Getting By

Baton Rouge..my new home until next year or so. Not exactly what I hoped it would be, though. But one thing is for sure..it’s tough living in a strange land with no loved ones nearby. In a weeks’ time, I learned to depend on no one but myself. And God of course. This week and the weeks before I came here would have been impossible without the Lord. But, independence…? That’s exactly the word.

Greenpeace and my mother would have a heart attack if they saw me doing the laundry in the bath tub! But it’s either save the earth or starve to death for me and between the two, I’d rather wash my clothes in the bath tub than live through Skippy peanut butter for a whole month!

The nearly non-existent public transpo is just so horrible! We walked to Walmart the other day and that’s like a mile or so from home..and the heat…! I thought I was finally bidding heat goodbye when I left the Philippines last Monday and wow, was I ever wrong! Good thing, though that our rent includes flat rate utilities so an all-day aircon is no problem.

The toughest part is not having internet and having confusing mobile network providers. As I’m typing this entry, I barely have 10 minutes before this computer shuts down. I’m in a public library and if there’s anybody there who knows where in heck I can use an internet on a daily basis without breaking my kneecaps (there’s no chair in this place!)…please…holler back!

Education Beyond Expectation

Whenever summer comes, the things that come to mind are: beaches, resorts, parties, days of relaxation and fun, friends, friends and friends.

Last summer, my ex-boyfriend (now husbad) was abroad working, my friends were busy working (I am a teacher so I also have a month-long vacation during long school vacation) and it was hard to organize a swimming party when most of my friends were either at work or busy with other things (i.e, pregnancy).

So, to kill boredom, I decided to enrol in a summer class for my MA studies. Problem was, my course does not offer a summer program. Fortunately, I was allowed to enrol a cognate. When I looked at the list of the subjects that can be credited to my course, the subject that appealed most to my interest was a subject called Problems in Southeast Asia (I was an idiot then, I didn’t know I can enrol in other education courses for my cognate…but what it is they say that things happen for a reason…?). So, although is was far from related to special education, I enrolled in that class, hoping that at least, the problems in education in Southeast Asia would be discussed.

First day came and I found myself seated in a class of 10 MA students (most of whom were Asian Studies or Population Science major). Plus, I learned from the class syllabus that the ”problems” in the subject’s title that I enrolled in was environmental problems! Some summer class to bear…! But there were some talk that Kara David was enrolled in that class too..won’t be so boring after all.

One day, I came in the room to find the lights dimmed and a DVD player propped up on top of the TV…ahhh..a chance to sleep!!! What I saw, however, removed any trace of sleepiness and awakened me…to a truth that is, until now, difficult to forget. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth showed me that humanity (myself included) is sitting on a ticking time bomb. Typhoon Katrina, the 2003 European heatwave, the Vargas mudslide in Venezuela in 1999, the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit many countries in Southeast Asia in 2004 among others…these did not happen without a reason. And the reason was because humanity has forgotten to take care of Mother Earth.

The documentary film discussed the pressing issue of global warming to the Earth. And global warming is an issue that must be taken seriously. Sure I was hoping for a discussion in the problems of education in Southeast Asia but what I learned that summer opened my eyes to the more pressing environmental problem of humankind. I don’t care whether Al Gore used this film to campaign for his presidency ( everybody knows he lost…but now I know why…many businessmen did not like him, especially those who own big factories with big contribution to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases emission).

But as a Christian, as someone who acknowledges God as the Creator of heaven and the Earth and everything that is in it (“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3), An Inconvenient Truth is a wake-up call for me that I have a great responsibility to care for the Earth that God created for me (and for billions of people as well). I realized that there is something I can do to show my love for the Lord by showing respect for the Creation and the Creator.

Some summer class. I expected to learned something about education…I didn’t get that. But I was educated. Thoroughly educated.  

This Could Be “It”

A step closer to The Dream. Keep hoping, keep praying, keep loving. Pray for me!

Today’s sing along song: I Cast All My Cares by Kids’ Praise

Playmate

I’m becoming a lousy blogger, I know. This time I can’t even make “I’m tired” as an excuse for not writing. I’m a lousy blogger and let’s just leave it at that.

I started at the new school yesterday and all I can say is that the place is great, the kids were a handful, the training is promising and I’m still dizzy trying to figure out how to be an effective teacher for these kids. Add the intricacies of Braille and I’m doomed! But I’m learning and that’s what thrills me.

The other kid, the one I teach at this other school, she’s really trying my patience. She’s like gauging how far my patience can go! She’s lucky she’s cute or else…hmp! Kidding! I like that I’m learning from them all. Today, she taught me NOT to forget that children with autism sticks to the routine. She almost threw a tantrum because I didn’t want her to get this box from a shelf. Turned out, the box was her grooming kit and she ALWAYS brushes her teeth after meals. How neat

Anyway, although my paperworks are not as crazy as last sem’s, there’s a lot of things I really need to read. I’m googling autism and VI and braille right now so the teacher’s out for now!

Goodbye class!

Today’s sing along song: Mulberry Bush, a nursery rhyme 

Geek Talk

I guess you have to either put duck tape all over my mouth or chop of ALL my fingers (yep..those at the feet included) to stop me from yakking all the way down to your tiny eardrums or the entire blogosphere!

If there’s someone who gets excited at the prospect of talking to a group of professional, really intimidating group of people..well…that’ll be me Hahaha.

Three months from now, our class will hold a seminar to a group (100) of (more) experienced and old(er) public school teachers about teaching remediation to students with learning disabilities. And as a final requirement (this is getting better..imagine my professor talking about FINAL requirement on the first day of class hehe), we would serve as resource speakers.

 The good things is, I’ll be talking about Reading..the subject I just took last semester. One of my favorite subject–the intricacies of the reading process…okay, okay, I’m getting nerdy again. Talk about final requirements excites me all the time. Oh, how I wish for February (and no, my excitement has nothing to do with the seminar this time).

Officially, vacation is over. Back to serious(??????) work.

Today’s sing along song: Lose Your Way by Sophie Hawkins