Finally, nearly a month late, we've opened school.
Today was the first day of actual teaching. (not just manual labor)
I've spent 8 hours without air-conditioning or sitting down..in New Orleans, in September.
Not to be repetitive, but we still have only 1/2 of the class rooms framed, one port-o-let (with a bottle of hand sanitizer) for 600 people, no running water, no boards, no phone service, no books, no doors, no desks, no copier, no computers, no rosters, hell, we don't even have an office, no cafeteria, no potable water, no intercom, no bell....and barely any order.
Still, somehow, goddammit, I managed to teach all 150 of my students.
Of course, promptly as soon as school let out, it started to storm again.
On the 5 hundred foot trek through fields of mud to exit (by foot) all 650 of us were completely soaked to the skin.
It's 4:30 pm, and I'm going to bed.
God help me.
9 comments:
Dear God. That is shocking.
There are some extraordinary people in this city. You sure are one of them. Thank you.
That last bit sounded like all 650 of you were trekking through the rice fields of Vietnam. Really.
You know, at 8am this morning, I heard the channel 4 news person announcing that your school would be in session today, but that your location had changed. Aren't you all in school by that time? Hence, what's the point of announcing it that late? While I'm at it, an announcement made on Sunday evening would have been better, no? I know. I know. You have to look at the source. You don't even have to tell me. It's a sad state of affairs.
I hope things somehow get better.
Thanks
a la The Killing Fields?
lol
Actually, come to think of it, it did look rather like that.
But that's how they roll over there, you know, "planning" is not quite their forte.
sweetie, I really think you're a hero. When I think of how pouty I get when they don't get my coffee right at Peet's in the morning....
more power to ya man- when i moved to new orleans five years ago, it was with the full intent of getting my bearings in the city and then resuming my teaching career- i was scared off well before that took hold- glad to see someone not so daunted!
Funny because I was thinking nearly the same thing as Breezy. It really did sound like you were all barefoot trekking through the muddy field of some third world country on your way to some little school where, after class, you all repatch the schoolhouse with fresh cow dung and spit. ;)
Silly Monkey said...
... you all repatch the schoolhouse with fresh cow dung and spit.
Well, as long as it's really *fresh*
"Well, as long as it's really *fresh*"
Naturally. That stale dung just don't mold and cling to the building quite the way the fresh does. ;)
Ugh. Planning does seem to be a wee bit lacking, doesn't it. Can the persons in charge of planning get sent to feed the gators at the closest gator farm?
I don't know how you manage to get through it while maintaining some semblance of sanity and even a sense of humor! I wouldn't be able to do it without a desk on which to bang my head in frustration. You're amazing.
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