Weekly Updates: 5.27.11

• If You Give A Kid An Old Box... he'll make music for a week.  I'm not sure why I find this so adorable, but I told a kid who works (manual labor) on my apartment complex to throw out a cardboard box.  At first he refused, and I didn't know why; turns out he just wanted to play with it.  For the last week, Burton's been practicing his drumming skills as soon as he gets off of work, singing and marching with it around my concession.  It's a little sad that this might be his only toy right now, but also heartwarming that an empty box, with a little imagination, can be entertainment for a week.
• Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!  Something like 26 years now?  Whoa....
• Congratulations, Lauren & Rick!  One of my BFFs from high school just got engaged to her boyfriend Rick, right after completing basic training for the Air Force.  That is both badass and romantic, which kind of fits her perfectly.  : )
• Self-Confidence for Girls!  I was sitting with a couple of profs at the school just chatting (I'm chattable!  Cultural integration win!), when one of my 6eme girls came up to get food for one of them.  He thanked her for the food, then said, "Hey, your uniform's getting awfully tight.  Do you eat every day?  You should be eating every three days!"  He's a nice guy, and that was said in the joking, kind tone...  Fat is pretty here, so I think that was a compliment, but imagine if a US teacher said that to a girl... probation? lawsuit?
• Peter Piper & the Fresh Prince.  That's pretty much what I did this week.  And "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys, which I think is an important addition to any English class.  I also went over the exams that they just took (not great) and gave them their final semester grades (they asked for lots of free points, and I refused), but I think the important thing here is that I rapped in front of each of my classes, and they LOVED it. : )
• Final Remarks.  One of the stressors this week: at the end of my classes, I gave a little "happy vacation" speech.  After that, all of the students would crowd around me and say "Goodbye Madame!" 8,000 times, ask me if I was going to teach them next year, tell me that I should teach them next year, ask me for presents, etc.  One girl spent the entire class period asking for free points on her overall grade, then followed me around asking for a gift.  I jokingly chased her out of the classroom, and two minutes later she reappeared... to ask me for money.  "Madame, give me 50 cfa." No please, no reason, just a demand for money. I told her that she was being really impolite and reminded her that she would never, ever ask another prof for money, and then I stormed off so I wouldn't scream at her.  It was so, so frustrating -- I spent a year teaching her, and she still thinks I'm Santa Claus. 
• Power Up.  Yesterday, I shocked myself with and electrical outlet.  Not much of a story here, but it felt like someone punched me in the ring finger.  Also, I did not know that my voice could naturally hit that note.  It was in the Mariah Carey/fruit bat range.
• Confession.  I kind of love my village.  I'll write more on this in a separate post, but just so you know... Daagbe, for all of its frustrations, is a pretty great place for me to be. : )