A beautiful, inspiring song! Makes you realize that home is about people, not places, and for some of us, it might not even exist yet.
Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma & Pa
Not the way that I do love you
Holy roly, me, oh my, you’re the apple of my eye
Girl, I’ve never loved one like you
Man, oh man, you’re my best friend, I scream it to the nothingness
There ain’t nothin’ that I need
Well, hot & heavy, pumpkin pie, chocolate candy, Jesus Christ
There ain’t nothin’ please me more than you
Chorus:
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I’m with you
(2x)
La la la la, take me Home
Baby, I’m coming Home
I’ll follow you into the park, through the jungle, through the dark
Girl, I’ve never loved one like you
Moats & boats & waterfalls, alley ways & pay phone calls
I’ve been everywhere with you
That’s true
We laugh until we think we’ll die, barefoot on a summer night
Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you
And in the sticks we’re running free like it’s only you and me
Geez, you’re something to see.
Chorus
“Jade?”
“Alexander?”
“Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?”
“I sure do, you came jumping out after me.”
“Well, you fell on the concrete and nearly broke your ass and you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you off to the hospital. Do you remember that?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, there’s something I never told you about that night.”
“What didn’t you tell me?”
“While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was going to be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you and I never told you ‘til just now.”
“Now I know.”
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is whenever I’m with you
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is when I’m alone with you
Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Ahh, Home
Yes, I am Home
Home is when I’m alone with you.
Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma & Pa
Moats & boats & waterfalls & pay phone calls
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Ahh, Home
Let me come Home
Home is when I’m alone with you
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Some New Posts
I have just made a bunch of posts of things I wrote about during my year in the Marshall Islands and never had the internet connection/time/motivation/desire to post. Enjoy!
Poverty and Self Interest
Does everybody in the world operate on their own self interest? And if so, is that is a positive or negative thing? Yes, no, maybe so.
If everybody operated on self interest and was successful at it, then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about extreme poverty. But the fact is that people can try to act in their self interest and be unsuccessful, and under the current paradigm, those who fail deserve to fail because they had a chance but obviously just didn't care enough to succeed .
When I told Eric that my parents had both worked full-time jobs while I grew up, but we had still lived an existence beneath the poverty line, he responded that it sucked, but I still managed to pull myself up by my boot straps and go to an ivy league college, because i had been given opportunities that I took advantage of, which definitely made me think. However, I was the exception, not the rule. So what was it that made me the exception?
Eric doesn't think that government should be responsible for helping people out of poverty, but it was government-funded programs that gave me the very opportunities that he referred to as helping me succeed. He acknowledges that even if he had he been basically the same person he is now of the same level of intelligence, but born in a different area of philadelphia and to different parents, his life could have turned out drastically different. he obviously believes in inequality, but doesn't seem to think anything can, or should, be done about it. On the contrary, I think that, while the cycle of poverty may seem depressing and without an answer, it seems that there are ways to slowly make a difference.
The unequal distribution of wealth in our country is the greatest issue. How can it be that a family can work so hard and still be behind? Clearly pulling yourself up by your bootstraps isn't enough when faced with low minimum wage and few job opportunities. Progressive reforms must address those structures of the economy that foster great inequality rather than pushing people into individual wealth-building schemes. A bold program would include wealth taxation, fairer income taxation, and the accumulation of public and community-owned assets.
Ultimately I think a great contribution to my successes were programs like Talent Search and Project Catalyst- government funded programs that showed me the great variety of options that the world is made of and gave me the tools to take advantage of them. So if it is proven that such programs can actually be of use (it worked for me, right?), maybe that is the key to poverty policy- not handouts, but giving more funding to programs that provide guidance to youth at a disadvantage in making the most of opportunities that are available if they work at it. Of course, this is a longer-term commitment, so public welfare is still a necessary evil.
If everybody operated on self interest and was successful at it, then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about extreme poverty. But the fact is that people can try to act in their self interest and be unsuccessful, and under the current paradigm, those who fail deserve to fail because they had a chance but obviously just didn't care enough to succeed .
When I told Eric that my parents had both worked full-time jobs while I grew up, but we had still lived an existence beneath the poverty line, he responded that it sucked, but I still managed to pull myself up by my boot straps and go to an ivy league college, because i had been given opportunities that I took advantage of, which definitely made me think. However, I was the exception, not the rule. So what was it that made me the exception?
Eric doesn't think that government should be responsible for helping people out of poverty, but it was government-funded programs that gave me the very opportunities that he referred to as helping me succeed. He acknowledges that even if he had he been basically the same person he is now of the same level of intelligence, but born in a different area of philadelphia and to different parents, his life could have turned out drastically different. he obviously believes in inequality, but doesn't seem to think anything can, or should, be done about it. On the contrary, I think that, while the cycle of poverty may seem depressing and without an answer, it seems that there are ways to slowly make a difference.
The unequal distribution of wealth in our country is the greatest issue. How can it be that a family can work so hard and still be behind? Clearly pulling yourself up by your bootstraps isn't enough when faced with low minimum wage and few job opportunities. Progressive reforms must address those structures of the economy that foster great inequality rather than pushing people into individual wealth-building schemes. A bold program would include wealth taxation, fairer income taxation, and the accumulation of public and community-owned assets.
Ultimately I think a great contribution to my successes were programs like Talent Search and Project Catalyst- government funded programs that showed me the great variety of options that the world is made of and gave me the tools to take advantage of them. So if it is proven that such programs can actually be of use (it worked for me, right?), maybe that is the key to poverty policy- not handouts, but giving more funding to programs that provide guidance to youth at a disadvantage in making the most of opportunities that are available if they work at it. Of course, this is a longer-term commitment, so public welfare is still a necessary evil.
Assimilation versus Multiculturalism
As visiting teachers in the the Marshall Islands, we are representatives of the United States and thus, we wish to make a good impression by assimilating into our host country, while at the same time trying to share our own culture and identity. These are two processes which, when attempting both in conjunction, can be very contradictory because assimilation requires any differences to be glossed over to a degree, while multiculturalism asks us to identify differences and celebrate them.
Assimilation is the process of change that a minority group experiences when it comes into contact with another culture. As the visiting minority, we can adopt patterns of the Marshallese in order to show our respect for their culture. On February, my 7th month of being here, my host sister told me that people in Jeirok, our neighborhood, think I am very Ri-Majel (like a Marshallese person).
“Why?” I asked her.
”Because you look like a Marshallese person in the way you dress and you respect Manit (culture).”
“You are so Rii-Majel that you should take a Marshallese man!” she told me enthusiastically.
My host sister/land lady/school secretary, Amanda Ishoda.
I couldn’t really get her to elaborate on the exact ways in which I respect Manit and act Marshallese, but contributing factors may be that I often go outside to play volleyball with the neighborhood girls, I wear guams, I have expressed my liking for various Marshallese foods, I have become accustomed to sitting outside just to bwebenato, and I spend hours on the bus. I do all of these things with a humility, patience, and respect for the culture that has helped me, in turn, to earn the respect of my neighborhood. I am discreet- when my host sister has told me private matters about her life, I try to keep them to myself.
The opposite of an assimilationist model is multiculturalism- the melting pot in contrast to the salad bowl. As Dartmouth Volunteer teachers, the expectation is that we shouldn’t make too big a splash- we must show respect and therefore begin the process of assimilation by obeying the conservative rules of dress, restrain ourselves from talking to those of opposite genders, stop smoking and drinking if we are women (or at least do all of these things with the appropriate and culturally acceptable attempts towards secrecy). Cross-cultural communication demands a respect for difference, as opposed to the reverence for conformity that the melting pot maintains. How can I assimilate while at the same time sharing my own culture, especially if my culture clashes with the Marshallese culture? The biggest example I can think of is how different my culture of gender relations is to the Marshallese one.
My student,Hilton, breaking gender norms in my classroom before the variety show. Yep, he's wearing my guam dress.
I do want to respect the conservative nature of gender relations in the Marshall Islands, but it's hard sometimes. Let's look at some examples of this. First, one rarely sees boys and girls walking together in public. I once observed boys and girls on their way to a play as they walked through the street at night. Under the veil of secrecy supplied by the moonless night, they walked beside each other, sometimes even hand in hand. As soon as they approached a large pool of light from a street lamp, the rules changed. If boys and girls were walking together, either the boy or the girl would walk around the light, so as to avoid being seen together. Two girls walked through the light unabashed, the same applied to three boys together. In our first few months, students would constantly question Eric about his relation to Sarah and I- is she your girlfriend? To them, boys and girls cannot be friends, and to the boys, girls are sex objects. Also, regarding the problems inherent in the abuse of alcohol by any gender, the discrimination against women who choose to drink or smoke is unbalanced.
The differences between Marshallese and American people do not depend on an absence of social interaction, but often the dichotomized view is the foundation on which the social system is built. We constantly organize the world by making categorical divisions in our minds. Just as normalcy is defined by the very deviance it eschews, ethnic boundaries are defined by the very interactions and differences among those divided. What I mean is that cultural differences can exist despite inter-dependence and inter-ethnic contact, so the push for volunteer assimilation is not necessarily the right one.
When it comes to the values inherent in the education system, obviously we choose multi-culturalism as opposed to acculturation. The culture of our school dictates that most teachers do not show up on time, and some don't even show up at all. As visiting teachers, our job is to teach, and assimilating in this respect would override the duty we have to our job. "Creative maladjustment means consists of breaking social patterns that are morally reprehensible, taking conscious control of one's place in the environment, and readjusting the world one lives in based on personal integrity and honesty- that is, it consists of learning to survive with minimal moral and personal compromise in a thoroughly compromised world and of not being afraid of planned and willed conflict, if necessary..." (Kohl, Herbert. "I Won't Learn From You" And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment. New York: The New York Press, 1994, p. 130-132.) If pursuing a change, even in the name of well-intentioned assimilation, takes away from your main mission, then it is probably worth rethinking that change.
Listen and observe the things that go on around you without making judgments or jumping to conclusions. Keep your opinions to yourself for a while. Make an effort to understand other perspectives. If you are respectful and humble in every interaction, you will make it clear that your goals are the same and that you wish to learn from those around you. You will be “well received in your community as someone who has come from the outside, but was interested in achieving the same ultimate goal as my students’ families, other teachers, and community members- student achievement.”
Great tips from the Teach for America handbook to apply in the Marshall Islands, or any foreign culture:
"Do not make the mistaken and arrogant assumption that you , as a newly arrived teacher, can immediately effect large scale change in your school. The tension- between your great potential to effect change and your status as a newcomer with little initial influence in your community. You must choose which challenges to take on and which ones to let pass.
No matter what your background and experience, you have much to learn about how things work in your new community. Where you may simply see a problem that needs to be solved, others around you may see a whole history and context that you do not. Where you may see an opportunity to change some policy or practice for the benfit of students’ learning, others around you may see a web of political dynamics that can only be navigated in a particular way. And, where you may see what you believe to be an obvious solution, others around you may, with the benefit of their experience, know that solution to be fatally flawed.
This is not a call for passivity; rather, the point is that to be effective in your leadership for change, you must 1. Build your credibility with success in the classroom and 2. Approach every interaction with the respect and humility appropriate for a newcomer."
Assimilation is the process of change that a minority group experiences when it comes into contact with another culture. As the visiting minority, we can adopt patterns of the Marshallese in order to show our respect for their culture. On February, my 7th month of being here, my host sister told me that people in Jeirok, our neighborhood, think I am very Ri-Majel (like a Marshallese person).
“Why?” I asked her.
”Because you look like a Marshallese person in the way you dress and you respect Manit (culture).”
“You are so Rii-Majel that you should take a Marshallese man!” she told me enthusiastically.
My host sister/land lady/school secretary, Amanda Ishoda.I couldn’t really get her to elaborate on the exact ways in which I respect Manit and act Marshallese, but contributing factors may be that I often go outside to play volleyball with the neighborhood girls, I wear guams, I have expressed my liking for various Marshallese foods, I have become accustomed to sitting outside just to bwebenato, and I spend hours on the bus. I do all of these things with a humility, patience, and respect for the culture that has helped me, in turn, to earn the respect of my neighborhood. I am discreet- when my host sister has told me private matters about her life, I try to keep them to myself.
The opposite of an assimilationist model is multiculturalism- the melting pot in contrast to the salad bowl. As Dartmouth Volunteer teachers, the expectation is that we shouldn’t make too big a splash- we must show respect and therefore begin the process of assimilation by obeying the conservative rules of dress, restrain ourselves from talking to those of opposite genders, stop smoking and drinking if we are women (or at least do all of these things with the appropriate and culturally acceptable attempts towards secrecy). Cross-cultural communication demands a respect for difference, as opposed to the reverence for conformity that the melting pot maintains. How can I assimilate while at the same time sharing my own culture, especially if my culture clashes with the Marshallese culture? The biggest example I can think of is how different my culture of gender relations is to the Marshallese one.
My student,Hilton, breaking gender norms in my classroom before the variety show. Yep, he's wearing my guam dress.I do want to respect the conservative nature of gender relations in the Marshall Islands, but it's hard sometimes. Let's look at some examples of this. First, one rarely sees boys and girls walking together in public. I once observed boys and girls on their way to a play as they walked through the street at night. Under the veil of secrecy supplied by the moonless night, they walked beside each other, sometimes even hand in hand. As soon as they approached a large pool of light from a street lamp, the rules changed. If boys and girls were walking together, either the boy or the girl would walk around the light, so as to avoid being seen together. Two girls walked through the light unabashed, the same applied to three boys together. In our first few months, students would constantly question Eric about his relation to Sarah and I- is she your girlfriend? To them, boys and girls cannot be friends, and to the boys, girls are sex objects. Also, regarding the problems inherent in the abuse of alcohol by any gender, the discrimination against women who choose to drink or smoke is unbalanced.
The differences between Marshallese and American people do not depend on an absence of social interaction, but often the dichotomized view is the foundation on which the social system is built. We constantly organize the world by making categorical divisions in our minds. Just as normalcy is defined by the very deviance it eschews, ethnic boundaries are defined by the very interactions and differences among those divided. What I mean is that cultural differences can exist despite inter-dependence and inter-ethnic contact, so the push for volunteer assimilation is not necessarily the right one.
When it comes to the values inherent in the education system, obviously we choose multi-culturalism as opposed to acculturation. The culture of our school dictates that most teachers do not show up on time, and some don't even show up at all. As visiting teachers, our job is to teach, and assimilating in this respect would override the duty we have to our job. "Creative maladjustment means consists of breaking social patterns that are morally reprehensible, taking conscious control of one's place in the environment, and readjusting the world one lives in based on personal integrity and honesty- that is, it consists of learning to survive with minimal moral and personal compromise in a thoroughly compromised world and of not being afraid of planned and willed conflict, if necessary..." (Kohl, Herbert. "I Won't Learn From You" And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment. New York: The New York Press, 1994, p. 130-132.) If pursuing a change, even in the name of well-intentioned assimilation, takes away from your main mission, then it is probably worth rethinking that change.
Listen and observe the things that go on around you without making judgments or jumping to conclusions. Keep your opinions to yourself for a while. Make an effort to understand other perspectives. If you are respectful and humble in every interaction, you will make it clear that your goals are the same and that you wish to learn from those around you. You will be “well received in your community as someone who has come from the outside, but was interested in achieving the same ultimate goal as my students’ families, other teachers, and community members- student achievement.”
Great tips from the Teach for America handbook to apply in the Marshall Islands, or any foreign culture:
"Do not make the mistaken and arrogant assumption that you , as a newly arrived teacher, can immediately effect large scale change in your school. The tension- between your great potential to effect change and your status as a newcomer with little initial influence in your community. You must choose which challenges to take on and which ones to let pass.
No matter what your background and experience, you have much to learn about how things work in your new community. Where you may simply see a problem that needs to be solved, others around you may see a whole history and context that you do not. Where you may see an opportunity to change some policy or practice for the benfit of students’ learning, others around you may see a web of political dynamics that can only be navigated in a particular way. And, where you may see what you believe to be an obvious solution, others around you may, with the benefit of their experience, know that solution to be fatally flawed.
This is not a call for passivity; rather, the point is that to be effective in your leadership for change, you must 1. Build your credibility with success in the classroom and 2. Approach every interaction with the respect and humility appropriate for a newcomer."
Things I am looking forward to when I get home, but know now that I can do without:
-hot showers that do not involve a bucket
-a tall glass of cold water with ice that does not require a trip to the water catchment, 10 minutes of boiling, or any filtering whatsoever
-running water
-FAST internet
-a bed
-an oven
-electricity that stays on for a week straight
-a kitchen that consists of more than just two inconsistently hot burners
-a freezer
-LOST (ok, I could never have done without finishing the series finale)
-a tall glass of cold water with ice that does not require a trip to the water catchment, 10 minutes of boiling, or any filtering whatsoever
-running water
-FAST internet
-a bed
-an oven
-electricity that stays on for a week straight
-a kitchen that consists of more than just two inconsistently hot burners
-a freezer
-LOST (ok, I could never have done without finishing the series finale)
Chlamydia? Or did you mean Cholera?
I was doing sex ed the other day, and when I asked my students to name some STDs they've heard of before, one girl shouted out, "Cholera!" When I asked where they could go for STI checks, another answered, "the Fire Department!" This is not true.
Enjoyable Quotes
"I love you so much, even more than tabasco!"
Hinda Pedro, 10th grade
"nothing is perfect man that's what the world is. all i know is, i'm enjoying today. you know, cuz it ain't everyday that you get to give"
k’naan
“it’s like herding cats”
-peter, in reference to getting Marshallese students to mobilize themselves.
"Burn baby, learn"
-all LHS students
Hinda Pedro, 10th grade
"nothing is perfect man that's what the world is. all i know is, i'm enjoying today. you know, cuz it ain't everyday that you get to give"
k’naan
“it’s like herding cats”
-peter, in reference to getting Marshallese students to mobilize themselves.
"Burn baby, learn"
-all LHS students
waiting for water
There’s that universal law that as soon as you stop waiting for something it starts going. Somethimg to the tune of "A watched pot never boils," right? That’s the same rule our water follows at the house. You can turn the faucet and wait ages staring, thinking it might turn on any second, until the seconds become minutes and your arm gets tired from holding the bowl that you simply want to rinse in a cocked and ready position. You finally step away from the sink, right as the water sputters to life.
New Skills I never thought I’d have
I can now look at the color of a coconut somebody is husking and know that they are probably making liqueur using Yu (sp?), the part of a coconut seedling sprouted inside of an old brown coconut. Jessyanne, joyce, and joy were making some by the lagoon the other day and only here would I see three kids playing with large knives and coconuts without being worried.
Tutoring the Taiwanese
Panding stares searchingly, his eyes gaping into my exaggerated mouth while it forms the sentence. He tilts his head closer and closer, as if he’s expecting the words themselves to be hiding somewhere in its depths.
“Figures,” I enunciate carefully. Today I’m mixing it up and rather than reading simple Shel Silverstein poetry, we are reading from a collection of Jim Morrison’s early lyrics/poetry.
“Aha!” Panding grins in amazement when he sees that he has correctly deciphered the words I was saying and written them down. “Thank you teacher!” says my 27 year old student sincerely.
“Yeah, yeah, easy,” Bruce, the Tai Chi expert, and more advanced of my two English Conversation Class students says with a smile on his face, in a completely non-demeaning, matter of fact, and proud way. He glances to the clock as it’s nearing 7:15 pm. “Now we take-a-rest.”
He heads outside to prepare a papaya for me to take home and starts up the Taiwanese Technical Mission van to give me a ride to where I live, about a 5 minute walk away.
“Be careful!” he says in the more urgently, concerned way possible as I step out of the van.
“Figures,” I enunciate carefully. Today I’m mixing it up and rather than reading simple Shel Silverstein poetry, we are reading from a collection of Jim Morrison’s early lyrics/poetry.
“Aha!” Panding grins in amazement when he sees that he has correctly deciphered the words I was saying and written them down. “Thank you teacher!” says my 27 year old student sincerely.
“Yeah, yeah, easy,” Bruce, the Tai Chi expert, and more advanced of my two English Conversation Class students says with a smile on his face, in a completely non-demeaning, matter of fact, and proud way. He glances to the clock as it’s nearing 7:15 pm. “Now we take-a-rest.”
He heads outside to prepare a papaya for me to take home and starts up the Taiwanese Technical Mission van to give me a ride to where I live, about a 5 minute walk away.
“Be careful!” he says in the more urgently, concerned way possible as I step out of the van.
Taboos of Tampons
Channeling Heidi Jansen, an early bloomer of 7th grade cheerleading, I convinced some of my 10th grade girl students during Adolescent Reproductive Health (aka SEX ED) that tampons are much more comfortable and effective to use, despite some of the taboos against them here. Contrary to popular belief, they do not take away your virginity, make you smell bad, or anything else. And it sure is a lot better than using cut up baby diapers, the common, (well yes, more cost effective) practice here.
Today two girls came to my desk during lunch and asked if I had any for them to try. I felt like the local corner store drug dealer as I slid a drawer open to display my vast selection (I was prepared for girls to ask me about this after our sex ed lesson of the prior day). They made their selection and we slyly made the exchange. I was a little surprised when they asked to use my supply closet in lieu of the bathroom, but given that the new building is a bit far away from the bathrooms, my classroom is on the 2nd floor, and they probably wouldn’t wash their hands in the bathroom anyway and would be better off with my offer of hand sanitizer, I complied. They came out from the closet successful and beaming. Do I feel bad for advocating a practice the Marshallese culture eschews? Simply put, no.
Today two girls came to my desk during lunch and asked if I had any for them to try. I felt like the local corner store drug dealer as I slid a drawer open to display my vast selection (I was prepared for girls to ask me about this after our sex ed lesson of the prior day). They made their selection and we slyly made the exchange. I was a little surprised when they asked to use my supply closet in lieu of the bathroom, but given that the new building is a bit far away from the bathrooms, my classroom is on the 2nd floor, and they probably wouldn’t wash their hands in the bathroom anyway and would be better off with my offer of hand sanitizer, I complied. They came out from the closet successful and beaming. Do I feel bad for advocating a practice the Marshallese culture eschews? Simply put, no.
Self Esteem
Today I was standing in my classroom doing the self-esteem portion of sex-ed (feel good about yourself so that you will care about your self and your body and not put it into any risky situations!), when Patrick walked through with a camcorder. Self-esteem didn’t seem to be the most exciting topic, so there were more than a few heads on desks, which is a little embarrassing to have caught on tape. Later I saw Patrick putting all his recordings together and it was a funny montage if you know some of the particulars of Laura High School.
Patrick starts in the office. He pans to the placard on the door announcing, “David Tibon, Vice-Principal”, opens the door, and walks in. Janky looks surprised and shoos him out. Towards the secretary’s desk he goes and pans to the placard announcing, “Amenda Ishoda, Secretary.” Pan to the empty chair behind the desk. Undeniably the best possible way the video could have portrayed Amenda. Patrick walks towards the new building. Room C1: Wilmer. Wilmer is sitting, pointing at a book, as if actually teaching something, and it becomes clear to me that segments of this video may have less spontaneous and more staged than I had been led to believe!
Patrick starts in the office. He pans to the placard on the door announcing, “David Tibon, Vice-Principal”, opens the door, and walks in. Janky looks surprised and shoos him out. Towards the secretary’s desk he goes and pans to the placard announcing, “Amenda Ishoda, Secretary.” Pan to the empty chair behind the desk. Undeniably the best possible way the video could have portrayed Amenda. Patrick walks towards the new building. Room C1: Wilmer. Wilmer is sitting, pointing at a book, as if actually teaching something, and it becomes clear to me that segments of this video may have less spontaneous and more staged than I had been led to believe!
Buggers
There are two windows in my room that I try to leave open as often as I can to create a refreshing cross breeze. The only problem with this is the missing screen in one, but the relief of the breeze sometimes tricks me into forgoing bug protection. A result of this one night was the unsightly entrance of 4 large bugs of different varieties, one a cross between a cricket and praying mantis, the second a mutated fly moth with two large abdomens and excessively long feelers. Having recently reread James and the Giant Peach I am now plagued with the mental image of each one distorted and blown up to 100 times their actual size. Were I James, the personalities of these bugs would not be nearly as friendly as his enlarged bugs and much more menacing. Keep in mind that I'm not a squeamish person- I've caught and tortured multitudes of bees with the best of them.
The most satisfying (and ironical) part was using my large copy of the "first-year teacher's Survival Kit" to smack the bugs. Very appropriate.
The most satisfying (and ironical) part was using my large copy of the "first-year teacher's Survival Kit" to smack the bugs. Very appropriate.
Behavior
my classes have been behaving themselves and i think i have done a really good job of making them want to learn and they know i care, so they respect me for the most part. although one of my special ed kids did try to burn down my classroom, I think one of the other kids coerced him into it and consequently I had to douse a flaming window with my water bottle.
Another day I was doing a lesson about sentence patterns and direct objects, so I had groups make up actions that they performed in front of the class and then had the class make sentences out of the action. One kid goes up to do his action and his action is this: he walks up to his desk, sits down, and rips the desk part off the chair part. At least they understand direct objects better now though, because the class screamed out, “Maston broke the chair!” which was the correct answer for subject+verb+direct object hhahhaah.
teaching is definitely getting a little easier as i fall into the routine of things more. what wears me out the most here is not so much the general frustrations of teaching in a culture where education is not a top priority (so school gets canceled a lot, paper runs out and is not replaced, etc), but more the other americans, because the way they deal with things directly reflects on me since laura is such a small town and people here tend to group us together. if one person does something, everyone knows. so like, when allison gets into a fight with teachers at her school, or sarah is being difficult at a staff mtg., everyone hears about it and then they think that all volunteer teachers will be that way too. i think it makes people sort of afraid of approaching me so it's been hard to weasel my way into the community, sometimes i feel more like i'm living in a bubble with sarah and eric than experiencing the marshall islands.
Another day I was doing a lesson about sentence patterns and direct objects, so I had groups make up actions that they performed in front of the class and then had the class make sentences out of the action. One kid goes up to do his action and his action is this: he walks up to his desk, sits down, and rips the desk part off the chair part. At least they understand direct objects better now though, because the class screamed out, “Maston broke the chair!” which was the correct answer for subject+verb+direct object hhahhaah.
teaching is definitely getting a little easier as i fall into the routine of things more. what wears me out the most here is not so much the general frustrations of teaching in a culture where education is not a top priority (so school gets canceled a lot, paper runs out and is not replaced, etc), but more the other americans, because the way they deal with things directly reflects on me since laura is such a small town and people here tend to group us together. if one person does something, everyone knows. so like, when allison gets into a fight with teachers at her school, or sarah is being difficult at a staff mtg., everyone hears about it and then they think that all volunteer teachers will be that way too. i think it makes people sort of afraid of approaching me so it's been hard to weasel my way into the community, sometimes i feel more like i'm living in a bubble with sarah and eric than experiencing the marshall islands.
National Geographic Excitement
I got so excited when I picked up our mail and Sarah had received the latest National Geographic, which features Humboldt County and the last remaining giants! It has a huge pull out of a giant redwood with 5 people standing in it all the way up to the top to get a true picture of the size. I am so proud of where I'm from and can't wait to show it to my students. I got shivers when I read again about Headwaters and the epic logger/hippie battles. My dad took me to one of those protests when I was in third grade. I remember being angry that I had to miss school (what a nerd, huh?) and then my teacher asked me to share about the experience the next day in class and I realized how cool it was.
Phone Phun
So, since getting my phone stolen at a bar that our director told us not to go to, I had decided that I would go without a phone for the rest of the time here. But then the cell place had a christmas sale, so I got a really cheap one and they gave me the same number. however, apparently some guy named george is the one who stole my phone, because within an hour of getting my old number back, I got a lot of phone calls/text messages from pissed off Marshallese people confused as to why I was answering my phone and wondering what on earth had happened to George. I have no idea, but I decided I wanted to hunt down this George and get on him for stealing my stuff. So, the next time a Marshallese person called my phone, I gave the phone to Amanda, my host sister, who proceeded to have a long conversation with the caller. Afterwards, I asked her what had gone down, and all she has to say is, "Oh, that was my aunty. She know where your phone is, I know where she live, we'll go get it tomorrow." Another testament to how small this country is: one of the people trying to contact my phone thief just happens to related to my host family, an "aunty' nonetheless, although it's difficult to discern the actual familial relations here and saying that someone is your "aunty" doesn't always mean much.
I love it when we're grillin' together
One Saturday night we got our grill set up in the backyard (basically a small hole in the group with four cinder blocks balancing an old screen that we had found outside and bleached to clean) and grilled some fish that I bought on the way home from trying out Eric's new raft. (sidenote: the raft his parents sent him is shaped like a baseball glove, a surprisingly comfortable shape for a floating device!) As we were floating in the lagoon we saw a boat pull up to the shore and unload a white ice chest. On our walk home we saw, presumably, the same ice chest outside a store that one of my students works at. We bought four colorful, medium-sized, very fresh fish- one rainbow looking one, one silver one, and two black ones with very rough skin and orange tints on their fins and tail. I have become the resident expert on gutting/filleting fish, mostly since I think I'm the least squeamish and willing to get my hands dirty. I figured out that first you need to slice the belly carefully without damaging the intenstines in order to get all the nasty stuff out and leave a clean belly cavity. From there we just tossed the whole fish on the grill and let it go.
Funny note for WASC (Western Association of School and Colleges) visitation
To Faculty and Administration: Prepare lies for the team.
(they meant, prepare LEIS, aka flowers for the team, although I wouldn't put it past our school administration to create a few exaggerations about LHS to put us in a better light)
(they meant, prepare LEIS, aka flowers for the team, although I wouldn't put it past our school administration to create a few exaggerations about LHS to put us in a better light)
Rain
In a recent letter my dad asked, "has there been any rain!??" Funny Dad! There has been so much rain that last time i did laundry it wasn't able to dry for about three days because every time it came anywhere close to drying the rain started up again. sometimes it rains and pounds the tin roof on my classroom so hard that I can't even hear myself speak, much less teach. however, all the rain has been good for my tomato, cucumber, eggplant, and watermelon starts that i got a few weeks ago from the taiwanese farmers at the world food fair (tiny event with a couple stands in town). even though my parents couldn't ever get me to work in the garden back in the day, the green thumb must have rubbed off on me somehow because they are doing well!
Alternative Energies
We stop at a roadside store and two little boys approach the van with what looks like a liter of apple juice and some sort of funnel toy. As they begin to use the funnel to pour apple juice into the side of the van I thought to myself, “Dear God, the Marshallese have discovered it! Apple Juice as an alternative fuel!" Turns out it's just regular gasoline :(
During the stop two women get in the van with a baby. One sits in the front seat and grips the baby by the arm and passes him over the seat to the 2nd woman. As woman #2 lifts her shirt I realize that it must be time for the little boy to gas up too! Wow, I haven't seen anyone breast feed despite the countless babies. Funny that they do it so openly considering how conservative the country is with other things. I guess a breast is not a knee.
During the stop two women get in the van with a baby. One sits in the front seat and grips the baby by the arm and passes him over the seat to the 2nd woman. As woman #2 lifts her shirt I realize that it must be time for the little boy to gas up too! Wow, I haven't seen anyone breast feed despite the countless babies. Funny that they do it so openly considering how conservative the country is with other things. I guess a breast is not a knee.
The Cat
The other day I came home for lunch and left out the back door. I heard the cat that lives in our water catchment meowing violently as usual and thought nothing of it, until I almost stepped on his writhing, soaking wet body between the house and the catchment. I don’t know what happened to him, but I let out a little gasp and felt a feeling like I should help it. I glanced to the corner of the catchment where I had seen it sitting, alive, just the past night as I was outside appreciating the stars. Already late for class, and at a loss for what I could do anyway, I side stepped the cat and tried to put it out of my thoughts.
Super Powers and Super Elitist
One student said, "If i could have a super power it would be the power of the fairy god mother on the cinderalla story; because i want to know what people thinking and i also want this because i can get everythings i want. i also want this super power because i want to fly like angels. with this power i can get my own car this thing that i'm dying for"
a cinderalla story....does she mean the movie with hillary duff or the classic cinderella story? Eric said, "she probably means the hillary duff version, which is really sad." But is it really so sad? We place so many values in our own society on "classics" even classic fairy tales, but does it really matter? She's still obviously got the same ideas going on in her mind. Does it matter whose version she is reading (or watching)? The main difference here is between watching a movie or reading a book, and obviously (for my English class) reading the book has more educational value. But putting value on reading the "classics" can be harmful when it's just an elitist way of making somebody feel underclass for not knowing things in the same way in which they know them. I wish there was more appreciation for a diverse way of doing things.
a cinderalla story....does she mean the movie with hillary duff or the classic cinderella story? Eric said, "she probably means the hillary duff version, which is really sad." But is it really so sad? We place so many values in our own society on "classics" even classic fairy tales, but does it really matter? She's still obviously got the same ideas going on in her mind. Does it matter whose version she is reading (or watching)? The main difference here is between watching a movie or reading a book, and obviously (for my English class) reading the book has more educational value. But putting value on reading the "classics" can be harmful when it's just an elitist way of making somebody feel underclass for not knowing things in the same way in which they know them. I wish there was more appreciation for a diverse way of doing things.
Thank you Thetas!
I emailed Emily Carian, service chair at Epsilon Kappa Theta, a while back and gave her a list of supplies that we could use at Laura High School. Mostly just some folders, pencils, and pens (a good folder will do wonders for getting students to keep their papers organized, just don't let them be taken home or you'll never see them again!) I knew it was nearing the end of the summer so the sophomores at Theta might not have time to get a package together…but they are wonderful and mid-september I received a package full of the folders, pencils, and pens we had asked for. Thanks Theta, you rock!
Power Struggles
Click…click…buzzzzzzzzz.. That’s the sound the power makes when it turns back on. Today we had a blackout from 9 am- 5 pm. About 15 minutes after my first period class started I heard another sound: click…click….silence- the silence of impending heat when you happen to be teaching in a classroom that is already at least 80 degrees...
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