October 27th - "NO ONE UNDERSTANDS MY WORK, INCLUDING ME"

Quick update: On the day that I finally met my students I found out that my fifth year class is going to be a teaching methodologies course.  Not an ideal start to a school year, but it's all good.  I am not teaching teaching Tech. English.  As for the pictures - The yellow building is what I originally thought was UNI-CV/ISE (after almost being whored out to the secondary schools, let's just say it's not), the middle picture is the plaza in front of the schools, and the white building/red gate - I'm just going to go ahead and assume you can read the writing on the wall.  God I kill myself. 

Blogs will probably be a little less wordy from here on in, unless something tickles my fancy and I feel compelled to share it with all.  

Thanks for the package Mom! It did finally get here, and the candy is AMAZING. Definitely hit the sweet spot.  

"I love how we don't even have to say out loud that I'm your favorite child."

"DO YOU THINK ABOUT ME NOW AND THEN"

The title for this entry is a line from the song that has become our apartment anthem.  It's on just about any playlist that we listen to while hanging around the apartment.  It's also usually playing when we have our dinner and wine.  Don't worry I don't plan on becoming a wino.  Now that there is time to cook every meal, it's just nice to have a glass on occasion with dinner.  Unfortunately we will not become wine conniesseurs while living here.  The wine here is pretty much the equivalent of 2 buck chuck, just Cape Verde style.  Eventually we'll figure out the least offensive ones.  

The need to cook some pizza finally gave me the courage to figure out how to light the oven.  Call me crazy, but the thought of shoving a burning match into a hole that is leaking gas just wasn't all that enticing.  So much less dramatic in reality.  Definitely worth it.  Now that we actually managed to figure out the stove, we've also been doing a lot of experimenting with foods.  I still haven't tried to cook a whole fish, but in time.  I'm determined.  Especially after all the e-mails.  Who knew talking about how to cook fish could be so funny?!  For now I'm just enjoying having the time to cook.  

Last week I accidently left the burner on after breakfast one morning.  Yikes.  I now check the knobs like a fiend.  I've done plenty of stupid things in my lifetime, but that was a first.  I told my Mom about it and got this in response...

 

hi lindsay, read your email. thank god noone lit a match. big explosion, big. be more careful please even in lighting could lose hair and eyebrows. you never want to leave gas on long before lighting as it could build up and boom.it sounds intersting your  teaching and all.

You have to love e-mails from home.  She's going to kill me when she sees it. Hi Mom.  I love you.  Miss you.  

On that note.  I'm done with the random update.  I'll just leave you all with just one more Mom e-mail tidbit. Once you get a taste...  trust me, phone calls are even better.    

I READ YOUR BLOG AND OTHERS TOO. THERE WAS ONE THAT WAS ALL ABOUT  FOOT DISEASES SO WEAR SHOES TO BED IF NECESSARY. ALSO SOMEONES BOAT CAPSIZED WHILE TRAVELING FROM ONE ISLAND TO ANOTHER. MORE TO WORRY ABOUT.????

now i'm on cap locks off.

Tuesday - October 21st - " WHAT DO YOU CALL A FISH WITH NO EYES? A FSSHHHHHH.

Today I found out that instead of teaching the Technical English, I'll have a class here for the fifth year students.  I'm not really sure if it's a class or a thesis advisory, but I guess I'll figure that all out soon enough.  It's kind of a relief.  I felt like I hit a bit of a stress wall yesterday.  I think it was a combo of language frustration, homesickness, and just plain old nerves.  Today has been a nice return to calm.  No complaints though.  One sort of down day out of as many as I've been here isn't all that bad.  

Saturday October 18th - "SENDING A FOUNTAIN SODA VIA AIRMAIL""

Not much had changed over the past week or two, until the end of this week.  

I had been working pretty hard to try to organize information and plan for the courses I was originally going to be teaching.  I tend to be a little OCD organized when it comes to work, so I was basically trying to prep for the entire semester.  I knew it was silly, but I figured even if plans change, the information could still be useful.  I'm thinking that there can be a way to electronically organize course outlines and info to make it more accessible to future teachers.  Above all the practical reasons to plan, I was definitely super energized by the learning process in general.  (Glasses are not the only dork feature that I rock)  Things were going pretty well, and my course plans were starting to fall into place.  I was embracing the ambiguity and really trying to just be as flex as possible.  Maybe I'm a little crazy, but the freedom in figuring out how to structure classes and what information would be included, while at times is overwhelming, is also extremely gratifying.  It's exciting to sift through the onslaught of information to try to make a cohesive plan.

Anyways, getting closer to now... During the middle of last week, I was told that the courses may change.  I might be teaching Technical English.  I can roll with the punches (teaching at Heritage was good preparation for that), so I just started to plan one more.  This past Friday I got to work and was told that we had a morning meeting at ISECMAR.  I had no clue what or where this was.  Turns out it is the science and engineering campus in Ribero Joao, outside of the city.  We all went to the meeting and it was the first time I realized how large the faculty here is.  For the past month it's been myself, Dora (the Director), Eliza, Marina, and Olavo.  It was almost shocking.  A month in and I still had no clue.  Yikes.  I didn't understand most of the meeting, but I understood some of the big picture ideas about the university merger.  

On Friday afternoon we had another meeting at our campus at 3 o'clock.  At this point I was starting to get a little worried.  Classes are to start on Monday and none of us have our class assignments or schedule.  We all met in the library, and once again there were more people than I had expected.  Most of the people I had met, but only briefly, and without a sense of what their role here was.  To say I was feeling a little overwhelmed and foolish would probably be a little bit of an understatement.  Everything I had planned for was totally wrong or uncertain.  I knew this was a possibility, but I was also really disappointed in myself for not knowing the language or my co-workers better after being here for almost a month.  

Looking back, I realize that it works both ways.  Yes, I've been here a month, but whether that is a long or short period of time is debatable.  I don't regret how I've spent my time, and if anything I'm just more motivated to try again to find a language tutor.  I can't say all that much to my co-workers yet, but they have been very understanding and friendly.  I can't wait for the day that I can shoot the sh*t with them, but I'm trying to be patient at the same time.  The only thing I know how to do is to work hard in the meantime.  I don't need for my work to be appreciated, but I hope that I can at least convey that I take my responsibilities seriously and I'm invested.  I hate to assume anything, but I think most teachers can understand that.  

On Friday after the meeting, we found out our class schedules.  There are six of us in the department.  Three teach at ISECMAR and myself and two others teach at the ISE campus.  I am going to teach Oral and Written Comprehension and Technical English for Engineering.  The second course I'll teach at the other campus.  I'll also be working with the fifth year students to help them write their monographias or thesis papers.  

This weekend I took it easy.  It's crazy that I've been working pretty non-stop and now that I finally know what I'm teaching, I am stopping to relax a little.  Maybe I need to refocus and regroup, I don't know.  For now I feel pretty calm and at ease.  We went to the beach today with a guest that we are hosting.  We were pretty much assaulted by the sand.  Regardless, it was sunny and warm so the water was nice.  I am pretty sure I'll be rinsing sand out of my hair for a few days.

THE STATE OF THE UNION.

The following might be slightly offensive to some. Posting a forwarded e-mail would usually be enough to offend myself, but I can't resist. What a rant. Crazy.

Dear Red States...

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon,Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.

We get stem cell research and the best beaches.

We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom...or what's left

We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT (AND BC.)

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you. Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy b*****ds believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,

Blue States

"MY ODE TO HIGH FIDELITY" Top 5 Lists

TOP FIVE QUOTES OF PST

1.  " Well what did they expect?" Joe's reaction to the Rape video

2.  "Everyone has a little malaria."

3.  "Everyone in the Ukraine has sex.  One volunteer was riding on a train..." followed a few weeks later by a discussion that referenced rainbow parties.

4.  "When the sun sets in Cape Verde, it gets dark." - Oh Hilario.

5.  "You smell like malaria." - Brett Beach

TOP FIVE HANKSTER QUOTES

1.  "You are going to be on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean." (As long as we've known Hank, we've been on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean)

2.  "If it happens once, we can forgive you.  Twice it's a one-way ticket on TACV"

3.  "If I could just interrupt with a quick commercial."

4.  "You have some excellent resources here, world class...All you have to do is to open your toolbox"

5. "I've worked in 30 countries over the past 28 years" 

TOP FIVE VERNAZA QUOTES

1.  "What are you afraid of about Cape Verde?"  "I'm afraid of pirates."

2.  "Well it's hard for her to say with..." - Vernaza explaining why it might be hard to know if she is only 14... I removed the more obscene portion, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.  Just realize this is being censured by someone who normally doesn't have all that much of a filter. It was bad.  It was also so funny the Bretts and I all nearly spit out our fat burgers. 

3.  "BANGIN!"

4.  "GROSS!"

5.  "Eu gostaria mulheres de noite" - Even though Alan technically said it, the whole conversation leading up to was Andrew.