Bill’s Blog

Ocean Eating, originally uploaded by bill kralovec.

It was a tough day yesterday for Nadia. We are both tired of the housework and child care that is usually taken care of by our domestic help in Venezuela. We had two girls come in Monday - Friday to assist us with the house and children while we were working. We never had to wash/dry/iron clothes, clean the house, cook lunch or breakfast and clean up afterwards. Other things such as cleaning the car, mowing the lawn, etc. were taken care of by the school’s maintenance department. Much time goes into these kinds of things and it takes away from the “quality” time of spending time with our children doing enjoyable activities or stimulating our intellects.

Nadia had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon for her physical for her new job. The doctor recommended immediate surgery on her diastisis. This is a spreading of the stomach muscles in women after pregnancy. She feels a loose area there and the doctor was impressed that Nadia had been walking around with it for so long. We are sorting through the insurance and choice of doctor this morning. I need to find our more about the procedure, but it would require an overnight stay in the hospital. I understand they will either sew or insert mesh into the stomach muscles to hold it together better. Entry would be through the belly button. More posts later on this.

In better news, Ocean is growing so fast! She is getting even chubbier. The video above shows her eating and she does have a healthy appetite when she is in the mood. She is crawling everywhere and we had to put her in the crib so she doesn’t destroy the house.

We are also packing boxes to be shipped to the International Schools Services ware house in New Jersey. Our school is having a second shipment of cargo from the USA to Serbia go out in mid-October. They are very generous in the amount of shipping we get and we appreciate it, especially with a big family.

The office will be open today from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Local Employee Update: We finished printing the local employee contracts for 08-09. It is the last day of work for the local teachers and assistants. We will have a party after school today. Refreshments are provided by the parents. Thank you!

Farewell: I met with Weatherford Inc. Board Member Nial Shepherd yesterday. He is leaving for Mexico later this month and we discussed the transition. Nial was a very supportive board member and was very dedicated to the students of Escuela Anaco. His presence and that of his wife Marisela and son Diego will be missed in our community. Thank you! We wish them the best of luck in their new post.

Summer Construction: We finalized the list of housing work to be done in June and July. Every summer, we do repairs and buy appliances for the homes. We are fortunate to own our expatriate teacher housing as this reduces our costs greatly. The following is the list of projects for each home. We plan on spending over 20,000 bolivars.

EA Housing Construction Summer 2008

House # - Work / Appliance - Cost
0 Split AC 1800
0 Leak in roof of play room
0 New toilet in second bathroom 300
0 Buy new part for fridge (Phillip will do this in USA)
0 Buy blender glass
0 Fill hole where a dryer used to be
0 Swap the AC’s in living room and play room
1 Fix the bathroom plumbing 600
1 Move Desire’s stuff to the house
2 Put mouse trap to catch last mouse
2 Buy new plates
2 Fix drawers in dressers
2 Fix lighting in living room
2 Buy microwave and blender 350
3 and 4 Connect the two to expand the day care
3 and 4 Move utensils, furniture to House #6
3 and 4 Put small porch near front door 1200
3 and 4 Take out dangerous cactus plants move to garden
3 and 4 Put cement where plants were
3 and 4 Complete overhaul in electrical system
5 Move Gary’s stuff to House #9
5 Split AC 1800
5 Buy an iron
5 Fill archway made for Gary last year
5 Put a front porch roof 1200
6 Renovate kitchen
6 Washing Machine 2200
6 Buy an iron
6 Fix lock on front door
6 Split AC (24BTU) 2500
7 Split AC 1800
8 Put water tray under kitchen AC
8 Split AC 1800
8 Move utensils, kitchen ware, Desire’s things to #1
8 Move dryer from #9 to #8 for the Denkers
9 Split AC 1800

Estimated cost for items above w/ no cost listed 2000

Total Housing Expenses for Summer 2008 19350

Priorities for Today: We will be finalizing the school construction projects. I am meeting with a new prospective family this morning. I also will be completing the purchase order for physical education among other items.

The office will be open today from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM to the public.

Monday’s Accomplishments: We cleaned and organized the storage room #19 on the second floor. With increasing enrollment, we can convert one of the storage rooms to a classroom. In years past, the rooms were used as secondary classrooms. They are located above the art studio. We also checked out all of the expatriate teachers. In office news, we determined the Apostille process for students wanting to enter the Venezuelan school system, organized transport for the expat teachers to the airport, and sorted out keys and pay roll for June and July.

Expatriates Leave EA: The bus arrived on time this morning to take the outgoing expatriate teachers and their luggage to the Barcelona airport.

Summer School: Ms. Doreen, Ms. Lisa, and Ms. Ann will be holding summer tutoring sessions at the school during the month of June. This is good for the students to maintain their level of English during the long summer holiday. We encourage our families to use as much English as possible, and some ideas would be to watch English television programs and internet videos, read English magazines and books, etc. If you are interested in having your child come in for the summer, please contact the office and we’ll put you in touch with one of the three ladies.

I will be out of the office after 1:00 PM this afternoon.

This past Saturday evening, the parents surprised the outgoing expatriate faculty with a grand farewell party. They wanted to show their appreciation for the staff’s dedication to their children. It was a very special evening for me. The parents went to great lengths to express their gratitude. They had Jay’s mega-BBQ truck and plenty of delicious food and drink. There were many speeches, tears, gifts, and thank yous for each staff member.

Shown above is the mariachi band and you can hear a bit from their set. There was much dancing and merriment long into the evening. They had a karaoke machine and the crowd was so uplifted of my version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that they got out of their seats and begged me to stop! The students had a great time running in the gym and park, and riding the bicycles around the school.

I want to thank our community on behalf of the staff. Escuela Anaco is a special place and we’ll never forget your kindness and generosity. It has been very rewarding to work with the children and parents of our community. We leave much richer for the experience!

I uploaded many photos from the evening. You can see all of them in my flickr.com account.

The office will be open today from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM for parents wishing to pick up report cards.

Happy Birthday to Anthony M. today!

Saturday’s Accomplishments: Thanks to the teachers for helping out Saturday morning. We cleaned out storage room #19 and the AV room behind the stage.

Teacher Check Out: Most of the expatriate staff will be flying out tomorrow. Before they go, they will need to have their classroom and home cleaned a secured, their mailbox cleaned, summer contact information, and the keys labeled and returned. We do a final payroll later this week.

Regular classes are completed. Today is a work day as the expatriate teachers are cleaning their rooms and checking out. The office will be open today for parents.

BBQ: There will be a community party tonight around sunset at the school. The parents want to thank the staff for their contributions throughout the years. See Wadad and Raquel for more information.

Student Awards: We held our annual awards ceremony yesterday. The awards reflect our mission. We reward those characteristics and habits that we try to instill in our students. The 2007-2008 awards were as follows:

Accelerated Reader

1. Isaac B. 2. Clint T. 3. Maria Jose G. 4. Fabio M. 5. Salvatore T Honorable Mention: Carlos Ch.

Attendance (Perfect Attendance) - Steven E. (Outstanding Attendance) - Owen K., Arianna M., Carlos Ch.

Improved English - Jorge Antonio, Anthony M. (Grade 4) , Dean M.

Best Athletes - elementary Jorge Antonio, secondary Diego S.

Citizenship/Community Service- Michael & Brandon C.

Spanish - Maria Jose G., Fabio M., Katheren M.

Art - Maria Jose / Arianna / Kary L. / Audrey G. / Lilibeth S.

Top Students -

Kinder- Valeria R. / Joaquin B.

1 - Sebastian G. / Enzo O.

2 - Sarah J.

3 - Maria Jose G.

4 - Salvatore T.

5 - Isaac B.

6- Fabrizio M.

9/10 - Lilibeth S.

Director’s Award for Embodying EA Values: Katheren M.

Farewell Ceremony: It was the most tears I have seen ever at the school. Students, teachers, and parents were all crying. We bid farewell to the following students and teachers:

• Bill, Nadia, Ocean, Owen & Oliver Kralovec (Serbia)
• Isaac Bonilla (Mexico)
• Joaquin Bonilla (Colombia)
• Shaun & Susan Fitzpatrick (Colorado, USA)
• Sherri Moore (Canada)
• William Flinn (Iowa)
• Andy Kralovec (Michigan)
• Odalys Olchowy (Mexico)
• Cesar Salazar (San Mateo)
• Alejandra & Sebastian Chavez-Wells (Bahrain)

The tears are a testament to the work we do here.