What Are You?

So, all month-long NPR's weekend edition has had this series called "Beyond Black and White" about people and race and ethnicity in America. I've actually enjoyed listening to it, as it features people who have been dealing with a lot of the same questions I've been trying to answer for years. As a kid growing up in America (well, in Southern California) you do get asked the question, "What are you?" fairly regularly: signing up for anything, going to school, meeting new people, etc. I've tried answering this question several different ways.

Racially, I'm brown. I know, I know, that's a color not a race, but I can't hide it, not even if I wanted to. OK- racially I'm mixed, but it's pretty complicated. According to the information I've gathered from my grandmothers, I'm: Spanish, French, Afro-Cuban, (probably also Mexican-Indian but grandma wouldn't admit it), Iranian, Italian, Jewish, and Japanese. So, racially, I look like anyone and everyone. If you've been following this blog (bless you!), then you know that in the Middle East and India people thought I was a local, until I opened my mouth.

Ethnically, I'm American-Mexican. I totally identify with being American. In fact, when I was a teenager/early twenties and people would ask, "What are you?" my answer was, "I'm American." *sigh* Sadly, this made things more unclear because then they'd ask me what tribe I belonged to or how many hundreds of years my family has been in California. So, I quickly gave that up.

Culturally, I'm Mexican-American, but I don't speak Spanish so for some this doesn't make me "Mexican" enough. When my family emigrated to the US, the attitude back then was, "We're in America now, so let's be American," and they embraced the language and a lot of traditions like Independence Day and Thanksgiving. They still kept some bits of Mexican culture like the food and music, piñatas on your birthday, and they all speak Spanish. But my cousins, siblings, and I didn't grow up bilingual.

Anyway, part of me thought that being back in America would make this question moot, 'cuz I'm back home. But, I got hired at a school where I am one of two brown people. Now, that doesn't mean that the other teachers aren't culturally mixed (which they are) but they have asked, "What are you?"

My answer? I figure if they ask, then they are going to get my big, ol' list of races that I already gave you. To me, being mixed in any way is fairly American.

Library Gossip

So, I went back to the library today. It was good; got 3 hours of grading done! The science tests are all graded, which means I can give the kids back their tests tomorrow. It also gave me some time this evening to plan out the next project and get a start on tomorrow's power point lecture.

But, what I really wanted to share with you all are some things I noticed about the library. For starters, it is very popular with the several homeless people who live here in Menlo Park. ( No surprise.)So much so that the library staff posted a sign in the bathroom prohibiting bathing and laundering, with the location of the nearest shelter where they can bath and wash clothes.

Also, the library is full of adults. I'm more used to seeing tons of kids at the library, but this weekend it was full of grown-ups doing quiet, grown-up stuff: reading the paper and magazines, computering, looking for books, and even using Skype. I guess kids have more to do on the weekends than adults.

But the strange thing I witnessed yesterday and today was the interaction between a math tutor (an older guy, probably in his mid- to late- 40s) and the tutee, a woman in her 30s. Man, she would argue with him, rant, demand explanations, and she even cried once. All over calculus. He just sat there, not really saying much. He let her do things her own way, and when they didn't work out then he'd step in and show her another way to solve the problem. There would be these periods of quiet, then she'd start in on him about why the equations didn't graph the same, and she'd seem to get more and more angry while he just sat there. Then, there'd be periods of concern, when she'd ask him how he was, what was wrong, did he want to go outside for a break. He pretty much responded to these queries in a quiet, calm voice, saying as little as possible. Today ended by her asking when they could get together again and offering to give him a ride home. Which he declined.

Anyway, it was weird. She would get totally aggro with him. I've never seen or heard of tutees getting all mad at their tutors on a regular basis.

Library Marm

Today i went to the library to grade some papers. i've never been in my neighborhood library, so i was grateful to find it large and quiet. being saturday, it thought it would be full of kids doing weekend stuff- animal show, read-aloud, etc. but, it was full of adults on their laptops or doing math with their tutors. i got a table to myself and graded one class-worth of tests in record time- 1hr 15 min.

on an unrelated note, my arms are tired already from typing! yesterday we did a great/hard workout and my muscles are still recovering. i'm sure white wine is very good for tired arm muscles.

Endophorins! Yeah!!

Just a quick post. Froody and I worked out this evening and I feel pretty good. I felt so good after the workout that I wished I could get paid to workout!

Today I did my first ever, all-by-myself, against-the-wall handstands! My trainer and I were so proud of me. :-) Also, I think I found my "sweet spot" for doing deadlifts. Today I DL'd 52 kg (that's like 115lbs to you).

At the end of the evening I felt that life was pretty good, and if I can do handstands and deadlifts, then I can handle pretty much anything.

The Crying Game

I hate to admit it, but I have been crying a lot more than usual. It's just stress, OK, but still....

You know, as a teacher you put a lot of yourself in your job, because it isn't just a job. The kids need more than just instruction. They need someone who believes in them and cares for them. They want to know that what you are asking them to do has some sort of purpose.

So, when someone criticises your teaching, you can't help but take it personally, even when part of you knows not to.

Therefore, another part of you just wants to tell them all to go to hell, and another part wants to say f*** this shi* and go work for Trader Joe's.

But, for now, I'll just sob on my husband's shoulder and know that next year will be better.

Like Poking Ants

So, this weekend I took the advice of Cairo Typ0 and went to a salon to get my hair done. Being Menlo Park, there were quite a few to choose from. The hair stylist asked me how I chose that particular salon and I said it was due to the fact that it's right across from my local Trader Joe's, so I see it all the time. Plus, it's big, so I figure it's got to be busy enough to be able to afford such a big space.

Anyway, I got a trim and dyed my hair. My "normal" coloring was a bit too dark for their darkest brown, yet not dark enough for the black. (Actually, my hair had orange, gray, brown, and more gray all over it). I chose to go black, and I'm really happy with it!

The blah thing about my new hair is that in every class the kids just got loud and annoying over my hair. Most of them liked it, but it was as if I grew another arm or something. sheesh! It actually took them a few extra minutes to calm down at the beginning of class because they all wanted to say something about it.

At least it was mostly positive. And, I do like it and that's all that matters.

Cute and Nice

Janola. She and her sister started my whole love affair with ratties.

Just wanted to share with the rest of the world my opinion on having rats as pets.

They totally rule. Rats are the best kind of pet. I have one sitting on my shoulder right now, sniffing my hair. I have another on my lap who can't decide whether to climb or jump down. And the third is exploring the computer desk, which eventually leads to "helping" me type.

Rats are awesome for a whole lotta reasons. They are quiet, for one. No barking or rude meowing at ungodly hours. They're small so they always know that you dominate their lives. While they do beg for food, if they get too annoying you just put them in their cage. Oh, and when they get tired, they put themselves away. Yup- they just up and go into their cage and nap or eat.

Rats are the original foodies. The quickest way to a rat's heart is through her stomach. Case in point: after hubby and I spent a weekend away, they were all in a huff because they were left alone and "locked up" in their cage for two days. To show their resentment, they acted like we were total strangers, running away from us and refusing to let us pet them. However, after a couple of extra snacks, all was forgiven and they were back to climbing onto and playing with us.

It's cute how something as small as a box of packing peanuts is, to them, a place of adventure. They love to dig through those packing peanuts and chew on a few. They also love to dig in the trash, going through waste paper and whatnots. Sometimes I put in seeds or nuts and they just love coming across this "treasure." They jump onto the basket's edge with their prize in their mouths, looking so pleased with themselves. Then they jump down and hide it in a corner somewhere.


I know you may find this hard to believe, but rats have personalities. In my current bunch, Lily is the most engaging. She has a certain Je ne sais quoi about her. Everyone picks up on her vibe. She's curious and outgoing. She's a rex, which means her coat is curly as well as her whiskers. (Which means she has to put up with me calling her "my little curly-cue" as I kiss her belly.) Her fur is extra soft, and she is a bit more active than her best friends Lisa and Lottie. Lily doesn't seem to have the "big bones" of Lisa and Lottie. Lottie lurves her food. She is my little pudge. She's no where near as fat as her great-great-great-great-grand auntie Fat Rat, but she is the biggest of the bunch. I have to make sure she doesn't get too many treats. On the other hand, Lottie is the love bug of the group.

Lisa is the beauty queen of this group. She has beautiful black fur. It's very shiny and smooth. She was our unexpected journey into babyhood earlier this year. Lisa had 17 babies in August and managed not to lose one. I think she's a bit more aloof than the others, but she does like a little lovin' now and then.
Too cute.

Ho-Ho-Holidays!

The holiday season is upon us! How do I know? It isn't the Christmas directions at the drug store, nor is it lay-a-way commercials on TV. Also, in this part of the world we don't have what you all call "weather," so no brisk, chill days. No frost. No rain.

No, no.

What did it for me was the return of the peppermint mocha at Starbucks! I love that stuff! And they only advertise it during this time of year. The holiday season. While others may scoff or pooh-pooh this time-marker, I find it rather cheery. Much better than the other seasonal cues of store sales and wooden snowmen.

So, happy holidays and to all a good-night!

VENGENCE IS MINE

Yesterday I had a conference. The parents were concerned about their son's grade in science (the only C), especially since he/they want to go to a private high school. Fortunately, his English teacher attended the meeting, too, and he was a big help and totally had my back. One reason the kid's grade wasn't better is that I'm way behind in my grading. (No surprise to you other teachers.)

The funny thing is, after this meeting and his parents going on and on about his grades and what he has to do, etc. the kid did not do last night's homework! Nor the night before's! I shared this with the English teacher at lunch who said I should totally email the parents.

So I did. Ha!

Just Some Thoughts

*My husband pointed out last night that we are empty nesters. How cool is that??
*I'm worried about my students' performance- the quiz average was 77%. It's a strange time we live in when 'C' isn't good enough. Turns out I ask "level 3" questions instead of just lower-level questions.
*One student felt I should have more questions on the tests. Weird.
*I'm watching a very chubby little girl walk through Starbucks. She'll probably order some sort of frappucino. Oh! she just ordered a water for her and her mom. That's awesome!
*I think I'm having a bad-hair year.
*I really don't like parent-teacher meetings. They always leave me feeling so drained.
*I actually miss working out. I didn't workout last week because I'm fighting off a cold, but I think I'll be OK today.
*Not sure how seriously I should be taking the whole "piggy flu" thing. Part of me just wants to resist the flu-shot pressure. It's like not buying cards for Valentine's Day.