Today, one of my better students, a senior, asked me if I ever regretted teaching high school students. I said, "no of course not. I love it." which is true. But in the context of the day, it sounded rather strange:
I arrived at school homesick and frustrated with my boss and overall quite ready to hop on the next plane home.
When my 4th hour government class comes in, they are more wild and crazy than usual.
Christian threw Lucas' journal out the window, Ben put Christian's journal behind a bookshelf, Ji-Ho is sleeping, David has the swine flu, they are dancing to silent rap music in their heads, the computers won't turn on, the other computers will work with pink screens and a very loud constant "beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep", so lucas takes off his shoes, rissa throws them, ji-ho passes out, soo is asking about the boston tea party, Ginny is doing bible homework, Rissa pushes Kevin in a wheeled desk chair across the library into a stack of books, Ben throws a dart from about 10 feet away, Christian is downloading pictures of "hot" girls to his facebook rather than do his homework, Lucas is lying on a pile of beanbag chairs and then Christian jumps on top of him...
Ben: "Ms. Kelly, do you ever regret teaching teenagers?"
Me: "No, Ben, I really like it - hey, Christian, get off of facebook! - teaching is like being a drug addict - Rissa, put down lucas' shoes! - every day I think that this cannot be healthy for me - Kevin, get off of that chair! - but then I wake up the next morning and think - Ji-ho, are you dead? - naw, I think I'll do it again today."
Ben: "ok." goes back to playing video games on his ipod.
Soo: "Ji-ho is not dead, miss. he's just sleepy."
Me: typing quietly and trying to ignore the sleeping, shoe-throwing, chair spinning, dancing, and otherwise chaotic behavior of my class that is a normal day "ok, well, as long as he's not dead, I think we're having a good day."
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Content
This was a daily email devotion sent to me by my Pastor in Ann Arbor Monday morning. After a week-long pity party and a relaxing weekend, this devotion helped me to focus my attention as I returned to school. I shouldn't be happy when things are going well and frustrated when they're not. I should be joyful all of the time, regardless of circumstances. But I'm still working on that.
Philippians 4:12-13 (The Message)
I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
For 13 years I have gone camping in a wilderness area in the Upper Peninsula with three Christian friends. We have a ritual. When we arrive in Munising at 7am we go to a local restaurant for our last "civilized" meal for a week. Every year, the same waitress is there pouring our coffee, laughing and always radiating a happiness and contentment that most people never seem to find. Several years ago, as I sat at the table I had been feeling rather sorry for myself. You know the in your head drill: "I work too much".... "I am not appreciated the way I should be".... "I am tired of the same routines".... and on and on. My challenging circumstances were all the more highlighted by the simple contentment and joy of our waitress. I thought, "I wish I could just have a simple and uncomplicated life like her." As she walked away from our table, laughing, I noticed a slight limp. I looked down and to my surprise saw that she had a prosthetic leg. I was humbled by her attitude. Here I was feeling sorry for myself and envying what I thought was an uncomplicated life, when all the while what I was witnessing was an outlook and attitude that transcended life's complications, pains and losses.
St. Paul reminds us that contentedness and joy are not dependent upon our circumstances but upon our awareness of God's powerful love for us and presence in our daily life. Today, leave behind self-pity and lay hold of the joy of God's nearness
Philippians 4:12-13 (The Message)
I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
For 13 years I have gone camping in a wilderness area in the Upper Peninsula with three Christian friends. We have a ritual. When we arrive in Munising at 7am we go to a local restaurant for our last "civilized" meal for a week. Every year, the same waitress is there pouring our coffee, laughing and always radiating a happiness and contentment that most people never seem to find. Several years ago, as I sat at the table I had been feeling rather sorry for myself. You know the in your head drill: "I work too much".... "I am not appreciated the way I should be".... "I am tired of the same routines".... and on and on. My challenging circumstances were all the more highlighted by the simple contentment and joy of our waitress. I thought, "I wish I could just have a simple and uncomplicated life like her." As she walked away from our table, laughing, I noticed a slight limp. I looked down and to my surprise saw that she had a prosthetic leg. I was humbled by her attitude. Here I was feeling sorry for myself and envying what I thought was an uncomplicated life, when all the while what I was witnessing was an outlook and attitude that transcended life's complications, pains and losses.
St. Paul reminds us that contentedness and joy are not dependent upon our circumstances but upon our awareness of God's powerful love for us and presence in our daily life. Today, leave behind self-pity and lay hold of the joy of God's nearness
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sugar Skull Market
In downtown Metepec last weekend we happened across the local "sugar skulls" market. Mexicans don't trick or treat. They set up ofrendas for Day of the Dead. These 'offering tables' are covered with flowers, food, drinks, pictures, and candy.
Mexicans make candy coffins and skulls to celebrate the holiday. No candy pumpkins or candy corn, though, and no leaves.
Dia de los Muertos is a popular Mexican holiday. Americans think that it's "Mexican Halloween" and in some ways, that's true. Both Halloween and Day of the Dead were the result of European Christian Saint's Day celebrations on November 1st. Like everything American (continent, not country) the result looked nothing like the original. The difference is that the U.S. has a mixed international immigrant heritage and that Mexico has an indigenous heritage; that difference is reflected in their holidays.
Mexicans make candy coffins and skulls to celebrate the holiday. No candy pumpkins or candy corn, though, and no leaves.
Dia de los Muertos is a popular Mexican holiday. Americans think that it's "Mexican Halloween" and in some ways, that's true. Both Halloween and Day of the Dead were the result of European Christian Saint's Day celebrations on November 1st. Like everything American (continent, not country) the result looked nothing like the original. The difference is that the U.S. has a mixed international immigrant heritage and that Mexico has an indigenous heritage; that difference is reflected in their holidays.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Mexican Economy
Last year, when the housing crisis and banking crisis and unemployment converged to create the worst recession since the great depression, many U.S. citizens asked me how that was affecting Mexico.
It really wasn't.
That's not completely true, of course, the recession was worldwide, but in many ways thousands of Mexicans were already living in abject poverty. The average Mexican makes $4,000 per year. Many do not have regular jobs or income, they are perpetually undernourished and oversugared (soda is a major source of food energy bc it's cheap) and health care means having babies at home and taking asprin.
A convergence of issues has hit Mexico really hard this past year:
- tourism is down, bc of swine flu scares and bc Europeans and North Americans can't afford to travel
- remittances are down, bc fewer Mexicans are making extra money in the U.S. and canada, legally or otherwise
- the U.S. is deporting more Mexicans, often abandoning young women and children on the streets of Tijuana in the middle of the night
- the U.S. is pushing Mexico to fight the drug cartels, despite the fact that U.S. criminals are providing the ammunition to the cartels
All of this means that Mexico is poorer with greater needs than ever before.
I'm not supporting illegal immigration. But I also know that it is impossible to get a legal working visa for many of the types of jobs that Mexicans and other immigrants want to do - dish washing, maintenance, child care, landscaping, etc. bc the current immigration code is written with the understanding that young and/or poor U.S. citizens will perpetually fill those posts. But they won't. How many americans do you know that are willing to pick pumpkins or clean toilets or watch someone else's children for the price that we're willing to pay them?
fully ONE THIRD of mexicans have lived or worked for some time in the U.S. Nearly every middle class mexican I know knows someone in their immediate family that has studied or worked or traveled on business to the U.S.
Would we be so upset if British were infiltrating the U.S. in large numbers? Or Irish? or Germans? or Italians? Wait... they already did. Now we just call them Americans.
It really wasn't.
That's not completely true, of course, the recession was worldwide, but in many ways thousands of Mexicans were already living in abject poverty. The average Mexican makes $4,000 per year. Many do not have regular jobs or income, they are perpetually undernourished and oversugared (soda is a major source of food energy bc it's cheap) and health care means having babies at home and taking asprin.
A convergence of issues has hit Mexico really hard this past year:
- tourism is down, bc of swine flu scares and bc Europeans and North Americans can't afford to travel
- remittances are down, bc fewer Mexicans are making extra money in the U.S. and canada, legally or otherwise
- the U.S. is deporting more Mexicans, often abandoning young women and children on the streets of Tijuana in the middle of the night
- the U.S. is pushing Mexico to fight the drug cartels, despite the fact that U.S. criminals are providing the ammunition to the cartels
All of this means that Mexico is poorer with greater needs than ever before.
I'm not supporting illegal immigration. But I also know that it is impossible to get a legal working visa for many of the types of jobs that Mexicans and other immigrants want to do - dish washing, maintenance, child care, landscaping, etc. bc the current immigration code is written with the understanding that young and/or poor U.S. citizens will perpetually fill those posts. But they won't. How many americans do you know that are willing to pick pumpkins or clean toilets or watch someone else's children for the price that we're willing to pay them?
fully ONE THIRD of mexicans have lived or worked for some time in the U.S. Nearly every middle class mexican I know knows someone in their immediate family that has studied or worked or traveled on business to the U.S.
Would we be so upset if British were infiltrating the U.S. in large numbers? Or Irish? or Germans? or Italians? Wait... they already did. Now we just call them Americans.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
NOTE: this is an article I read on "The News" the only English Language only newspaper published in Mexico City. It is specifically designed for English Speaking North Americans and Europeans to get an English-language viewpoint of Mexican news. They often cover issues affecting multiple countries. I'll have more discussion tomorrow's post.
Mexicans stay put in the US despite crisis
REUTERS
Mexican workers in the United States have lost jobs and faced a crackdown on illegal immigration but are not heading home in droves despite the worst recession in decades, officials and researchers say.
There is no record of those leaving the United States by land but anecdotal reports suggest some families have packed their belongings into trucks and crossed back into Mexico as construction, food and as farm jobs have evaporated.
A record 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived and worked in the United States in 2008, more than half of them illegally, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The vast majority have chosen to stay and weather the crisis.
Rights groups say Washington needs to pass an overhaul of immigration policies because Mexicans are not going home.
"There is no evidence of a massive return," said Adriana Valdes at the Mexican consulate in Denver. "People may move because of the crisis, but they are not moving to Mexico where the situation is no better."
Mexico has also suffered its worst recession since the 1930s and illegal Mexican workers living and working in the shadows say they can still earn more in the United States.
"If things are bad here, they're worse in our country," said Christian Dominguez, 21, who has worked in Phoenix since crossing illegally to Arizona 15 months ago from Mexico.
Dominguez earns just $80 in a bad week, shares an apartment with seven other migrants and relies on food donations from local church groups to get by. But he says it is still better than in his home state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.
"There I didn't even have money for books or anything else," he said outside a Wal-Mart in Phoenix looking for work.
Some proponents for tougher U.S. immigration policies point to anecdotal stories of Mexicans leaving and a recent census report to argue that illegal immigrants in the United States are going home, lessening the need for immigration reform.
Critics of undocumented workers say they depress wages, drain resources and take jobs away from Americans. Latino advocacy groups say they do the jobs Americans don't want.
The foreign born population in the United States dipped by around 100,000 people to 37.9 million last year, the first decline in more than a generation, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
écording to a study by Pew Hispanic Center, the number of people heading back into Mexico every year has been steady since 2006 at around 450,000.
"There is a strong seasonal pattern to the migration data but no matter how you look at it, there is no upward trend in out-migration," said Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at Pew.
TOUGH REFORM
U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to seek support among Democratic and Republican lawmakers to overhaul the flawed U.S. immigration system.
He is currently battling to push through healthcare reforms, though activists are hopeful he will tackle immigration next year.
Former President George W. Bush tried to push immigration reform through Congress in 2007 but the bill was killed by Republicans and the Bush administration took a get-tough approach focusing on workplace enforcement raids.
Obama supports offering illegal immigrants in good standing the chance to pay a fine and become citizens, as well as reducing immigration raids but still hardening security.
The U.S. government hired thousands more Border Patrol agents in 2007 to help deport immigrants who entered illegally or outstayed their visas, carry out workplace raids, and push police to enforce immigration laws.
Immigration experts say ramped up surveillance along the porous Mexican border has actually increased the illegal immigrant population in the United States because it is so tough to beat security that once in, people decide to stay.
For decades, immigrants crossed the border into the United States for seasonal work and returned home to Mexico when contracts ended, or at Easter and Christmas.
Now many prefer to move around the United States to look for work, moving away from border states like Arizona and Texas where immigration controls are the toughest.
"I'm thinking of going to Florida," said Hector Gallardo, 50, from Cuernavaca, near Mexico City, who has been living illegally in Arizona for 12 years working as a builder. "I don't think of going back to Mexico. But a lot of people are going to other states because of the crisis.
Mexicans stay put in the US despite crisis
REUTERS
Mexican workers in the United States have lost jobs and faced a crackdown on illegal immigration but are not heading home in droves despite the worst recession in decades, officials and researchers say.
There is no record of those leaving the United States by land but anecdotal reports suggest some families have packed their belongings into trucks and crossed back into Mexico as construction, food and as farm jobs have evaporated.
A record 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived and worked in the United States in 2008, more than half of them illegally, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The vast majority have chosen to stay and weather the crisis.
Rights groups say Washington needs to pass an overhaul of immigration policies because Mexicans are not going home.
"There is no evidence of a massive return," said Adriana Valdes at the Mexican consulate in Denver. "People may move because of the crisis, but they are not moving to Mexico where the situation is no better."
Mexico has also suffered its worst recession since the 1930s and illegal Mexican workers living and working in the shadows say they can still earn more in the United States.
"If things are bad here, they're worse in our country," said Christian Dominguez, 21, who has worked in Phoenix since crossing illegally to Arizona 15 months ago from Mexico.
Dominguez earns just $80 in a bad week, shares an apartment with seven other migrants and relies on food donations from local church groups to get by. But he says it is still better than in his home state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.
"There I didn't even have money for books or anything else," he said outside a Wal-Mart in Phoenix looking for work.
Some proponents for tougher U.S. immigration policies point to anecdotal stories of Mexicans leaving and a recent census report to argue that illegal immigrants in the United States are going home, lessening the need for immigration reform.
Critics of undocumented workers say they depress wages, drain resources and take jobs away from Americans. Latino advocacy groups say they do the jobs Americans don't want.
The foreign born population in the United States dipped by around 100,000 people to 37.9 million last year, the first decline in more than a generation, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
écording to a study by Pew Hispanic Center, the number of people heading back into Mexico every year has been steady since 2006 at around 450,000.
"There is a strong seasonal pattern to the migration data but no matter how you look at it, there is no upward trend in out-migration," said Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at Pew.
TOUGH REFORM
U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to seek support among Democratic and Republican lawmakers to overhaul the flawed U.S. immigration system.
He is currently battling to push through healthcare reforms, though activists are hopeful he will tackle immigration next year.
Former President George W. Bush tried to push immigration reform through Congress in 2007 but the bill was killed by Republicans and the Bush administration took a get-tough approach focusing on workplace enforcement raids.
Obama supports offering illegal immigrants in good standing the chance to pay a fine and become citizens, as well as reducing immigration raids but still hardening security.
The U.S. government hired thousands more Border Patrol agents in 2007 to help deport immigrants who entered illegally or outstayed their visas, carry out workplace raids, and push police to enforce immigration laws.
Immigration experts say ramped up surveillance along the porous Mexican border has actually increased the illegal immigrant population in the United States because it is so tough to beat security that once in, people decide to stay.
For decades, immigrants crossed the border into the United States for seasonal work and returned home to Mexico when contracts ended, or at Easter and Christmas.
Now many prefer to move around the United States to look for work, moving away from border states like Arizona and Texas where immigration controls are the toughest.
"I'm thinking of going to Florida," said Hector Gallardo, 50, from Cuernavaca, near Mexico City, who has been living illegally in Arizona for 12 years working as a builder. "I don't think of going back to Mexico. But a lot of people are going to other states because of the crisis.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Personal Venting
I almost didn't make it to Spanish class tonight.
Sitting in my car, lost, with tears streaming down my face, already late, I knew I was in no shape to face anyone. It seemed easier to send an impersonal text message to cancel class and then return home to sulk and eat too much ice cream.
For some reason, I pulled myself together and went to class anyway.
I'm glad I did.
16 months ago, 6 months ago, an intense Spanish class with past-perfect-subjunctive verb tenses would have only been an additional frustration on top of my day.
For some reason, successfully conjugating, conversing, and completing verbs and sentences in my adopted foreign language was just what I needed to remind me why I'm here.
Why I put up with all of the other little frustrations in the every day.
For some reason, today's frustrations - which were really no different than any other day's frustrations - lazy and demanding students, incompetent boss, backed-up-traffic, no electricity, switching cars, difficult homework, etc., were then compounded by some unusual events - david being out of town, grades due tomorrow, the police nearly pulling me over, a rude clerk, and getting lost - until I could no longer handle another crisis, no matter how minor. I did not think I could speak in Spanish.
How strange it was to find that my mind thought of Spanish as comforting, rather than confusing. It was like sitting down with a cup of hot chocolate and churros at the end of a long day.
Sitting in my car, lost, with tears streaming down my face, already late, I knew I was in no shape to face anyone. It seemed easier to send an impersonal text message to cancel class and then return home to sulk and eat too much ice cream.
For some reason, I pulled myself together and went to class anyway.
I'm glad I did.
16 months ago, 6 months ago, an intense Spanish class with past-perfect-subjunctive verb tenses would have only been an additional frustration on top of my day.
For some reason, successfully conjugating, conversing, and completing verbs and sentences in my adopted foreign language was just what I needed to remind me why I'm here.
Why I put up with all of the other little frustrations in the every day.
For some reason, today's frustrations - which were really no different than any other day's frustrations - lazy and demanding students, incompetent boss, backed-up-traffic, no electricity, switching cars, difficult homework, etc., were then compounded by some unusual events - david being out of town, grades due tomorrow, the police nearly pulling me over, a rude clerk, and getting lost - until I could no longer handle another crisis, no matter how minor. I did not think I could speak in Spanish.
How strange it was to find that my mind thought of Spanish as comforting, rather than confusing. It was like sitting down with a cup of hot chocolate and churros at the end of a long day.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Maya Mattress
We have amazing weather most of the year in Central Mexico. In fact, this October has been much warmer than average, with most days in the upper 70s F. Ever since last summer, Dave has wanted a hammock to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine.
On our recent vacation to the Yucatan, there were a lot of hammocks for sale. We bought a free-trade sisal hammock - the mattress of choice for the indigenous Mayans. The sisal threads are taken from a specific kind of local cactus, and the result is a beautiful hammock that doesn't sag or mold. And it's very very comfortable for warm afternoons!
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