POST by RENZY: Seaburg School

Jonny & Lorenzy at Niagara falls (Canada on the left and the USA on the right)

Right now as some of you may know, our group is in Rochester, New York. Since we used to live here when I was really little and have come back to visit, I know some people here.

The people’s house that we are staying in is the Seaburgs and they have four kids. Their oldest child is a little bit older than me so we hang out a lot. His name is Josiah. He is such a fun and weird kid. SO much fun to be around…

They are also homeschooled like us, so we get to hang out even more. Every Friday morning, they go to co-op classes. The first day that we were with them on this trip, my sister and I were invited to go with them if we wanted to, and maybe join in some of their classes too. We both decided to go and see what it was like.

On Friday morning, we woke up and got ready to go. Josiah and Aidan, Josiah’s brother, who is twelve years old, were already at the co-op place because they went earlier with their dad to play basketball.

Mrs. Seaburg , whose first name is Jenny, and her two daughters, Izzy age four and Cora age eight, were in the back with my sister, and I was in the front with Jenny. As we were reversing we all of a sudden heard a big bang and the car stopped because we’d crashed into something.

We were all in shock and I was laughing so hard - I don’t even know why. We looked behind the car and saw that there was another car parked behind us. The other car belonged to one of my dad’s friends, the Hinmans, who were lending it to us so that we could all get around to the places that we have needed to go to.

Jenny jumped out of the car and checked both cars and luckily only the license plate on the other car was damaged. She got back into the car and this time reversed around the other car.

When we got to the co-op place, which is actually a church, we went inside to the basketball area so that Jenny could play. Fran and I took care of Cora and Izzy. Then I took Izzy to her class and on the way I saw my friend’s mum. I said hi to her and then sat down with Aidan.

When Josiah walked into the room, I walked over to him and talked with him until he had to go to his next class, which was science – they were to dissect a fish. He asked Fran and I if we wanted to join the class and I accepted just because I wanted to know how it felt and what it would look like. Then Jen said that we also had the option of going with Aidan to a cooking class. Fran decided to do that instead.

We walked into the class and I sat down next to him. His teacher walked up to me and asked me some questions about myself. Once the room was almost filled with like ten people, the teacher started the class. She told us all to take our fish out of the plastic bags that they were in. She had her own fish in her hand and it had already been cut open so that she could use it as an example.

She told us to look at the fish and she named some of the parts on the fish then told us to open up where the guts were and to take some out. We looked at them and then set the stuff aside. They looked like they were soft but I didn’t want to touch them without my gloves on.

Then the teacher told us to cut open the bottom of the fish. Josiah had already cut up the side as well but I don’t think it made a difference. We cut all of the sides and then took the flap off. Inside there were a bunch of tiny gross organs.

The teacher went around the class observing the work that was being done, and told us to take the stomach out. Since all the fish were a little different, it was sort of confusing to know what to take out.

The classroom smelt horrible. Some people even had to go outside because they could not stand the disgusting stench. Inside of the fish was a bubble. It was kind of purple and had liquid inside of it, but the bubble consisted mostly of air. It was really tempting to pop it but I restrained myself. Then Josiah popped his fish’s purple bubble and this gross liquid came flowing out. It was yucko!

Josiah had told me that last week, when they were dissecting fish, he had poked the eye out and in showing his friends, they had snatched the fish from him and had thrown it at him. At the beginning of the class, the teacher had said that they were not allowed to do that because it was rude and unacceptable.

I was staring at the wall whilst the teacher was talking and then I looked at Josiah and he was using one of the tools to poke at the fish's eye. He was trying to see what was underneath it and he poked something and a gross smelling liquid squirted everywhere. It splattered my cheek and I immediately wiped it off of my face with a paper towel. I almost threw up.

As soon as the class was over, we cleaned up the desks and put the stuff away. Then, I went to the bathroom and scrubbed my face and arms until they were red and painful. It was a gross and smelly experience, but overall a really enjoyable day.

Renz and Leiky in the Ohio Valley