickly jumped aboard! I watched the lovely scenery go by....including MY STOP!!!! Arrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!! Come back! By this time, I was furious. And late. Which made me more furious! Jeesh! So...onto the last train which DID stop where I needed to get off.
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I ran to St. Julian's School and was met by another lovely teacher/administrator, Ms. Isobel Hedges. Ms. Hedges had been outside looking for me while the students were inside, seated, and quietly awaiting my arrival! (I hate being late!) So without further ado, we quickly transferred my slides into their projector (which worked) and I began to regale them with tales of Pride II! The students were very interested and enthusiastic and had many questions afterward. (One thing I have found is that students know to ask lots of questions to keep from having to go back to their regular classes!) |
| They were wonderful young people and I made some new friends. |
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After the group photo, Ms. Hedges showed me around the school. It was built around an old chapel and still has much of its beautiful architecture. These azulejos (tiles) are in the foyer just inside the main doors. |
| One entire hall is dedicated to exhibitions of student art. The current display is by one of their graduating students and showed a remarkable range of talent. Here is one of his pieces. |
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Ms. Hedges teaches History and showed me some of the projects her students finished for their studies of ancient Rome - like these models of siege equipment. Very neat! Another great visit to yet another great school! Thank you all for being so patient. Next time I'll drive myself! |
Go to Part 3 of the October 14, 2000 Log
Return to Part 1 of the October 14, 2000 Log
