work and play

Today, we had to go back into school to work on a new class that will open up in the fall semester. I was so happy when I got there and I saw that the tv was on and the game between the US and Algeria was showing. I think that the US needed this win and I agree with MSNBC on this. Lately, I haven't really enjoyed watching the news and seeing everyone blame the President for everything that went wrong. It's almost as if they didn't realize that other people ruled before him and put us in the current situation. And as for the oil spill, I would like to think that it doesn't exist but it is real and scary. I cannot begin to imagine how we would recover fully from this if the environment is still recovering from the Exxon-Valdez! But today, I was thankful for Landon Donovan and the goal he scored for this country.
Now, while on break, another teacher came and he began to talk to the guy I was working with. He was asking him why he doesn't teach Arabic and they were talking about the possibility of opening up a course in the school. They began talking about the script and the direction you write in and he looked at me and asked about the language I spoke and if sanskrit was written from right to left as well. Sometimes I wonder at how blissfully little people know! I know this guy knows that I am from Trinidad but I guess I look a certain way and i've often heard, "well you don't look trini!" So I played along. I told him that the language is hindi and it is a derivative of sanskrit which is the mother of all languages. He looked at me and said, "I don't think so."
me: "Why?"
guy: "because that's not what we learn in school."
me: "That's because you are being taught what people want you to know. as teachers we see this. we are never taught eastern civilization because to the westerners we were a backward and uncivilized country that needed to be taught how to be 'civilized'. and even after they found out about mohenjo daro and harappa it was never taught in school to be the oldest civilization because that will take it away from the judeo-christian sites and we can't have that now! " Now, these things piss me off. It's a stereotype but I saw that the guy was holding on to something he had been taught and he believed it was true. So I told him about the number system and how the "hindus" got left out of that too and about pythagoras and the bogusness we are taught to believe is true. I even told him that we were probably the most labeled set of people in the world. somewhere in that, i told this guy that i never sat in any of these classes because I didn't think i needed someone who studied books come and tell me about where I was from and what I was. That will just be another label. He did admit that another one of his hindu friends had the same issue with taking Western civilization classes.
Earlier this month, I took a class where I learned about the history of France and about France's power and how the French taught the world about the art of fine dining and somewhere along the course of the class, I asked myself if I was being brainwashed to believe something. Would this make me want to become French because they were the measure of what a civilized people are? Ok, how about no. See, there is a problem here....one should not be convinced but one should be presented with ideas and as a human, one is able to discriminate and form an opinion. Maybe this is why I like teaching science. It doesn't get involved in all the drama of a dog chasing its tail.
Takes me back to the week I taught Evolution...I teach biology, chemistry...and everything else in between.... At the beginning of the week, i had students look at me as if I was the devil. I had a boy hold on to his bible and he even asked to leave the class. Of course I let him go. But I did tell them that I was not giving my opinion, nor was I going to tell anyone that they came from monkeys because that is where the problem started but simply presenting them with scientific evidence. I realized that week that I had to erase years of brainwashing and that was a challenge. Quite possibly, I think i spent less time explaining chemistry to them that I did with evolution. at the end of the week, i had a conservative christian girl tell another one that she couldn't read the Bible anymore because it was "all lies" according to her. I stopped her there. Religion is important, regardless of what it is, one needs faith and one needs belief because it gives hope. I told her that even though the Bible is a compilation of books written by different people and later, subject to revisions, there were still many good things to learn and now that she knew the science, she should not relinquish her religion but stand firmly in it. I think more than anything else, evolution taught me to believe in God than to not believe at all and Chemistry sealed it. Just a minor digression....

So now it's Sunday morning, 3:18 am and I am still awake. Have been watching Russell Peters and trying to keep the laughing down. He's as hilarious as it gets.
Today, the US lost the game with Ghana. Ghana played well but I was really rooting for the US and I thought that they did try in the end. I actually felt like crying when they lost and that was when I realized that I may like this sport more than I thought. I know it's not really a sport that's followed by many Americans like American football but I was happy to see that more Americans were getting involved in the games. I guess I really like football for the game because even though, admittedly, I began watching because of all the really handsome footballers, it's not about them anymore. I actually follow the game and sometimes don't really notice the guys as much.... maybe that's being married. I've noticed that the conversations between me and my friends have changed. See, I have two sets of girl friends. Married and unmarried ones. Most of the married ones live here and the unmarried ones live back home, in Trinidad. Sometimes, the conversations get a little bit awkward. The only saving grace is that I made these friends over a decade ago so we have lots of memories. Thank God for friends...and family too!

End of year procedures, etc.

Today is graduation for my students I had last year. I am not sure if I am going yet but I am leaning towards it. It's the last day of school for the kids and I think I'll miss the bunch that I have in front of me now. They were a good set and some of them really made it worth the while. Imagine, they came to class even when they didn't need to take the test! This speaks volumes. One of them, I call her Muchacha, refused to exempt my test even though she had well over a perfect score in the class. I think that they are the best part of teaching. The kids will get you mad, they make you laugh, they will come in on some days happy then they're angry the next day. Muchacha just asked for extra paper=0) It's definitely the best part of the job. It keeps you young when you are around kids all day.
I haven't gotten to read for the last week and I'm starting to feel a little bit as if society is getting the better of me so I must rebel. Today, I will read. On Friday, Furgie leaves for school in Texas once more. She will finish up her PhD. I am happy for her but I guess I'll miss her. Either way, I'll have an excuse to visit Texas. La Copa Mundial begins in two days...Ole ole ole ole...........