shoot out

Man, oh man. It's almost over.

On Friday, there was a dance/pizza party for the 7th grade students in the gym during the last hour of the day to congratulate them for their excellent test scores. They out-scored both the 6th and the 8th graders.

I gotta say that I feel really OLD attending their dances. It may sound cliche, but times have changed. Popular music lyrics were probably just as bad when I was a middle schooler (back then it was called junior high), but at least the music seemed more melodic. I remember that I loved all of Madonna's music, especially "Like a Virgin." I also knew all the words to George Michael's song "I want your sex." All of that coming from an innocent middle schooler who hadn't even had her first French kiss. Popular music among the diverse student body at our school is mostly rap or R&B. The two most popular songs among the students at our school are "Shoot out" and "Soulja boy - Tell em Crank that". To me, it just sounds like a bunch of noise, but the kids go wild when they hear those songs.

I don't remember hearing "Shoot out" at the last school dance, but it left a lasting impression on me this time. When the song played, the students ran together, forming a sea of young jirating bodies all shaking their booties (more on booties) and jumping while holding up one hand in the air in the form of an imaginary pistol. Yep, pretty violent stuff. During the dance one of the teachers caught a student throwing gang signs and called him aside. For being an overcrowded, diverse school, supposedly we've had a very low record of fights (or so the administration tells us), but to me our school, like most schools I'm sure, is a very violent place. All sorts of bullying goes on daily, both physical and verbal. The students are very cruel to each other. They put each other down constantly, fling tweeties at each other, vandalize the school, destroy or steal each other's property, and steal and destroy mine too. The teachers are constantly threatening them (me included, which I hate). In my mind, it's not a place that's conducive to learning or the enjoyment of life. Middle School, indeed, is hell.

6 more days of middle school

It's been a long school year, and it's almost over. Just six more days with my students! That's something to be joyful about. My other source of good news came yesterday. I was accepted back into the Indiana University Master's program in Language Education. According to me, I only need to take nine more hours of coursework to finish my master's degree. I'll be taking courses with a focus on ESL (English as a Second Language) so that I can teach ESL to adults at the university level. That means no more dealing with students climbing under the tables, or flinging tweeties, or stealing each other's pencils, etc. It sounds to good to be true!

seven

I remember when I was pregnant in Cabo San Lucas, walking down the street it seemed like every other twenty or thirty-something girl was pregnant too. As if it was contagious. I had a pregnant friend, Diana, and met many other happy pregnant women. I ran into kids on the street that got a kick out of touching my belly, cars would stop to let me waddle past, and just about every familiar face on the small town streets of Cabo seemed to know whether it would be a boy or a girl by the shape of belly.

When I was pregnant, everything was positevely positive. I was full of hope. It must have been the hormones and endorphins that my body was releasing. But what about now? What about when one is going through a time of marital woes? I hate to think it's the same, but that seems to be the case for me lately. Jaime and I have been experiencing some especially rough times since he arrived in Kansas. Maybe it's the sour expression on my face, or the fact that I forgot to do my morning yoga stretches this week, but I seem to be a magnet for stories of separation and divorce.

I started out the week with divorce on my mind as I dined with my parents and a couple they're friends with who both divorced and then married each other. They both had kids from their previous marriages, and their kids have had problems relating to their divorces. Then, on Tuesday I got my hair cut after work. It was only the second time I'd had this stylist and I was in dire need of a haircut. Once I sat down, I realized that the last time I'd cut my hair was the week before Jaime arrived at the end of February. I was excited and nervous about his arrival and wanted to look my best. I remember talking with Andrea, my stylist about his arrival and she shared with me about all the times she remembered getting herself fixed up when her husband, a marine, had returned from duty. Our conversation was upbeat and optimistic.

But not this time. She didn't say anything about her husband and instead talked about selling her house and moving to a loft apartment downtown. A little later an aquaintance of hers sat down next to us to get her hair done. There was no escaping the gossip since I was in the middle of a haricut. The two talked about a party Andrea hadn't gone to. Basically because her husband was there. The truth comes out, they're getting a divorce.

Then at school on Thursday, during my break I greet Ms. Groovy, a sixth grade teacher, in the teacher's workroom. She had a baby in December. I remember seeing her with her tiny baby girl at school right before she came back to work full-time thinking, I could never have done that with Oliver. I am so thankful that I was able to stay home with Oliver full-time for the first fifteen months of his life and then work only very part-time until he was 22 months old. I asked Ms. Groovy how she was and in a time span of less than four minutes before heading back to class, she let me know. She and her husband were getting separated. Her baby was having a hard time sleeping (and I'm thinking, that's normal for little babies). I told her I was really sorry to hear about their separation. She said he wanted to escape it all so he's going to live with his mom. (Wow, I think to me self, knowing how challenging it is raising a little baby and then to have to do it on your own while working full time.) I asked her how long they'd been married and she told me, "Seven years."

Maybe seven isn't such a lucky number.

I don't have much to say about our marriage except that we're working on it. And as for now, I'm heading off to morning yoga. I hope a little yoga will help bring me some more positive vibes.

A greencard finally

It's hard to believe, it's finally true! Jaime got his visa and will be here next week!!

It seems as if the end of the process was just a few days of waiting and formalities. He had a doctor's appointment with one of their official doctors and then on Valentines Day his interview. They only asked him four questions (I don't even know what they were) and then gave him his visa. Yippee!! He is busily packing and will arrive on Wednesday, the 27th.

I am so happy and can still hardly believe it. Finally, it seems as if things are happening according to plan. He got his visa. We thought about how to get him here. Then right before I bought Jaime his ticket, my parents heard about an opening in their apartment building. How perfect! A two bedroom apartment, and my parents are planning to let us stay there rent free. Having a groovy free place to stay will really help us get started and save up for who knows, maybe a house some day soon. And it may sound silly, but I am thrilled to finally be able to use my colorful fiestaware that I got four years ago for our wedding!

Jaime says that he just wants to hang out en famille when he arrives, but I am thrilled about the idea of finally introducing him to all of my U.S. buddies that he's never met. So stay tuned for upcoming fiestas.

Valentines Day

I got word about a week ago that Jaime was finally scheduled for his visa interview on February 14th at 7:45 a.m. At last!

I have been so bad about blogging since I arrived to Kansas, that I'm not even sure who will read this, so maybe I'm writing this more for myself than for anyone else. At any rate, it's very good news to know that our little family will soon be reunited. I mean, they can't possibly deny him the visa, could they?

In other news, I am feeling incredibly more positive in 2008, even before getting the great visa news. My first semester teaching middle school Spanish was pretty rough, but I'm really enjoying myself since I've been back. I'm rested, have a better attitude, am more organized, have more and better proctors, and best of all I have hope! What a difference that all makes.

Other good news is that Oliver goes to daycare twice a week and seems to enjoy it except that he doesn't like the food. I don' t blame him; I never liked institutional food either. It's great for me and my mom too. My mom gets a break twice a week, and I get out more because I pick up Oliver and then usually run a few errands.

I guess the only part of life that's lacking is the social part, but I'm working on it. I have two interesting gatherings to attend at the beginning of February. One is a chic-sounding party at the Wichita Art Museum for the Contemporaries group, you know, people like me who are too young to be old but too old to be young. I also have a 10 year reunion/get-together with the group from Bethel that I traveled to India with. That sounds like fun and there's sure to be some excellent Indian food. I've also been enjoying my co-worker Patrice, the other Spanish teacher, but she's younger and already has a very busy social life. Plus, she's planning on moving. She's tired of Kansas, wants to see the world. I don't blame her. It seems like whenever I meet someone that I really hit it off with, one of us is always on the verge of moving.

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad a todos...

Amazingly, we arrived in Guadalajara on the 23rd of December after having our flight cancelled the day before due to a bizzare one day blizzard that blew into Kansas leaving at least eight inches of snow before leaving later the same day. We almost missed our connection in Dallas on Sunday, and are still waiting for our lost luggage to be deliverd. Deciding on a barbie's outfit with one of Jaime's six year old cousins today felt rather ironic considering that I've been wearing the same clothes for the last three days. But hey, es la vida loca.

You've come a long way baby!

November was a rough month for me, and December didn't seem to be turning out much better until just recently. No news on Jaime's visa, but I feel that I've reached some major milestones as a mom and as a teacher.

As a mom, I am extremely proud and excited to finally be weaning Oliver at the ripe age of two years and two months. I had planned to do this much sooner after arriving to Kansas, but once my new full time teaching job was in full swing, weaning was quickly put on the back burner. Knowing that we would be in Mexico at the end of December was what really got me excited about the idea of weaning Oliver. Jaime and I are hoping to leave him with his abuela or tia for at least a few nights while we're in Guadalajara for Christmas. Now that he's weaned, that shouldn't be a problem.

My parents have been absolutely fantastic since we've been here. Last week, when I first started working on weaning Oliver either my mom or dad would drive him to sleep at night since the whole weaning thing totally messed up his perfect bedtime routine of breastfeeding to sleep and I was simply too tired to drive him around myself after a long day at work and an early morning awaiting me. They even babysat him a week ago, Friday, so that I could have an evening out--something I hadn't done in ages and thoroughly enjoyed. I went to our staff Christmas party, which was fine as staff parties go, but then my co-worker and fellow Spanish teacher invited me out with her and some other language teachers. That was wonderful; we went dancing! This week, I am proud to say that I've gotten Oliver to sleep on my own without the use of the car or num-nums. I'm sure my parents are happy about that too!

As a teacher, I am happy to say that I am actually feeling happy. Teaching Spanish to self-centered, moody, American middle schoolers in a diverse public school has been quite a culture shock for me after years of teaching English to polite, motivated adults in Mexico and New Zealand. Deep thought for the day: Being happy has a big effect on my teaching. I was a lousy teacher in November because I let the long slow visa process get to me. This month, I have hope. Knowing that I'll see Jaime in just a week certainly helps.