a digression of sorts.

not much going on here folks. well, not much that is 'pc' (check it: that's peace corps friendly as opposed to politically correct) for me to talk about. just a lot of bitter ruminations and funny, if slightly inappropriate blurbs to keep to myself for later.

but since i know that you, my captivated audience, is starving for more, here it is, a riveting, play-by-play of my first official school day.

i arrive at school this morning to be present and accounted for, as it is that time of year again (where did my wasted summer go?). i, of course, know nothing but show up with an eager grin and an ounce of optimism that perhaps someone will bestow upon me everything i need to know on the first actual working day here.

i spend the morning scuffling round and round the school building, climbing up and down stairwells, checking and rechecking email, knocking out my latest newsweek cover to cover in all of its not-so-secret-obama-touting-glory. i am pleased because it keeps me from plucking my eyeballs out as we wait in the sauna-masquerading-as-the-teacher's lounge for a looooooong time. waiting for what, you ask? well, dear reader, honestly, i haven't the faintest clue. this is all beginning to look like a different shade of the 'hurry up and wait' game if ya ask me.

god bless my favorite fellow english teacher here, whom i'll refer to as 'cocoapuffs.' we both delight in spending all of this strange free summer time (well, did) sipping cups of cheap instant coffee over bowls of cocoapuffs, which we chomp on with childish merriment whilst stewing about the absurdities of these silly town politics that are rain clouds over our sunny temperaments. we're, quite obviously, superior to all of it and generally, it's a real hoot, or at the very least, the most exciting part of my day.

cocoapuffs, by the way, saves my butt on a daily basis. y'see, 5 months could qualify as being nearly a lifetime here, but unlike some others, i'm proving to be pretty imcompetent at mastering the entire language during said 5 months. i require a bit of help now and again. imagine that. i ought to buy her a dancing frog or some other equally outlandish 'i thank ye' gift.

anyway, i play puppy dog all morning and miss some things here and there, but overall, am able to discern that the teachers are itching to get back to the grinding stone. by gosh, it's damned near time to get a move on...and where are the other 35% of the teachers who are curiously absent today????, the teachers inquire. i offer a guess, silently. maybe they're playing hooky instead of cooling their heels for the short span of 3 HOURS we've been assembled here doing a whole lot of big fat nothing. i might have liked to opt out of waiting in delayed anticipation for the new chief to say some snazzy stuff, rousing the rambunctious crowd into a hullabaloo of motivation. but i'm just positing a guess here which doesn't mean much because on any given day i really only understand about 38% of the verbal traffic that plays out before me like a scrolling news feed i can't keep up with. super.





now folks, i haven't slept very well lately, and by that i mean not at all last night and nights previous. maybe your incisive intuitions are picking up on this as your she's-not-normally-so-cynical radars go batty . bravo. might i add that home repairs occur audibly and arbitrarily in adjacent blocs, commencing at all hours of the night with sounds of drills gnawing their way into my pathetic attempts to sleep. oh, and there's the occasional hammer, too, chipping away at god knows what just as i sink into that happy place. add the morning diskotech (read: CLUB for y'all in the states) complete with plenty of loud techno music at 7 am in the apartment below me and you've got yourself one tired lady.

oh ya, and i'm homesick. skittle deprived. and losing at the hide and let's seek english game.

on the bright side, i'm getting my own classroom. this vaguely implies that maybe i will be teaching SOLO which at this point seems like a godsend. i dunno for certain what who where when how often, yaddah yaddah i'm going to teach, but i'm sure the schedule will be cemented by 8am next monday morning, when school starts. i ain't worried bout a thing.

mom, i made chocolate chip cookies for dinner tonight. they were NOT your chocolate chip cookies but, it was only mildly disappointing because it didn't eclipse the fact that i can eat cookies for dinner if i feel like bein' a big baby.

there is still no legitimate reason to worry about my sanity, i promise.

oh, and mom, i got the clothes. they smell like our house + dial soap and they make me a bit homesick. i'm not washing them. i'll just keeping slabbing on the deodorant, in which case you'll need to go ahead and ship some more on over here.

i should probably stop there, but not until i leave you with one last, warm and fuzzy thought...

my one major accomplishment this past weekend was teaching yu-gi-OH (cocoapuff's son) to propel himself on his favorite swing. i was over the tedium of pushing him every minute and half, and for this reason, we had a little lesson on how to manipulate the body in funky, rhythmic patterns. i say, teach a kid to swing himself and you can tend to your coffee drinking in peace.

how's THAT for sustainability and development?

this deviation from my typical ramblings on about sunsets and integration is officially exhausted. g'night everyone.

wait... I HAVE RECENTLY ADDED SKITTLES & STARBURST GUMMI DROPS, OR SOMETHING OR OTHER, TO MY LIST OF HIGHLY COVETED U.S. GOODIES THAT I CANNOT BUY HERE. anyone looking to work up some good karma, feel free to pass some of those my way, and if you have some extra space, i'll compile a list of things i am slowly drying up and withering away without for you to send =) were the caps necessary? i think yes.