One year ago, I was working part-time for Dirt Devil, in the midst of directing a musical, getting together a group of performance groups on campus, thinking seriously about Peace Corps, thinking about my spring break when I did a little hiking in PA, and wondering where my graduation was going to take me.
Well, it took me here. And a year later, one of the biggest worries I have is the emotional abuse I'm suffering at the hands of 9th grade Mozambican girls. Calling me on words that I mispronounce in class, and loving every second of it. I've found no solution and no easy way to not take it personally.
I've figured out that it's just their immature selfishness - they'd rather get a rise out of saying something than see me be happy. And it's even funnier to them that I either don't react or just stare at them. So I have to tell myself, reiterate to myself, that it's not ME - Tober went through the same thing - and through learning how to deal with this, I will be stronger.
For now, having to deal with this almost seems like a step backwards from one year ago, but I know in the long run it will all be worth it.
Yeah, when they say the first three months are hard, they really mean it. Sunday is my 3-month "anniversary" of being in this city.
I talked with Eric today - it's fantastic to hear from someone and him in particular. He tells me about all sorts of ridiculous, funny things and I get all long-winded about simple, sometimes poignant things and it's just like always. I'm only using the future tense when talking about his possible visit - never the conditional. "When you get here", "We are going to...", and so on. I can't wait for people to ask me if he's my brother (all white males my age are my brother) and be able to say yes.
He told me about the latest prank at CWRU - well, maybe not the latest, but at least the funniest. Apparently a porta-potty was wired up to be a remote control toilet, complete with speakers and microphone to allow for full interactivity. It was wheeled around the main quad, talking to students and professors.
I can't begin to imagine what people here would think about that. They would laugh, but for a different reason...because this guy put so much effort into such a silly toy that exploits the very American comic weaknesses: the toilet and the unsolicited conversation.
My last turma was misbehaving and I had just lost patience today, so I started to pack up without giving a lesson they needed for a test next week. They begged and pleaded, ending up the quietest class I've had in quite a while.
Peace
John
