Great Contrasts

Hello again,

I've taken the chance to catch my breath, and come home from Disney early
today ... left the others there to enjoy!

Today's Disney YES programme was very good, at least for my group. We had
a very good tour guide/educator from Peurto Rico who told us lots about
the Animal Kingdom, while we were walking around. She gave us ear pieces
with radio receivers so we could hear all she said while we were in the
crowds or on a ride ... very cool gear ... Alex N thought he was some kind
of spy. Marie (the guide) hit just the right humorous but informative
note, whereas I think the other group's guide grated a bit.

The Animal Kingdom Park is huge, could contain all the others combined,
mainly to let the animals have room to roam. We went on the East-African
safari which is the closest you'll get to seeing the animals in the wild
without actually going to Africa. We were asked to tick off the animals we
spotted, something Disney staff regularly do in order to check whether
tourists are actually seeing the creatures. For example, we did not get to
see the Okapi or Baboons, so the Disney folk will work on training the
animals to move in sight, or alter the vegetation so that they can be
seen.

Then we went behind the scenes, to the animal's night barns. A mother and
baby rhino were there, waiting for the baby to be strong enough to go out
on display. One of the adult male elephants was getting a hose down and a
bail of hay too. Marie talked about all the careers associated with the
zoo and park generally ... she is a nutritionist, and works out the exact
food requirements of a variety of species. We saw where the food boxes are
weighed and made up ... same quality food that is served to the human
guests! The kids in my group really enjoyed the tour, especially as we got
to go to the front of the queue at the Everest roller coaster too!

Yesterday we had a very good visit to Dr Phillips High School, with the
kids connecting very easily with their buddies, who were keen to talk, and
loved the New Zealand accent. They went to a variety of classes depending
on their buddy's timetable ... English, European history, calculus, music,
chemistry, environmental studies, psychology etc. They were impressed with
the range of subjects available and the good behaviour of the students ...
although we were only at the senior end of the campus, most students in
their last 2 years of school. The lessons we saw were very 'teacher
centred' preparing the students for high stakes exams, so drilling them on
exam technique. Mr Barrows, our contact there told us that teacher unions
originally supported Obama, but now he is driving through 'merit pay' for
teachers they are turning against him. There are no guidelines as to what
constitutes a good teacher, it is up to each district to work out out!
Leaving the school the kids were hard to separate, chatting away to their
American buddies, Jonathan stoically endured a parting hug from his
enthusiastic female partner.

Then it was to Kelly Park, a beautiful natural spring north of the city.
Lots of locals there which was good to see ... American families with kids
of all ages enjoying a simple picnic and swim in the springs. Florida sits
on top of a huge aquifer system, that's where the water supply comes from,
and there are springs all over the place. Although it was natural our kids
were surprised to find about a kilometer of boardwalks and concrete edging
at the main pool area. As usual Ashleigh and Paulina were first in the
water, floating down from the spring source to the lower bridge ... took
about 15 min. We talked to one family who were grabbing hand fulls of
stones from the bottom and sifting through them. The parents said they'd
been doing this since they were kids, and were now sharing the experience
with their kids ... looking for fossil shark teeth, and showed us several
they'd found that day. So it was a good couple of hours to relax under
green trees with blue sky above, splash in the water or snooze on your
tube.

Then off to Amway Arena for the 7pm basketball game ... well some
basketball was played amidst all the other entertainment. The chief aim of
our crew was to wave their "Go Magic" cards, and make enough noise to
attract the camera's attention and get on the big screen .... which they
managed several times. They quickly became converts to the cause with over
half of them buying Magic T-shirts ... we're doing our bit to boost the
economy. They failed to grab any of the t-shirts fired into the crowd, but
not for lack of trying, and fortunately 'Kiss TV' did not pick on any of
our group. The indoor blimp dropped some give-aways tantalizingly close,
but they just fluttered away, and the cheer-leaders, school acrobatic
groups, and half time promotions were interesting. And, oh yes, the Magic
won by over 20 points. Seeing the sheer size of the giant players was
impressive though.

So, Kennedy Space Centre tomorrow ... hope they're not too spaced out at
this stage.

Cheers

David