These birds are known for their intelligence and vocabulary. At first, I was really enamored of good ol' Swampy. That is until I discovered his tendency to wake up at exactly the same time every morning. Yes, that’s right, I know have my very own bird alarm clock with special catch phrases. Actually, Swampy is a hoot (no pun intended) and has some amazing things to say. Some of my favorites are his whistles, which vary from construction site wolf calls to very pretty musical numbers. He also says, "yabba-dabba-do!!!" "Wazzup?!" and some random African dialects. 
The only time he has scared me was when I thought he was asleep for the night. I was heading off to bed myself and was not expecting someone from the living room to yell, "Hey, HEY!" in a deep baritone. Oh yes, boys and girls, I was petrified until I realized that I had locked my front door and that there was no way another person would be there that late at night. Swampy got an earful, of that you can be sure.
On other news, the water pipe for my flat building burst late yesterday afternoon. We had no water until 4pm today. Getting enough hot water for a shower when everyone else is rushing to do the same doesn’t look promising, but at least I can flush the toilet without the pipes sounding like WWIII.
I also got the first peak at my classroom. The space is huge but unorganized as all get out. I have an entire freighter worth of supplies dumped into the middle of the classroom and everything else is in disarray. I figure I have the first part of the school week to kinda set things up and label things. After that I kinda have to start teaching. Scary, its true, but they pay me for it. Actually, I got into a debate with the middle school counselor from Australia. He told me that my class load was five courses (four classes have 20 students each and then the advanced has 5 students) I get two prep periods a day and will most likely have an art club twice a week. Talk about a cushy job. My counselor said that if I ever start to complain about the stress that he would physically remove me from his office. So much for unconditional love.
3 comments:
Put more pictures up! We want to see it all! What is your stewards name? What are you eating and have you been to the beach yet? How are the bugs? Am I supposed to ask questions on a blog?
What a funny bird! I hope that your teaching goes well! I want to know more about it!
Hey Julia! I see MUCH has changed since the last time I saw you.. I hope you don't mind, but I've added your link to my blog - I'm really enjoying reading up on what you've done & what you're experiencing. Keep it up - once you're finished with this challenge there's absolutely nothing that you can't do.
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