"Ms. Ross, Ms. Ross, feel my muscle!! I can fight a bear!"
"Wow, Jaylon! You're so strong!"
"Yeah, look at my legs. I can also kick a bear. Also I can do flips on my skateboard and rap."
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ssshhhh, I'm supposed to be working
Slow day here at Freshfields, so I decided to check out the blog.
There were a lot more posts since the last time I checked, which absolutely made my day, and I think confused my office mate a little as I was laughing out loud and smiling a lot. She must think this notification form to the Italian competition authorities that I'm supposed to be proofreading is very funny.
A few notes from looking through the other posts: Daddy, from an experienced yogi, that is not, contrary to popular belief, the butt touches sky position, but rather the Down-Dog. Now you know. I'm so happy to see you're working with Dea! She's the best and told me she was working for Donald, but I didn't know you were working with her. Looks like you're having a good time serving the hipster doofuses of the world. Peace, love, and unshaved legs.
Cailin, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for myself working one 13 hour day after your description of work. Sounds tough, but they're lucky to have you. It's making me miss my kids at Mary Johnson and Kookamunga. Also, the Mandela quote gave me chills in a big way.
Things have been great here in Amsterdam!
Because they don't have a ton of work for me a lot of the times, I have started only working 4 days a week, which is great, so I only have 3 and a half hours left of my work week! And it gives me more time to travel, etc.
Two weekends ago Felix, his friend Philip, and I went to Bruges, Belgium for a couple nights. Really awesome old medieval town, I'll post a couple pictures later. Went to a bar that served all 1300 of the Belgian beers, tasted every one. (Just kidding). On the way back we got stuck in a 3 hour traffic jam because a bunch of tractor-trailer trucks crashed. It was a long day, but a good weekend.
Last weekend we went to a birthday party for one of Felix's high school friends, which was great because I got to meet a bunch of his and Caspar's old friends, and I got to hang out with a lot more people my age. One girl there had studied for a year in Boston and knew Zuki. Small world.
The next day we did the touristy things around Amsterdam. Felix and his parents were definitely more excited about this than I was, because they finally had an excuse (me) to do all the things they could't do as native Amsterdamians. We rented a boat and spent all afternoon cruising around the canals, went to the Anne Frank house, walked through the red-light district, and strolled through the city. The Anne Frank house was incredibly moving; everyone was tearing up and it kind of put a damper on the afternoon, but I'm glad we went.
Sunday was father's day (Daddy, I tried getting a hold of you, but you must have been gone) and we went minigolfing with Felix's dad for the day. It's not like, side of 22A in Castleton, rickety plastic minigolf, but professionally manicured, real grass in the middle of a gorgeous garden. The Dutch take minigolf very seriously, and even have some semi-professional leagues. Also, the town where we went for this is the summer palace of the Dutch royal family, so it's very quaint and charming. Unfortunately, the Queen Beatrix was not playing that day. By the way, I got dead last by 8 strokes. Bo, any golf advice?
The Dutch soccer team is, or was, in the Euro Cup right now, the biggest soccer tournament besides the World Cup. They were supposed to be one of the three best teams in the tournament, and ended up not making it past the first round. Everyone here is shocked, angry, and beside themselves. All 16 million Dutch people have an opinion on what went wrong and are more than happy to tell you about it.
Poland and Ukraine, where the tournament is being held, have been having a lot of trouble with far-right nationalism and xenophobia, and there has been lots of racist taunting, fighting between groups, and general hooliganism at the tournament. I have made the mistake of bringing this up not once, but twice, to my Ukrainian office mate, who does not take the criticism of her country well. I'm just making so many friends.
We've been trying to get to Paris for the last two weeks but stuff keeps coming up; I think we're going next weekend. Really looking forward to that.
Back to work, love to everyone. I'll be home two weeks from Saturday.
Til then,
Connor
There were a lot more posts since the last time I checked, which absolutely made my day, and I think confused my office mate a little as I was laughing out loud and smiling a lot. She must think this notification form to the Italian competition authorities that I'm supposed to be proofreading is very funny.
A few notes from looking through the other posts: Daddy, from an experienced yogi, that is not, contrary to popular belief, the butt touches sky position, but rather the Down-Dog. Now you know. I'm so happy to see you're working with Dea! She's the best and told me she was working for Donald, but I didn't know you were working with her. Looks like you're having a good time serving the hipster doofuses of the world. Peace, love, and unshaved legs.
Cailin, I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for myself working one 13 hour day after your description of work. Sounds tough, but they're lucky to have you. It's making me miss my kids at Mary Johnson and Kookamunga. Also, the Mandela quote gave me chills in a big way.
Things have been great here in Amsterdam!
Because they don't have a ton of work for me a lot of the times, I have started only working 4 days a week, which is great, so I only have 3 and a half hours left of my work week! And it gives me more time to travel, etc.
Two weekends ago Felix, his friend Philip, and I went to Bruges, Belgium for a couple nights. Really awesome old medieval town, I'll post a couple pictures later. Went to a bar that served all 1300 of the Belgian beers, tasted every one. (Just kidding). On the way back we got stuck in a 3 hour traffic jam because a bunch of tractor-trailer trucks crashed. It was a long day, but a good weekend.
Last weekend we went to a birthday party for one of Felix's high school friends, which was great because I got to meet a bunch of his and Caspar's old friends, and I got to hang out with a lot more people my age. One girl there had studied for a year in Boston and knew Zuki. Small world.
The next day we did the touristy things around Amsterdam. Felix and his parents were definitely more excited about this than I was, because they finally had an excuse (me) to do all the things they could't do as native Amsterdamians. We rented a boat and spent all afternoon cruising around the canals, went to the Anne Frank house, walked through the red-light district, and strolled through the city. The Anne Frank house was incredibly moving; everyone was tearing up and it kind of put a damper on the afternoon, but I'm glad we went.
Sunday was father's day (Daddy, I tried getting a hold of you, but you must have been gone) and we went minigolfing with Felix's dad for the day. It's not like, side of 22A in Castleton, rickety plastic minigolf, but professionally manicured, real grass in the middle of a gorgeous garden. The Dutch take minigolf very seriously, and even have some semi-professional leagues. Also, the town where we went for this is the summer palace of the Dutch royal family, so it's very quaint and charming. Unfortunately, the Queen Beatrix was not playing that day. By the way, I got dead last by 8 strokes. Bo, any golf advice?
The Dutch soccer team is, or was, in the Euro Cup right now, the biggest soccer tournament besides the World Cup. They were supposed to be one of the three best teams in the tournament, and ended up not making it past the first round. Everyone here is shocked, angry, and beside themselves. All 16 million Dutch people have an opinion on what went wrong and are more than happy to tell you about it.
Poland and Ukraine, where the tournament is being held, have been having a lot of trouble with far-right nationalism and xenophobia, and there has been lots of racist taunting, fighting between groups, and general hooliganism at the tournament. I have made the mistake of bringing this up not once, but twice, to my Ukrainian office mate, who does not take the criticism of her country well. I'm just making so many friends.
We've been trying to get to Paris for the last two weeks but stuff keeps coming up; I think we're going next weekend. Really looking forward to that.
Back to work, love to everyone. I'll be home two weeks from Saturday.
Til then,
Connor
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
some pictures from the Delta!
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| One of my babies and me at the community dinner last night. Say hi to Zyionn! |
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| Buses all lined up and ready to take teachers to school at 6am (mine is the third one!) |
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| On the way to school. The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar. |
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| Ms. Ross, Room 102 |
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| Delta State Fighting Okra! at the Catfish Fry |
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| Teachers after work at Hey Joe's. yay, Fridays! |
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Down and Back
In one short weekend we headed down the turnpike to Croton-On-Hudson to sell our fair fare at Clearwater's Hudson River Revival Music and Environmental Festival. The crowd was so much different for this one. Much older and all more into their causes than the music. Probably pretty nice people but there was an awful lot of pretentiousness floating around. Everyone trying to outdo the good doing of the do-gooder next to them. "I'm against nuclear power" "Yeah well I'm really really against nuclear power." "Yeah? Well I triple dog dare you to sign my petition."
But the venue was gorgeous.
But the venue was gorgeous.
The banks of the Hudson
Next to us was Story Grove. They had a great dragon soaring overhead and told wonderful stories about evil executives who poisoned little children by dropping nuclear power plants on their heads.
Over our head was a mulberry tree that dropped mulberries the size of quarters on our heads. One landed in the coffee cup next to me and exploded coffee everywhere. It was terrible. The tree was right in front of our booth and blocked our sign and lowered our "visibility quotient". Donald wanted to cut the tree down but I convinced him that folks probably wouldn't go for that. So many hugs, so few trees.
Mulberries the size of quarters
Stupid Tree
Sleeping was great. The music ended by 9:15 each night (I told you it was a slightly different crowd). We did not serve breakfast so our work day was relatively short which was kind of a nice change from Wakarusa and Bonnaroo.
The crew headed home Sunday night but Donald and I stayed at a Super 8 in Connecticut and hit Restaurant Depot Monday morning. We had to buy a freezer and a refrigerator for the Branbury State Park concession stand.
Load 'em up, head 'em out.
Always great seeing this.
I have a week or so off and then we head to Michigan to do it all over again.
Love you all. Peace. Peter
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The beginnings of Institute
I'm glad you made it home safely Daddy! I will try to give you a call soon and say hello, now that you have more normal hours.
Three days into Institute and I feel like I’ve been in
Cleveland, Mississippi for 3 years. It is hotter than hot, humider than humid,
and buggier than buggy. The days are long. We have very little free time, lots
of homework, and SO MANY SESSIONS. But I love it. I’m learning so much, the
people are great, and it’s really inspiring to be a part of a group that a) is
so passionate about educational equity and b) actually accomplishing real,
measurable results. Here’s a little about what my days are like.
I wake up at 4:45, get dressed in “professional dress” (so
many pencil skirts! So little time!). I live in Foundation Hall. Delta State
University is actually really nice, and my dorm is new, big, and air
conditioned. My roommate here is named Alex. She seems a little quiet, but
nice.
The dining hall opens at 5:30. I grab the quickest breakfast
ever and get in line to pick up lunch. On the first day, everyone got a big
green lunch bag. We go through the line and pick out 1 entrée (turkey and swiss
or ham and cheddar?), chips or a veggie, apple or a cookie. Grab an ice pack at
the end to keep my deli meat cool.
The buses leave campus for our schools at 6:00. My school,
Greene/McNair, is an hour and 15 minutes from Delta State, in Belzoni (Bel-zo-na).
We are all split up into CMA (Corps Member Advisor) Groups. Everyone in my CMA
is teaching Entering Kindergarten for summer school. Brittany Woods is my CMA,
and she is amazing. Basically she is our teacher/mentor/counselor for
everything at Institute, she reviews all of our lesson plans and observes us
while we teach to give feedback. Summer school has not started yet, so this
week is all about learning how to be a teacher. We have sessions on everything
from behavior management to lesson planning to diversity. In a diversity
session we talk about things like how, as a middle class white girl, I can
relate to impoverished African Americans. Some parents have a big problem with
this, and want their kids switched out of their class, or if their child is not
liking school they’ll say “What do you know about what my child is going
through, you clearly don’t know what it’s like to have their background.” Even
for the other black teachers here, a lot of parents say, “You’re acting too
white.” So it’s important that we talk about how to address things like this,
and what differences are real or perceived. One thing we focus on as teachers
is that everyone, even two kids from Belzoni, MS, will have different life
experiences, but that as humans we have all felt disappointment, all felt hurt,
all been angry, and with that, we’ve all felt joy or known happiness, so
connecting with students on that level instead of more generally.
We talk a lot a lot a lot about lesson planning. Lesson
plans are the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There is a very specific model we
follow, and a lot of new “teacher vocabulary” to learn, like what your assessment is or your key
points. Every lesson plan has an objective. My first objective, that I will
teach on Tuesday, is SWBAT say when objects are different. SWBAT stands for Students Will Be Able To. At the end of
the lesson you give the assessment which a) allows students to demonstrate
independent mastery of the objective and b) aligns with the End of Summer
Assessment, which determines if they have passed. In between there are a bunch
of other steps. You write out everything.
Everything you say, including anything about behavior, goes in the lesson
plan, which is why it takes so long. After we write it out, our CMA looks it
over and says things like, “Re-write this. A kindergartener won’t know this
word. Re-write this. A kindergartener hasn’t learned this yet. Re-write this.
This is too abstract.” Etc, etc. It’s very stressful and takes forever, which
is why we don’t sleep at all.
Anyway, these are what the sessions are. We are in sessions
from 7am when we arrive until 4:30. Then we get on the bus and travel back to
campus, arriving just before 6, at which time we go to the resource center in
the library and find manipulatives and materials for the lessons we’re planning
and check out books. Then we can have dinner. The work day is about 12 hours
long.
At night we work on whatever is due the next day, mostly
lesson plans.
On Friday we will finally meet our babies! We won’t teach
any lesson on Friday, they have to take the DRA, a reading assessment test,
which we administer, to see at what level they’re reading. The academic goal
for the end of the summer is that they move from instructional (they can’t read
and comprehend without the help of a teacher) to independent in their DRA
reading level. Phew!
When we actually start teaching next week, we only teach 1
lesson a day (about an hour). For the first two weeks I am teaching math, and
the last two I am teaching reading. For the other part of the day we’re being
de-briefed on our lesson, observing other classrooms, writing lesson plans,
etc. I’m excited to finally meet the kids and put everything we’re learning
into action. It’s a little hard to know exactly what they’re talking about
without being able to try things out on the kids for real.
So, that’s pretty much the low down on Institute! You never
knew so much went into teaching one lesson, did you? Me neither. I can’t
imagine what it’s going to be like to plan not one hour of my day but 8. We’ll
cross that bridge when we get to it.
Here is a quote that Brittany, my CMA, recited every morning
with her babies (in the south, every teacher refers to their kids as their “babies”),
and I might bring it, or something like it, into my classroom.
"Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
I
think it was Nelson Mandela who said that.
Also, we have to bring in a picture tomorrow of why we Teach for America for our inspiration board, in case days get tough and we need something to look at. Here is my picture.
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| Conner I teach for this baby! |
I think about Conner and all my babies back at Mary Johnson. If I won't teach them and believe in them and love them, who will??
and lastly, please, please, please watch this video clip. The most inspirational 4th grader I've ever heard.
sorry for such a long post! Love to you all!
My children are better at this than I am!
Connor and Cailin! So great to catch up on what's going on. I'm off on my own little adventure. Back in Salisbury for a couple of days before heading out on Friday for the Clearwater Festival this weekend on the Hudson.
We left (yes before Cailin's graduation Donald) on Sunday headed for Arkansas and Wakarusa. Donald drives and hates to stop so we pretty much dash into gas stations, go to the bathroom and grab whatever food is available. Donald won't let us eat in the truck because of crumbs so we wolf down a handful of crackers between the gas station and the truck. Donald could be nicer. But he is under a lot of stress trying to get where we're going on time. The first day of travel I had Sasha, Monica and Shawn in the back seat of the truck. They slept a lot.
We left (yes before Cailin's graduation Donald) on Sunday headed for Arkansas and Wakarusa. Donald drives and hates to stop so we pretty much dash into gas stations, go to the bathroom and grab whatever food is available. Donald won't let us eat in the truck because of crumbs so we wolf down a handful of crackers between the gas station and the truck. Donald could be nicer. But he is under a lot of stress trying to get where we're going on time. The first day of travel I had Sasha, Monica and Shawn in the back seat of the truck. They slept a lot.
After a lot of travel and a lot of Bruce Springsteen (24 hours a day on E Street Radio) we met up with the other 2 crews coming from festivals in Illinois and Maryland. It was fun to meet up and take time to eat dinner in a Mexican restaurant.
A lot of set-up, and work pretty much from 6:30 in the morning until midnight. Exhausted but having fun. We got hail the size of quarters the last day at Wakarusa. Luckily I had broken down my tent so it was dry for Bonnaroo.
Some of the crew dishing it out. You pretty much put head down and go.
Thousands of tents!
Hail the size of a quarter.
Hail the size of quarters falling on Maddie's head! Luckily she is wearing a pot. On to Bonnaroo.
Just 2 of the 80,000 wackos at Bonnaroo.
We got real lucky with weather at Bonnaroo. The days were hot but not as hot as we were warned. Nights cooled off and the rains held off until the last day. My tent was pitched right behind our food booth which was handy except it was also equidistance from 3 stages all playing really loud music until 5 in the morning so a good night's sleep was impossible.
Our little kingdom.
I get to work with Connor's friend Dea.
And Maddie and Shawn. Maddie is so beautiful. Always upbeat and giggling and fun to work with and knows just when a hug is what is needed. Shawn is absolutely gay and wants EVERYONE to know it. As in "baby girl your quesadilla is ready". And "yes you sexy bitches of course you can get iced coffee".
They did yoga every morning in front of our tent. This is the Butt Touches Sky position.
The rains finally let loose on the last day which meant we had to break down in pouring water. Mud and flood so everything is soaked. We finally got out around 2 o'clock Monday afternoon and got to a hotel with hot showers and real beds! Headed out first thing Tuesday morning and got back to Middlebury last night around midnight. Hopefully I'll get to catch up with those of you in Middlebury before heading out on Friday for Clearwater Festival down near the Hudson.
Love you all. Peace. Peter
Saturday, June 9, 2012
I just signed the lease for my very first apartment! I am living with Shannon, my roommate here, in the Barboro Flats downtown (the safest zip code in the city!). It's 2 floors, so I have the second floor and she has the first. We both have bathrooms, there is a laundry machine and dryer in the apartment, and the kitchen and living area are great! we also have access to a courtyard where there are grills. We are just a few blocks from Beale St. We also have a parking garage! The building is only a year and a half old, so everything is very new and clean. Here are some pictures!
I'm apartment 504, and this is the address of the building: Barboro Flats, 100 Gayoso Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103
We are moving in July 15th! woohoo! you can all come visit!
google Barboro Flats to see the floor plan and more pictures!
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| the balcony on my bedroom! |
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| my bedroom and bathroom! |
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| the courtyard! |
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| the living room! |
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| the kitchen! |
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| the view from my bedroom! |
We are moving in July 15th! woohoo! you can all come visit!
google Barboro Flats to see the floor plan and more pictures!
Friday, June 8, 2012
The first few days in Memphis
I have a few minutes off this morning so I can give a quick update!
It's been so busy here! They have us doing something every second! I thought I would have time to explore the city a little, buy the remainder of the things I need, and get all my paperwork done for Cornerstone, but we have some place to be from 7am to 8pm.
Our mornings start with breakfast in a building near the dorms. Fruit, white, sugary muffins, eggs from a carton, bacon, sugary yogurt are the choices. This isn't a really healthy city. I was telling someone that I went to Dunkin' Donuts for an Iced Coffee and ordered skim milk, no sugar. Instead I got cream and lots of sugar. The girl was like "They don't understand 'no sugar' down here. They probably thought you were saying 'mo sugar.'" If only this wasn't a joke...
Then we go into a classroom and sit for 3 hours listening to lectures/panels on Memphis City Schools, the history of Memphis, the Achievement Gap, etc. It's been really interesting, and I love learning about the history of this city. I really think I'm going to love it here. It's not the most gorgeous city, but it has a lot of soul, and the people of Memphis, called Memphians, love it and are so proud of it. It's a little contagious, and I just want to love it too. It's different from any city I've been to in the north.
Then we go our with our TTL groups (Transition Team Leader). My TTL is Modesto, a great, energetic, funny high school ESL teacher in his second year of Teach for America. The people in my group, Nancy, Brittany, Shannon (my roommate), and Gus are the best! We've done a lot of bonding outside of class time, like going to a dance party on the roof of the Peabody Hotel last night, and brunch this morning.
Here's a picture of us at the Peabody Hotel Rooftop Party!!
Anyway, the first day we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. It was incredible. Very emotional and moving. I stood in the room where Martin Luther King spent his last hour of life, and the room in which the sniper made the shot from. It brought the whole Civil Rights Movement to life and made it seem so present. If you all get a chance, you should watch the documentary The Witness, an account from the Reverend who was standing on the balcony with Martin Luther King when he got shot. It was really amazing (and only a half an hour long, so worth taking a bit of time to watch). Obviously it made me cry.
Yesterday we went out into a community called Frayser, where a lot of our teachers will be placed. Frayser has a higher infant mortality rate than many third world countries. The average ACT score of a Frayser student is 16...you need a 27 to be considered for state school, a 32 to be considered for Vanderbilt. We went from door to door to pass out information about community development programs and to conduct surveys for Councilman Harris. I talked to one lady, a 76 year old who's husband has Alzheimer's. She says they're scared to stay in their neighborhood because everyone is leaving and all the homes are being boarded up, but they can't sell because no one would ever buy a home in Frayser. Two homes had been deserted the day before, and already looters had come in a stolen everything valuable, including all the copper tubing from the attic. She's scared because if anything happens, no one is around to see anymore. One house at the end of the street is a meth lab, and she says she and her husband hear gunshots all the time. She never goes outside after dark. Talking to her was so eye-opening; we hear all about the communities in which we're being placed, but this was the first time actually being out and talking to the people of Memphis. These are the communities in which our students are coming from. It makes me feel very lucky to have grown up in Vermont where I never had to worry about gunshots or meth labs.
Today is a hiring fair, so because I already have a job I have the morning off and don't have to be anywhere until 1:30. It's nice to be able to sleep in.
I can't wait to get to institute. It's going to be a long, hard summer. They describe it as finals week, except 5 weeks long. But the people here are great, and make sure that you have a lot of fun, too. I'm so glad I was placed in this city, the schools are at the lowest they've ever been, and there's a movement underway to turn everything around. School reform is huge here in the local government. It's exciting to be participating in the start of a movement and revitalizing a city.
I hope you'll all come and visit me down here!
Hopefully I'll talk to you very soon.
lots of love!
It's been so busy here! They have us doing something every second! I thought I would have time to explore the city a little, buy the remainder of the things I need, and get all my paperwork done for Cornerstone, but we have some place to be from 7am to 8pm.
Our mornings start with breakfast in a building near the dorms. Fruit, white, sugary muffins, eggs from a carton, bacon, sugary yogurt are the choices. This isn't a really healthy city. I was telling someone that I went to Dunkin' Donuts for an Iced Coffee and ordered skim milk, no sugar. Instead I got cream and lots of sugar. The girl was like "They don't understand 'no sugar' down here. They probably thought you were saying 'mo sugar.'" If only this wasn't a joke...
Then we go into a classroom and sit for 3 hours listening to lectures/panels on Memphis City Schools, the history of Memphis, the Achievement Gap, etc. It's been really interesting, and I love learning about the history of this city. I really think I'm going to love it here. It's not the most gorgeous city, but it has a lot of soul, and the people of Memphis, called Memphians, love it and are so proud of it. It's a little contagious, and I just want to love it too. It's different from any city I've been to in the north.
Then we go our with our TTL groups (Transition Team Leader). My TTL is Modesto, a great, energetic, funny high school ESL teacher in his second year of Teach for America. The people in my group, Nancy, Brittany, Shannon (my roommate), and Gus are the best! We've done a lot of bonding outside of class time, like going to a dance party on the roof of the Peabody Hotel last night, and brunch this morning.
Anyway, the first day we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. It was incredible. Very emotional and moving. I stood in the room where Martin Luther King spent his last hour of life, and the room in which the sniper made the shot from. It brought the whole Civil Rights Movement to life and made it seem so present. If you all get a chance, you should watch the documentary The Witness, an account from the Reverend who was standing on the balcony with Martin Luther King when he got shot. It was really amazing (and only a half an hour long, so worth taking a bit of time to watch). Obviously it made me cry.
Yesterday we went out into a community called Frayser, where a lot of our teachers will be placed. Frayser has a higher infant mortality rate than many third world countries. The average ACT score of a Frayser student is 16...you need a 27 to be considered for state school, a 32 to be considered for Vanderbilt. We went from door to door to pass out information about community development programs and to conduct surveys for Councilman Harris. I talked to one lady, a 76 year old who's husband has Alzheimer's. She says they're scared to stay in their neighborhood because everyone is leaving and all the homes are being boarded up, but they can't sell because no one would ever buy a home in Frayser. Two homes had been deserted the day before, and already looters had come in a stolen everything valuable, including all the copper tubing from the attic. She's scared because if anything happens, no one is around to see anymore. One house at the end of the street is a meth lab, and she says she and her husband hear gunshots all the time. She never goes outside after dark. Talking to her was so eye-opening; we hear all about the communities in which we're being placed, but this was the first time actually being out and talking to the people of Memphis. These are the communities in which our students are coming from. It makes me feel very lucky to have grown up in Vermont where I never had to worry about gunshots or meth labs.
Today is a hiring fair, so because I already have a job I have the morning off and don't have to be anywhere until 1:30. It's nice to be able to sleep in.
I can't wait to get to institute. It's going to be a long, hard summer. They describe it as finals week, except 5 weeks long. But the people here are great, and make sure that you have a lot of fun, too. I'm so glad I was placed in this city, the schools are at the lowest they've ever been, and there's a movement underway to turn everything around. School reform is huge here in the local government. It's exciting to be participating in the start of a movement and revitalizing a city.
I hope you'll all come and visit me down here!
Hopefully I'll talk to you very soon.
lots of love!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Over the Weekend
Time for a weekend update I suppose:
Saturday was my first day to sleep in so I caught up on sleep, but around three or so we drove into Amsterdam to get my first real look at the city. We had had big plans to soak up of all sorts of cultural attractions (I was really pushing for the zoo) but because of our late start we just ended up wandering around looking at stuff. We went to the only windmill in Amsterdam, which is now a brewery, saw Caspar's apartment, and met the parents for drinks and dinner. Holland was playing Northern Ireland in a soccer game that night, so there were drunken, orange clad people EVERYWHERE, singing and carousing. I don't think many of them actually made it to the game, but apparently that's not really the idea.
Windmills! I must be in Holland!
Me and Felix in front of his dad's firm
The next we drove to Noorwijk, a beach town on the Atlantic Ocean to spend the day in the summer apartment of one of Felix and Caspar's friends. The ocean was absolutely freezing, but it was fun, and like everywhere else in Holland, everything was clean and charming and such. For dinner that night we drove to Leiden, home of the second oldest (third? first? really old anyway) university in the world. Nothing but medieval and old buildings, cobble streets, and gorgeous canals everywhere. Mama, I could really see you loving it here. We wandered down a bunch of narrow streets and saw a huge church where the first pilgrims were burried (confused how the pilgrims got to Europe from America, but I can't speak Dutch, so I just kind of have to accept everything at face value), the apartment where Rembrandt lived and studied, and stopped at a pub that had been the same since the 1700s, and ate on a boat bobbing in one of the canals. I forgot my camera, but believe me when I say pictures cannot do it justice anyway. (Felix did get this picture on his phone).
Rembrandt's workshop
Back to work on Monday, and I got my first real, writing assignment! I was a bit nervous, but felt very good about the final product. Also on Monday a fresh batch of interns arrived, and I got to feel like a big shot with my three days of experience. This feeling did not last long because we went on an hour long tour of the office to meet everyone and the entire thing was done in Dutch. I just laughed when everyone else did, and the only time I knew what was going on was when I could hear the word "American" and then twenty people would go "ooo" and stare at me for a few seconds. I really feel like I'm part of family here.
Besides that work has been a bit slow. All the other interns are already law students or have graduated from law school so they have a lot more to do. But I'm keeping busy as best I can. I think I'm going to start playing for the firm's soccer team, which will be fun.
I must go, it's dinner time over here, but I'll check back in soon.
For anyone who wants to skype me, add connorjr1026, I'd love to here some friendly English speaking voices.
Saturday was my first day to sleep in so I caught up on sleep, but around three or so we drove into Amsterdam to get my first real look at the city. We had had big plans to soak up of all sorts of cultural attractions (I was really pushing for the zoo) but because of our late start we just ended up wandering around looking at stuff. We went to the only windmill in Amsterdam, which is now a brewery, saw Caspar's apartment, and met the parents for drinks and dinner. Holland was playing Northern Ireland in a soccer game that night, so there were drunken, orange clad people EVERYWHERE, singing and carousing. I don't think many of them actually made it to the game, but apparently that's not really the idea.
Me and Felix in front of his dad's firm
The next we drove to Noorwijk, a beach town on the Atlantic Ocean to spend the day in the summer apartment of one of Felix and Caspar's friends. The ocean was absolutely freezing, but it was fun, and like everywhere else in Holland, everything was clean and charming and such. For dinner that night we drove to Leiden, home of the second oldest (third? first? really old anyway) university in the world. Nothing but medieval and old buildings, cobble streets, and gorgeous canals everywhere. Mama, I could really see you loving it here. We wandered down a bunch of narrow streets and saw a huge church where the first pilgrims were burried (confused how the pilgrims got to Europe from America, but I can't speak Dutch, so I just kind of have to accept everything at face value), the apartment where Rembrandt lived and studied, and stopped at a pub that had been the same since the 1700s, and ate on a boat bobbing in one of the canals. I forgot my camera, but believe me when I say pictures cannot do it justice anyway. (Felix did get this picture on his phone).
Back to work on Monday, and I got my first real, writing assignment! I was a bit nervous, but felt very good about the final product. Also on Monday a fresh batch of interns arrived, and I got to feel like a big shot with my three days of experience. This feeling did not last long because we went on an hour long tour of the office to meet everyone and the entire thing was done in Dutch. I just laughed when everyone else did, and the only time I knew what was going on was when I could hear the word "American" and then twenty people would go "ooo" and stare at me for a few seconds. I really feel like I'm part of family here.
Besides that work has been a bit slow. All the other interns are already law students or have graduated from law school so they have a lot more to do. But I'm keeping busy as best I can. I think I'm going to start playing for the firm's soccer team, which will be fun.
I must go, it's dinner time over here, but I'll check back in soon.
For anyone who wants to skype me, add connorjr1026, I'd love to here some friendly English speaking voices.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Hello from Memphis!!!
I am sitting in my dorm room at University of Memphis. I feel like a college freshman again, moving in and making my extra long bed up and making conversation with strangers.
I'm really tired and have a 7am breakfast tomorrow, so I won't write a long thing, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm here and I've finally started on this Teach for America journey.
I've had BBQ twice already. I think I'm really going to like Memphis. Here is a picture from Beale Street.
Love to you all! I will try to keep everyone updated. And happy birthday to Bo! I hope you had Grandma Ann's Mac and Cheese for dinner.
xoxo
I am sitting in my dorm room at University of Memphis. I feel like a college freshman again, moving in and making my extra long bed up and making conversation with strangers.
I'm really tired and have a 7am breakfast tomorrow, so I won't write a long thing, but I just wanted to let you all know that I'm here and I've finally started on this Teach for America journey.
I've had BBQ twice already. I think I'm really going to like Memphis. Here is a picture from Beale Street.
xoxo
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