Robbed...again

So, today Jordon discovered that we were robbed again. This time nobody broke into our house. They stole our credit card information from somewhere and made purchases totalling around $1,000 from our account...in Sweden.

I'm really surprised the credit card company didn't catch this one. And am glad that Jordon checks our online banking at least once a week. Apparently on Friday they made 2 charges around $200, and then on Tuesday they made the rest.

It's going to be quite the headache to take care of. It helps to have the mentality that none of this is ours...we're just stewards. But even doing that I can't help but be annoyed.

Happy Birthday Jordon!

Jordon had a wonderful 26th birthday. He relaxed and did whatever he wanted all day long.

Some Highlights Include:

Gaming
Breakfast for Lunch
Reading in the Bathtub
Japanese Dinner
Homemade Apple Pie

Thanksgiving in the Philippines

We have so much to give thanks for. We are truly blessed.

As many of you know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Hands down. So, needless to say, I was very apprehensive and homesick just thinking about celebrating the holiday away from my wonderful family, especially with everything that has happened.

Fortunately, we have really been accepted into the community here with open arms. While this didn't completely make up for the lack of family, it ended up being a pretty great day...and one to remember forever.


After eating dinner there and conversing with the families we decided to go over to the 'singles' Thanksgiving to hang out. Well, we got there and they hadn't even begun eating yet. We felt a little bad for barely RSVPing and then showing up but they were so inviting and kind. The food was cooked by the school's chef and it was phenomenal (not as good as Aunt Barbara's, but still tasty.) Then we chatted and went around the table saying what we were thankful for. I was so impressed by how honest and vulnerable everyone was. They didn't just give the basic answers. They truly dug deep inside and gave moving, heartfelt responses.

It was amazing. It felt like a Felicity Thanksgiving :)

Book week

Book week is actually a week and a half school-wide event. One of the first things we have is a house spelling bee. Gold vs. Azure. Each grade level has 2 students from each house go up there and they spell words for 2 minutes and are awarded points for each correct word. The young kids were fantastic. The upper school kids couldn't spell anything...it was embarrassing.

We also had buddy reading twice over the course of the week. This is where older kids come and read with younger kids...and then vice versa.

Jordon's boys. Note Darth over to the side...

Jordon's girls.

Thomas Edison.

Melissa's kids minus 2.

The Little Prince.

The kid in yellow is Steven Spielberg...clever right?

The day of the book parade was quite probably the longest half-day ever. And now we're on a five day holiday.

Yesterday we went to the beach and read. It was lovely. Jordon thought I was going to get pulled out to sea.

The sunsets are lovely here with the ocean, mountains and foliage. We probably should have pulled over to take a better shot of it...but just wanted to get home.

Book Week Teaser...

More to come.

Treetop Soccer

We had a very busy weekend...and it was fun.

On Friday we went out with our new friends, and as it turns out they do tons of stuff all the time and just thought we weren't interested.

Anyway, Saturday Jordon co-coached the lower school soccer team in a tournament. He had a great time.


The girls went to the cloth store. It was huge and overwhelming...located in Olongapo market. So we got there at 9:00, picked out our fabrics, went to the seamstress, told her what we wanted, she measured us and is going to make us beautiful dresses. Each will be around 600 pesos. That's right around $12.50. Crazy, huh?

After the market they wanted to go to the mall in San Fernando. So we went to the mall and I was ok for a few hours...but boy can these girls shop.

Oh, and after shopping they wanted to go to lunch at a new Mexican restaurant in Clark. By the time we finished lunch around 5:00 the nightlife was beginning...and as we walked out the door of the restaurant we witnessed a very pregnant prostitute selling her wares...quite disturbing to say the least.

Saturday some of us went on the Treetop Adventure. It was lovely. We thought we were going to be walking, but they stuck us in chairs and we zoomed around on a cable. The highest point was only 100 feet...but it was still a little nerve wracking...especially when Jordon's protective gear malfunctioned and they forgot to strap him in. But no harm no foul right?

We felt remarkably like Bob the Builder. This photo taken prior to Jordon's wardrobe malfunction... aka, the caribeener on his harness would no longer close. That made him nervous because....

It's a long way to the bottom...

Jordon post wardrobe problem, reminding us how important safety is... right before the guide forgets to buckle him into his seat.

Below is a photo of the solution to the malfunction. They strapped a belt on him with a rope and caribeener on it.. which really made his harness effectively useless.

The different towers were named for numbered stations. Like we weren't already feeling like we infiltrated the Dharma Initiative...check out some of the mysterious buildings we observed...

Our guide told us this was a doorway to Narnia. But it was actually where the miltary did jungle training and put snipers and the like.

Me making my muppet face. My students now love the 'Manamana' song from Sesame Street.

The only thing keeping us from plummeting to our doom.

After that we went to Kamayan beach. We got there around 4ish, and had 'lunch.' It was really nice...pretty busy, but we found a secluded spot and swam and rested. A great way to finish off the busy weekend.

Lovingly yours,

The Quattlebaums

I love history. I don't know if it was my Dad subscribing to National Geographic, or all of the hours watching the Discovery and History channels.. but I -love- history, and one of the most interesting times in recent history was during World War 2.

For years I've heard about the events of WWII, the Korean war, and Vietnam from the U.S. perspective. The victors get to write history, right? The Philippines is an amazing place and Brent school especially. My students are reading 'Number the Stars', a historical fiction book written by Lois Lowry. The book is about nazi occupied Denmark, and how a small group of people risk their lives to save the lives of their Jewish friends and neighbors. In order to get my students to appreciate the book more, we're really digging into World War 2. Part of our assessment is to partner up and give a presentation to the class on what WWII was like for people of their country. I really pushed the fact that many of their grandparents lived during the war, and that they are terrific resources. We also talked about how sensitive this subject is, and that some of them may not want to speak about it. And that's ok. Their relatives lived the war in a different place, experienced different things. Koreans still harbor a grudge against the Japanese for the occupation of their country for over 30 years. They stripped them of their culture, their food.. even their names had to be changed to a Japanese name. The Filipinos have a very different experience of the war, Japan being so near, the U.S. coming to 'help', and then deciding to stick around for a long time. There are mixed feelings about that time, and I'm getting to learn all about it. We really are blessed to be able to travel. We learn so much from other people, about the past, and what happened. About what people think of the U.S. and other countries, and why they think it.

If you get the chance to live abroad.. not just a visit of a week or two.. do it. It's difficult to adjust to the many changes, but it enriches your life to a degree that you can't even imagine. A big thank you to God and our families for allowing and understanding why we've moved here. We miss you.

-Jordon


PS. More pictures to come soon. Bookweek is right around the corner, and students are asked to dress as their favorite book character on October 30th (instead of celebrating halloween). I'm sure there will be some amazing costumes to photograph.

Jordon got his very own email address

It's a big day for the quattlebaums. Jordon and I were having issues sharing gchat so I invited him to gmail and we promptly thought of a most memorable name. It also happens to be the most ridiculous.

To email or chat with Jordon add/email SuperQuattleMan@gmail.com.

Yes. SuperQuattleman@gmail.com.

And mine remains the same MelissaQuattlebaum@gmail.com.

If you want to get information to both of us go ahead and just send it to one...we'll show each other.

Oh, and you may be interested in Jordon's observation of the retainer post. He theorizes that the cockroach was simply attracted to the retainer. The retainer looks remarkably like a cockroach, albeit far simpler, and it was in a fragrant bath of listerine. What hot blooded cockroach could resist?

This is what I hear every day.

They come up to me after we've gone over their assignments and I've asked them if they have any questions. I also have them explain the directions back to me before I send them to their seats to work.

My theory is that it goes back to the fact that they have everything done for them and that they are hoping that instead of me telling them how to do their assignment they want me to actually do their papers for them.

Generally, after I go over their practice problems again, they say, "oh" and finish their work at their seats.

Anyway, it's cute...most of the time.

Beware the Backlash

It is 8:00 on Tuesday morning.

1st quarter report cards went out the end of the day yesterday.

I've already had to tell two sets of parents why I gave their children low marks and what they can do to improve only to have them tell me that I'm not letting them know how they can get higher marks. The first student doesn't practice his reading at home and the second lacks to motivation to do anything (he's the 'I'm not doin nuffin for nobody' kid)...how can these parents expect perfect scores if they aren't helping their childen develop an intiative to learn.

I had several parents giving me eyes from the door, like "we'll talk later" eyes. And I only teach grade one. I can't imagine what Jordon's going through.

Awesome Card.

Ok, so last week I was sick, on thursday and friday with a wicked flu and my 5th graders, being awesome and talented kids, made me a really sweet card. I mean, this thing is amazing.

Anyway, you open the card, and inside is a customized post-it note from each of my students...


The card was super cute. The students worked so hard on it, and even though english is their second language, they did a fanstastic job of communicating their feelings.

This girl had just given me some food earlier in the day, called kimbab.

"Mr. Q's thank Me is give food be delicious ~Alice~"

The Teddy with the XX eyes was a little concerning.. maybe they were fearing the worst.

This next one is my favorite...

"Hello Mr. Q! I am Wendy. I hpe you will be fine and I miss you~! So I hope really you will come happy face! See you soon! I love you! We love you! Come happy face like me!
To: Mr. Quattlebaum

From: Wendy"

Such sweet kids.

Jordon

12 years of orthodontia down the drain

A couple nights ago after I brushed my teeth and got all ready for bed I remembered I needed to put my retainer in. As many of you know I have been very good about wearing my retainer every single night for the past 7 years.

Anyway, when I lifted the protective tissue off of my retainer cup (with listerine in it) low and behold there was a cockroach in there fighting for life. The cockroach appeared to have been decomposing and there was junk all over my retainer.


I immediately dumped out the cup and put the cockroach out of its misery. Then came decision time. Of course the only way to get the gross off was to boil the retainer.
So I put some water and my retainers in a cup and stuck it in the microwave. I made it about five feet before I came to my senses...you can't put retainers in the microwave. So I boiled the water and then sloshed the retainer around in it. And proceeded to brush the retainers off with toothpaste several times.

I was exceedingly pleased with myself for my problem solving ability.

And then I tried to put them in...they were warped...and so my teeth shall soon be without them...

For you, Eric.

A look into our world...

Check out our sweet ride...we'll probably take some action shots when it's not pouring. Maybe you can't see that it's raining in this picture...but it definitely is...a lot.

We sign in every day using this finger scanner. It talks to us... the only words it knows so far are 'please try again' and 'thank you.'
Jordon's new classroom. He was pretty embarrassed that I took this picture because his classroom looks so boring right now. They moved last week. It has been a pretty big headache...hopefully in the end it's worth the trouble.I'll have to move to a new room in December...or sometime around then.
This is the bathroom in Jordon's classroom. Yeah...that's right...it's fancy.
A couple of Jordon's kids ready to start the day. They wait outside the class and take attendance for themselves.
The covered playground...a neccessity during the rainy season...it keeps most the rain out (except for the sideways rain.)
And then beyond the playground is the soccer field...beyond that jungle...and then mountains...quite a view.
Beginning a weather lesson...these kids are crazy about weather. Specifically catastrophic weather...they love hurricanes, tornados, flash floods and lightning. Johnny Boy says its because that's 'sexy' weather...which makes me laugh.

On a side note...my little ones seem to be constantly complaining of various ailments...I always send them to the clinic 'just in case' and they almost alway come back with an ice pack to put on the troubled area...this occurs at least 4 times a day...every day.

One of my adorable students (whose name sounds remarkably like UNO...the game we got him for his birthday) and me about on our way to a much needed break.

Planning during block 3 in my room...it's nice to have the same planning period. Most specials last an entire block so we have that time to work every day...anywhere from an hour to an hour and 20 minutes. It is very handy. We are able to get all our work done during our contracted time...we don't ever need to stay late or come in early...unless we procrastinate...

Below are pictures of the lower school library...it's pretty sweet and handy.
As you can see the school is pretty heavily guarded. We have around 6 guards who walk around day and night. They are all really nice guys...but I wouldn't wear a ski mask around campus at night...
A few of Jordon's kids cutting loose at the end of the day while they are on their way to clubs. Each student is required to be in at least one school club. And each teacher is required to lead a club. Jordon helps out with Mini-backs soccer and the play. I help with paper crafts and yearbook.
As always...

Affectionately yours,

The Quattlebaums