Update on the sleep: Average last week was 5 hours/night instead of 4-5 hours, so that was an improvement. There was even one night (last Tuesday, I believe) where I got almost 6 hours! It was glorious. This coming week I’ll be transitioning from teaching math to teaching reading and word study. It’s the same (awesome) class, I’m just switching with my co-teachers on which subjects we’re doing. I’m really surprised how much I loved teaching math though. I’m kind of sad to leave it, which is ridiculous, considering I (thought I) hated math. One frustrating challenge in my class has been the inconsistent flow of kids. I get new students almost every day, while others just stop showing up. I had one new student in my small math group say, “Ms. Fleming, I’m only gonna be here for 6 days!” and another one piped up, “Oh yeah, I’m leaving on Monday to go to Mexico for the rest of the summer.” So that’s been hard, but hopefully everything will settle down a little more this week.
Fun fact: I still don’t have a job in New Mexico. In fact, I could be teaching anywhere from Gallup, down to Zuni Pueblo up to Shiprock, or over to Pueblo Pintado. Some of these locations are 3+ hours from one another. So basically I’m unemployed and homeless right now. Okay, not really. But I sort of feel that way. It’s just crazy because I’m going to be doing phone interviews while I’m at Institute, and right before I leave for Asia, then coming back and having to start work immediately. It’s gonna be intense.
Anyway, this weekend was pretty amazing. I actually had Friday off, so I just had a good time instead of planning the entire weekend! Well, Thursday night, I went to the Big Bang, a dueling piano bar in Tempe, and the New Mexicorps completely took over the bar. We started a dance party and did our cheer so that everyone was like, “Who the hell are these insane people from all over the country claiming to be teachers?!” It was legit. Then yesterday I went river tubing at Salt River! I got totally sunburned and dehydrated, but it was amazing! My friends and I particularly enjoyed the rapids, and the view was incredible. Even though you’re floating down a cold river, you’re surrounded by desert landscape, with enormous mountain-rocks, and classic Saguaro cacti along the edge. And seriously, the sky out in the desert is totally striking. Oh and last night, I watched like 7 sets of fireworks from a desert mountain outside of Phoenix. I can’t wait to get back out to New Mexico. Arizona is cool, and I’ve enjoyed exploring, but I’m not a huge fan of the city of Phoenix. So far the coolest thing I’ve found here is a drive-thru liquor store.
Anyway, back to planning until late tonight. I took a ton of awesome pictures lately, but they won’t upload onto my laptop. :( Once I figure that out though… It’s happening. For now, some pictures of Shiprock, NM, where I may end up.
A hilarious note: Teach For America is probably tracking this blog. I was in a “Diversity, Community and Achievement” session on Thursday, in which we all read and reflected on a corps member’s blog that had been straight up taken off the internet and reproduced in our materials book. It was totally embarrassing for the guy who wrote it, although his name wasn’t attached. Awesome.
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