The Sky is Falling!

**Editor's Note** I wrote this a few days ago. The wind has ceased!

Okay, not really but it was so windy at school today, my classroom was falling down. I sit up on the 3rd floor of the Heart Of School (HOS), and the breezes just blow right on through my room. That and the thatched roof drops debris to the point of needing safety googles. I eventually searched out an empty classroom for my next two classes. Unreal.

The last time we experienced these types of winds, there was a cyclone off the coast of Bali that circled and wound its way towards Australia. It was incredible how windy it was. And today in school you could hear the white board crash in a nearby classroom (mine is tied to the railing), kids yelling over the din trying to be heard by their teacher (who lost all control), the occasional "whoa" from someone downstairs in the Mepantigan (our thatched auditorium), the palm trees blowing so fiercely they look like they might just topple over. You get the idea. 

I actually had a planning period this morning and couldn't write in my classroom with so much debris falling and blowing that I went downstairs to the main floor (right in the entrance area) and found a stable ceiling to sit under. But then I was wide open for every one to say, "sorry to bother you but..." I did accomplish my task but the interruptions were constant. Interesting and important as it always is catching up with your colleagues, but distracting nonetheless.

Then it was lunch. Imagine all the food in big serving dishes, with the wind knocking over everything not held down: spoons, plates, tickets, cups, food, etc.The dishes were covered by banana leaves that inevitably blew away. I patiently waited for my dish of taco fixings and went to find a decent place to eat while cowering over my plate so as not to swallow roof splinters. Forget about filling a water glass! I threw mine out immediately since more debris was inside than water. Where is my water bottle anyway? I can't believe when packing I only brought one water bottle. And I use it so much, it has to be cleaned out daily or it will smell funny. Mold, the friends that stays so close!

But I digress. 

By the end of the day, there was a huge piece of black roof plastic sliding into the classroom from the nearby roof (it is a three-roofed building), put up there to stop the leaking thatch roof into the other adjoining classroom. It looked like a giant plastic monster wanted to take over my classroom.  Good times!

Then arriving home, I found yes, the debris was everywhere, and I have windows and walls and the wind ripping through the night. My own thatched roof left a mess as a well as all the things that blew like mad in under the doors and through the open bathroom. I later found out we had a tornado warning for Bali the next day. Which wasn't any better at school. My classroom was wrecked. When I was helping a  a Grade 8 student with her homework,  the wind was whipping past us so fiercely that papers were flying, books knocking over and we were yelling so loudly it was silly. And quite comical except for the crap flying into your eyes.Then later, when I took my little sixth graders around school looking for a decent classroom to teach in, I settled on Grade 5 since they were on a field trip. But alas, coconuts were falling like mad (we were chastised for walking on the trails) and the roof had blown away.

Forget riding your motorbike with any ability or speed...the sensation of being blown over is extreme. And the reality of being blown over is scary. Thank goodness for my carpool. Which is the topic of my next blog. Stay tuned...