Week 2

We wrapped up the month go April and the second week of virtual schooling for term 2. In some respects, our routine seemed to get settled. In other respects, there were some habits started that we needed to nip in the butt. The boys had to overcome their own sadness at having to redo some assignments - reading the instructions are really important. Following and fulfilling these instructions are important. There were a few loud dust ups with regards to these incidents. These involved what exactly does it mean to write a paragraph to explain something. Others, overcoming that writing is a difficult experience and requires many steps that we sometimes do not want to do. Others involved using our devices not for school activities during the school day. This has led to a removal of devices for the weekend. But we did have a bit of fun as well.

John’s Design and Technology class had to make a usual dessert recipe healthier with the addition of some fruit or vegetable. We had to split the recipe and add the secret ingredients. Someone else in the family had to see if they could taste what we added.

We added applesauce to one batch of brownies and shredded carrot to the other. The boys thought the applesauce batch was best. I preferred the shredded carrot. 

John also had to wrap up his unit of inquiry which focused on body systems. He needed to research and come up with a presentation on how an illness affects one or more body systems. He decided (after a teacher redirect) to look up Ovarian Cancer and have an online interview with Grandma Dee about her experiences.

We spent the rest of the week trying to keep to ourselves and minimize our movement. Unfortunately, the cases in the area and the massive contact-tracing effort that is underway was not moving along as smoothly as the government would like. Thus, the capital city was placed on a lockdown for the weekend. Fortuitously, I ordered dinner for delivery early in the afternoon and received it before the official lockdown was announced.

I did one better and ordered a bit more than our usual Friday evening pizza so that I could have another easy dinner meal. Then we got the official news:

It is now Sunday. We all anticipate an announcement as to whether or not this lockdown will be extended. Here is to hoping for some good news.

Week 1

We managed to complete the first week of Term 2 virtually. I will not deny that we had a few arguments about assignments and some were caught watching non-school related videos or playing Minecraft. There were some Zoom headaches as well. We did get everything completed that needed to get turned in. I am looking forward to Week 2 having a more solidified schedule. We celebrated the end of the week by making some home made pizza!

We even enjoyed some pool time during a period of non-essential movement.

But the Covid situation has gotten a bit worse here. As of today, there are over 20 active cases. The most concerning is a patient who showed at a fever clinic, tested positive, but has no clear link to any of the other cases (that is, the super spreader funeral event). With this news, our area of Viti Levu is now being placed in a containment zone.

I hope that over the next few days, the containment zones will become a bit more concentrated to certain areas. The next 14 days will be deja vu. We are reverting to the practices we had in place when we were in the US last year. We are staying at home as much as possible, only have one adult out at a time, masking up, and sanitizing everything.

Term 2 Start

Well, we have had an unexpected start to Term 2. On Monday morning, we were preparing our bags and uniforms for face to face instruction. By the afternoon we put everything away. The government of Fiji announced a possible case of local transmission. Parts of the country were placed under lockdown. In a quick decision, the international school decided to open up on Tuesday with virtual learning as the local schools moved their holiday up, effectively keeping students out of school for the next three weeks.

So, we started Term 2 virtually. This was the scene as we practiced logging in.

We are trying to get back in to the routine of screen work.

Tuesday afternoon the community transmission of Covid was confirmed. Even more concerning, the person in question attended a 500 person funeral and travelled in a large part of the containment area.

Wednesday (today) we decided to up our virtual learning game. We cleared a space for the boys to work.

Lucky kids get an office with a view. After we wrapped up the assignments for the day, we watched another government press conference. Not great news. A case, an attendee of the funeral, was found in Suva. This has effectively put the entire island of Viti Levu under a bunch of restrictions for at least the next 14 days.

We will try to make the most of it. We will keep to our bubble, practice mask wearing if we need to go out for some reason (hopefully not too frequently), and work hard on our school work.

Oven

About two weeks ago, I was baking some goodies in our oven. All of a sudden a loud bang came from the kitchen. I looked over to see the oven with no lights or clock working. It seems that the heating elements in the oven had failed.

So for two weeks my oven cooking was reduced to using an extremely tiny toaster oven.

Or, I experimented with the air fryer. Can one bake cookies in an air fryer?

Well, just a couple days ago, a new oven arrived. It was installed quickly.

I am still getting used to it. I am not sure that I like that all the controls are electronic and there are only touchpad buttons. 

I got over my fears this weekend about it though. I made a batch of bagels. They seemed to have turned out alright. The oven preheated a lot faster than the old one and seemed to maintain temperature correctly.

Silvio

 Our pup Silvio had to go in for major surgery. Well at nearly 13 years old, and surgery would be major for a dog. Kidney stones were the reason for the surgery. Thankfully, he is recovering well under the love and care of my brother and sister-in-law.

Nap the day before surgery

Car ride to the vet

I am such a good boy and super sleepy from surgery.

Recovering by myself leaves me grumpy.

I can not wait to be back in the states and love on this old pup!

Term Break

We are all still here surviving a quiet term break. In about five days, the second term fo the school year will begin. We have been doing some BrainQuest work, some left over homework, building legos, swimming in the pool, and trying to gather things for a garage sale.

We went for breakfast after getting Tdap shots

An edible island - Thomas’ SMART homework

Other than that, I am wrapping up the last few school board meetings, waiting to hear back from some job applications, and generally being stressed about moving.

End of Term Assembly

 I just thought I would share the song that Thomas’ year level performed at the end of term assembly last week. It should hopefully start at the 9:36 mark. This is when they began singing their song.

Term 1 Assembly

Trying to spend the term break relaxing.

Happy Easter!

 We are keeping our celebrations and festivities to a minimum. For the first time ever I made hard boiled eggs in the instant pot. It was rather quick and easy. Only a couple ended up slightly cracking the shell. That was good because later we ended up coloring all these wonderful eggs.  We also watched The Ten Commandments movie and I am hoping to have viewing of Jesus of Nazareth. Both are really long but hopefully we can watch them over the next few days.

April 1

This marked the final day of Term 1 of the school year. The Year 2s and Year 10s got to lead the whole school assembly for the day. The topic focus was on climate change. The two year groups collaborated on a song about climate change based off on One Direction's song History. I did not take video (though I hope the school will post a link to the recording soon). I did get a few snapshots of Thomas and the whole group.

Wrapping Up

Wow! March is over and done with. I am surprised. It felt so jam-packed. But with March done, it seems we only have a couple of months left to go. But was has been happening since I last wrote. Well, we cleaned up after our big party, and got deep into the final week or so of school. 

Term 1 of the school year is over tomorrow. The boys and I enjoyed participating in the annual Primary School Swim Carnival. The boys got to swim in a few events and I did a bit of time keeping for the day. I also got sun burned on the back of my knees. Super painful. I was really proud of Thomas because while he has become more comfortable swimming in the pool, swimming for time does not excite him. So I was glad he finished the couple of races that he was in.

Do you see my braid and my pink hat?

Andrew was busy as well. There was a memorial dedication in NZ but a virtual event was held here in Fiji. So, he got to hang out with some important people like the Prime Minister, and the President.

Even with these fun events, I have been working hard trying to secure and get a plan set for our return home. Pieces are beginning to fall into place but there still is a lot of work to be done. Maybe I will have more posts in April....