I'm breathing. Deeply. This is something that I tell people to do regularly when they get stressed. I'm not really stressed, just having a few more realizations today while being stressed. So, I still have trouble dealing with the very little ones. They play games with me, "Sir (i'm still not used to this), can I sharpen my pencil?" The pencil is usually just fine. "It's okay Shruti, the pencil is just fine." The tactic is to avoid doing the work, or at least delay it for the 1 minute it takes to sharpen a pencil. I know what is coming. I listen carefully. Snap. "Sir, can I sharpen my pencil?". I look, the pencil tip is now broken. I smile. BREATH my brain screams!!!!!!! I suck in air. My lungs fill. I DO NOT feel the tension leaving my body. "Shruti, did you break your pencil?" "No sir." "Sharpen your pencil Shruti.". I am cracking inside. The seam starts to split. BREATH BREATH BREATH. I am trying to become the Zen master. How exactly is it that this 5y/o has gotten me? Oh, that's right. I don't give her what she wants, she takes it. How can she do the Class Work without a fuc..........er, functioning pencil. Right. Here is the question: Do kids accross the US play these games? Or am I just the prime target due the fact that I don't speak the language? I have realized that my growing frustration is from the fact that I don't speak the language. I want to be able to help these kids with any issues they might have, but since we cannot communicate, that is a near impossbility. Most with the LwrKG and UprKG kids. They play the most games. Is this the case in the states as well? Barb? Lick? Carin? Little help with the younger kids.
Not to much else has been going on. The monsoon season is on it's way, as the pictures of hail will tell. Today it rained about 2" in an hour, there was about 8" of water on the street in front of the school. I'm worried about my room when I get home. I leave the windows open during the day so that the room can air out. My backpack has gotten a little moldy. I don't want to know what the down in my sleeping bag looks like. I air it out every three days. Lots of things happen on the third day. I look foward to all of them. I shower, shave (only the sides now), CHANGE UNDERWARE and t-shirt. Pants are worn for six days. I would change socks, but I don't wear them anymore. OH, a few nice side benefits of not wearing shoes and socks: My feet don't stink (steve, seppo, joe, fam, you must appreciate that) and I'm starting to loose hair on them where the strap is (darren will be jelous and ang won't be albe to make fun of them anymore. HA). I went to the Pakistan embassy to get a visa today. The visa costs vary by coutry. The UK-$70. The US-$120. HUH? Since I already have the plane ticket, I had to spend the afternoon finding a place that I could get $120. That took an hour. Banks don't sell US dollars. So I had to bike around looking for a money changer that wouldn't rip me off. Now I get to go back tomorrow and get my passport back. Anyone know if you need a visa for Turkey or Morocco? Anyone? Bueller? Right. Didn't think so. Thanks for reading.