The MasterChef Challenge

Over the summer I watched a lot of MasterChef. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, Chef Gordon Ramsay takes a group of home cooks and they compete for the title of Master Chef and a cookbook deal. Over the challenge he makes them cook various dishes, cater different events and survive mystery box challenges. 

Mystery Box challenges are my favourite. Here the contestants are required to create a dish using the ingredients in a their mystery box, which are far from ordinary, like a pigs head. I love the shock when the contestant open the box to see what they are going to have to cook with and then the creativity they come up with in order to make something into an amazing dish. 

So inspired by my many late nights sitting in front of the television I came up with the best art project ever. 

Today when my grade 12 IB students entered the class they were confronted with a cardboard box each (which came from my newly arrived shipment order, yay!). They were told that they had to create a work of art using the entire contents of the box. They were also permitted to use anything from inside the classroom to help complete their art work. So what was in the box you ask?

• 1 dried out paint brush 
• 1/2 m of rough canvas
• 1 white candle
• 2 m or rope
• 1 piece of wood 5x6 inches in size.  

The students were so excited. And terrified at the same time.  Already they've started to create a variety of art works. Half of them have chosen to create sculptures using their material, the other half are creating paintings or wall hangings with their materials. And I've very excited to see how these turn out.

Supplies Have Arrived

They're Here!

Well almost... I'm still missing my paper order, the tools I got (you have no idea how excited I am to have my own staple gun!) and the text books. I'm told they're on their way here from Manila, I'm just hoping that they didn't get flooded. However now my classroom is well stocked and ready for creativity. 

Check out the new paper cutter in the background. It's huge and sharp and cuts through anything. Hours will be saved because of this, and therefore its the new love of my life, because it's amazing.

I'm Back!

Arrived safe and sound in Manila with a long drive to Subic this morning.  Everything seems to be in working order, now just the task of unpacking and trying to stay awake.

Leaving

The bags are all packed. I fly out tonight to start my second year of my art teaching adventures. I'll miss being able to see you guys, but I'm looking forward to getting back into the classroom. Hopefully 2 weeks of having a supply teacher won't have left the place in too much of a mess.

I land there on Sunday morning, so as long as my internet has not been disconnected I'll be able to let those of you who are worriers know I've arrived. But based on my year's knowledge of how things work, there is a 75% chance that I will not have internet.


Here's hoping the rainy season mould isn't growing on my walls and everything else!

Miss Ya!

Sunset From the Dock

Recovery

So its been over a week sense surgery and I'm feeling much better. I still nap a lot, I get tired easily, I'm not allowed to lift things, and I still can't fly because there's a possibility of haemorrhaging and death. But I'm no longer in pain!

I believe the surgery went well. I say 'I believe' because when the doctor came to talk to be me post op I was on a lot of drugs and really out of it so I have no memory of what was said to me. Its really just a big blur. But seeing as that my mother hasn't told me otherwise I'm pretty sure I'm now pre-cancer free.

In the past week nothing too exciting has happened, there's been a lot of bed rest and movie watching. Things I've learned from this process:

• I don't do well with IVs my veins are tiny and difficult to find. And it leaves a giant bruise that just continues to get worse days after it's taken out.
• T3's are not as fun as people make them out to be. A lot of people were inclined to point out the silver lining that I get good drugs. Wrong. I was confused and nauseous and I hated my life. It wasn't fun, it was highly frustrating. 
• I do not own enough comfy pants. I used to think that girl's whose entire wardrobe consisted of yoga pants and sweat pants and pyjama pants were lazy and completely out of touch with fashion. Now I realize that they're just ingeniously preparing for the worst. No one wants to wear jeans while recovering from surgery. 

So this Friday I will be heading out for the Philippines for my second year of teaching there. Since I've been on medical leave, my classes have started without me. I'm a little nervous to see what state my classroom is in, and how the substitute teacher has done.

Change of Plans

Right now I should be in the Philippines, getting my classroom ready, about to head out to a conference in Manila on curriculum review.  Instead I'm sitting on the couch at my mom's watching Saving Hope (don't judge it's summer time and there's nothing good on tv). This is because tomorrow I'm headed to Kingston tomorrow to have a super normal, no big deal surgery.

I've struggled with writing this for several reason: how much information should I disclose, I hate having to deal with freaking out relatives and friends, and I've been panicking to try and get together lesson plans for the supply teacher (substitute for you Americans). Let's just say trying to put together lessons for someone to teach art who has never taught art, and is possibly not an actual teacher is hell, what makes it worse is my giant pile of resources is scattered in the Philippines.

So I have pre-cancer on my cervix. Which is not as bad as cancer, no where near as bad as cancer. But definitely worst than no pre-cancer. My non-science brain can't really answer anymore than that, seeing as that I stopped taking science after grade 10. But regardless of my level of understanding, tomorrow to fix this pre-cancer, they will take a laser to my cervix and remove the two pre-cancerous layers that exist. Of course during this whole procedure I will be put out in an OR, because otherwise I just see this whole thing as torture, but apparently people do have this done awake (masochists?).  And after this procedure, which I hope is not that painful but I can't see how it won't be, I'll be pre-cancer free.

So understandably I've been a little nervous, a little stressed. Logically I know this is a super common, uncomplicated surgery. In and out in thirty minutes, go home that day, happens all the time. But still the emotional part of me, the one I like to pretend doesn't exist, has been not sleeping well, mostly because they're taking a laser to my downstairs. Also because I'm planning the beginning of the school year from half way around the world. But I'll be fine.

I'll be here a couple more weeks, until it's safe for me to fly out. Until then there'll be rest, movies and maybe an attempt at early packing.... who are we kidding, that's gonna happen the night before.