I felt like I was on Ellen!

The VIF "One World Grows Here" conference was held at the Raleigh Convention Center.
Nice digs. :o)

The whole day was full and fun. First year teachers were required to attend the conference for the full day. Ibeth and I were up much to early on a Saturday so that we could be there by 8:30AM. There were two seminars with a banquet lunch in between. It was great talking to other teachers about our experiences so far, and to realize that the frustrations and feelings that we're having right now are completely normal and being felt by almost all of us! The first year teachers were given free accommodations Saturday night in compensation for being at the event. Some left anyway, but even though we only live an hour away, we weren't about to pass up a free night at the Sheraton!

In the evening we had a cocktail reception with a DJ and dancing, and several arcade type games that made up our global playground. There was also a raffle that you could enter to win 30 seconds in one of those booths where the money blows around. We all got ballots, and they drew names every hour. So we hung out, played some video games, air hockey, foosball, rode giant trikes around an obstacle course, tossed basketballs, danced the "Cuban Shuffle" and some other new dance that I learned at orientation...

Ibeth and I at the party. She's got a much better picture!

... At around 9:00 PM, there weren't very many people left. Some had gone home, others had left to check out some Raleigh nitelife. They drew more names for time in the booth, and my name was called!!

It is not as easy as it looks. We weren't allowed to stuff the money down out shirts or in our pockets, and were only allowed to keep what was in our hands. Earlier in the night, someone took home about $30, but others were only getting $2 or $6. I didn't really have a strategy for my turn... I just began plucking bills out of the air with one hand and shoving it into the other hand. I really had no idea how much I'd held onto until they counted it... I ended up with $17, which wasn't a bad turn!

Ibeth was disappointed that her name was never picked, and I told her when we left (at 9:30PM) that her name could be the next one... We'll never really know, though! It was a good night, but we were both pretty tired. I bought her coffee and breakfast the next morning with my winnings.

I'm tired, and have a lot to do this afternoon. Hopefully I can get it done so that I can have a relaxing evening. This week is looking to be a busy week! Oh! The soccer game on Friday... We lost 2-1. It was a very well played game, and we almost tied it up in the last minute, which would have been great. But sadly, not to be had!

Take care and have a fantastic week, everyone!