wednesday was our school’s day of class parties. we had been collecting money for about a month to raise funds for food and the such, to give the kids a proper good time before the holidays. marie and i ended up chipping in to get the few last necessities. asha and i spent the morning preparing 32 bags with all sorts of goodies to give out to the entire grade 6 class. i brought down the speakers and ipod so we could have some music throughout the day. we started by preparing breakfast for the kids, everybody assembled themselves to help and zane volunteered to turn selector for the day. we had tuna sandwiches, bully beef sandwiches, cheese sandwiches and bun and cheese…. along with milo and coffee.

the grade 6 breakfast quickly turned into a free for all for the rest of the student body, and before you could blink everything was finished. the kids had a dance off, girls and boys, young and old. they pulled out the recently acquired claro netball stand and set it up in the school yard… this led for an all day netball match between past students, current students and other community members. many parents were present and taking part in the days activities and socializing with one another. some of the parents brought in a game system and set up an area where the kids could take turns playing video games. by the time noon rolled by, we set up the cakes and ice-cream distribution center. rocksan favored a baskin-robbins employee as she dished out cup after cup of ice-cream. when the cake, ice-cream and drinks had all been wiped out, the crowd dispersed to the different areas of the school. cartoon and a few of the older john crow hill youth took selector privileges and the vibes continued well past 3pm.

thursday was teacher’s day, a day for the teachers and principal to convene and spend the day together, sans students. rocksan came to cook lunch for us. we all hung out in the canteen, drinking tea and coffee chatting nonsense. lunch was well-enjoyed… i prepared some veggie chunks to accompany the other sides rocksan had whipped up. all of us had a proper feast mixed with fresh sorrel from ms. mccalla’s mother. following lunch we all split a bottle of sangsters, to commemorate the year coming to an end, my last christmas here, and ms. harriot’s recent birthday. ms. palmer put on some reggae oldies and we all had a good laugh, taking in the afternoon. mr. atkinson presented all of us with speeches of gratitude, stone’s ginger wine and fruit cake. it then turned into a round table of speeches from every teacher. it took everything in my power not to let the pepper burn my eyes.

now we are officially on holiday till january. looking forward to some local downtime and spending the holidays in jamaica. everyone is anticipating the local, annual garden party. i also have an old high-school friend coming this next week to spend the holidays. all in all it looks like it’s going to be a good time.