First Day

Ah, the first day of school. I will tell you something, it is very different being on the other side! It was exciting to see all of the students pour into Mount Carmel High School today. Their uniforms were great (khaki pants and white shirt for the boys and khaki skirt and white shirts for the girls). I finally got into my Campus Ministry office (I have been trying along with some other volunteers for about three days)! It is a great office---the previous campus ministers left a great setup. There are tons of books, catechisms, posters, Bibles, pamphlets, etc. It felt pretty amazing to have my own office. I really look forward to visiting students!

I had my first music classes today. It was very interesting trying to prepare for those considering there is no actual music classroom. There is an "AV room" where music teachers will sometimes hold their classes but many music or art teachers will have classes on the basketball court outside(!). I lugged a keyboard from my second floor office over to the basketball court and attempted to plug it in with another volunteer teacher, Miss Brynne. We managed to plug it in but for some reason the keyboard wouldn't turn on. So I brought it with Mr. Mike (a volunteer from Canada) over to the AV room. The setup was perfect---a desk with a chalk board and I set up chairs. There was even a great fan in the front. Turns out there was a maramba class in there at the same time as my singing class! So I had to move the keyboard again. This time, I had students move it. Two of them helped me as I went over to the basketball courts.

The boys stamped onto the court (my first class was all boys). They sprawled out on the bleachers and as I (firmly) told them to sit only on the bottom two bleachers, one of my feet sunk very quickly into a deep grass-puddle in the ground. Soon I was ankle deep in nasty water and my new shoes covered in grass and puddle water. Of course the boys had a big kick out of that so all I could think to do was laugh and raise my hands in the air (because I obviously meant to sink into the puddle). To make matters more interesting, there were only two boys signed up for singing and about 15 boys signed up for "flute" or (really) "recorder". The rest of the boys had no intention of singing or coming with me to singing class. The recorder teacher could not come in the afternoons and though she came to chat with me, I had no idea when she said "split" classes that she meant I would have a class full of non-singers today!

After a bit of confusion (which is never ideal on the first day of class) we found an open classroom. We fit in and I set up the keyboard. I proceeded to try some warm-ups and teach them a simple a capella song but it turned out to be not-so-simple because most of the boys did not want to sing or had trouble staying on pitch. It was a struggle, but overall they did pretty well and I know they tried.

My second class was the complete opposite. I had a large group of girls signed up for singing and then a small group of girls from the recorder class. We squeezed our way into a free classroom (there were about forty of them i think!). Some girls had to stand in the back. I had them warm-up and immediately I knew that they could sing. We began learning "The Prayer" (a song Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli/Josh Groban/Charlotte Church have sung). The girls really liked it and they sounded beautiful. They even picked up the Italian lyrics very quickly! I will be able to teach them more complex songs while I think I will have to get down to basics with the boys. Pray for me!

Campus Ministry is just beginning. I am in charge of opening and closing the chapel on campus everyday. It is a beautiful chapel. I will also be working with other people to set up an adoration schedule, planning weekly masses, student retreats, and living rosary.

It is dinner time---Adios!