Ups and Downs

This weekend was fascinating. Let me tell you what happened.

1. Friday night I was asked to come to the secondary Christmas concert, sit with the 7th grade class, and make sure they behaved the entire time they were not performing. I do not teach the 7th grade class, but they have the reputation of being quite the handful. Things went more smoothly than I imagined they would. I just sat right in the middle of them and if anyone made a sound, I whacked them with my umbrella. No joke. I have never seen the 7th grade class behave so well. So that was fun.

2. Saturday morning, I had to proctor the SAT. As I stepped out the front door, a foot long snake darted away, down the sidewalk leading to my house. Since I was going the same direction, I just followed him at a distance. Snakes don't really bother me, but I have a healthy respect for them here, as most are venomous. I must have gotten a bit too close for the snake's taste, because about halfway down the sidewalk, he suddenly spun around, coiled, and began striking. I took two steps back and froze. My path was blocked by an angry snake. UGH. I ended up shouting for a guard to come get the snake. His weapon of choice? A broom. Helpful. He at least was able to sweep the snake off the sidewalk in order for me to get past and make it to school just in time to proctor.

3. After the SAT, a student's family invited me to their house for dinner. They live in another city, but they sent a car and driver for me. So I spent the evening with their family. It was a multi-celebration. It was grandpa's birthday, the 12th anniversary of moving into their home, and an early Christmas party. We feasted on turkey, ham, smoked salmon, clam chowder, stuffing, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pecan pie, cheesecake, and so much other food. I paced myself over 2 hours. TWO HOURS OF FOOD. And I had it allllllll! So so so good! And then they sent me home with three BAGS of food. So I hope you all remember what a martyr I am for living here.

4. Sunday morning, my church celebrated Christmas early. We do an outreach program every year, and this year is no exception. So we did our "family" Christmas service this week, because next week, we will be celebrating Christmas in our city's red light district. And then the week after that, most people will be gone, travelling for the holidays. Anyways, on the way to church, I was driving along at a nice brisk pace (but not too brisk because I am a responsible motorist), when I suddenly felt something on the back of my hand. My right hand. My throttle hand. I glanced down. IT WAS AN ENTIRE GECKO. Thankfully, I am also not scared of geckos. And thankfully, geckos are harmless. I am especially thankful for that since this one proceeded to run all the way up my arm, onto my shoulder, around the back of my neck, and into my hair. I was already pretty close to church, so I just screeched (not really) into the parking lot, and delicately removed my helmet as quickly as possible. I was very concerned about the gecko being under my helmet and me possibly squishing him ON MY HEAD. But no. He was ON TOP of my helmet when I took it off. He took a flying leap and scurried off, thankfully. He was definitely more shaken up by the whole ordeal than I was.

5. After church yesterday, we all had lunch together (we do this the first Sunday of every month). And while we were eating, a mosquito bit me! I must taste bad or something, because Indonesian mosquitoes VERY rarely bite me. And when they do, I don't itch or get a red bump or ANYTHING. It is glorious. But I am highly concerned about my SINGLE mosquito bite yesterday, because the mosquito that bit me is the variety that spreads dengue fever! I could tell by his little zebra striped legs. So now I am obviously very highly concerned that I will contract the bone break fever. That sounds like zero fun. Or maybe less than zero fun. That sound like negative one hundred fun.

6. I found a dead bird outside my house yesterday. And I found a dead green tree lizard outside my house today, in three segments. It was like take three steps, find another piece of the lizard. It was like Blue's Clues. If Blue's Clues were a horror movie. Anyways, I hope this is not an omen of the week to come.

7. But really, dead animals may have been an omen of the week to come. I got called into a disciplinary advisory committee all morning today. It was... difficult and awkward. But also honorable. Only two teachers were asked to attend along with all three members of administration and the student and his parents. It's nice to feel that my input is valuable. But having to decide an appropriate consequence in an area of discipline that we as a school have never dealt with before was a little bit gut-wrenching. Every person in the room agreed that what the student did was an expellable (is that a word?) offence. But we also agreed on the need to show grace and to allow for restoration to happen. Man though, finding the balance is tough.

8. I spent all afternoon in a totally separate meeting in which I intended to speak to a parent about her son's grades. But then we spent most of the time talking about her daughter (whom I don't even teach) who is really struggling this year. Most of what she said, I wasn't even aware of. Hurts that have been caused by other students at our school. Current problems her daughter is dealing with. How she feels like her child no longer loves life. It was hard to hear. And I was largely at a loss for words. And we were both speaking Indonesian, which is not either of our first languages.

9. But the day wasn't all rough. A student came to me and asked, "How can I pray for you?" And I asked him to pray for wisdom and that I don't get dengue. And he said, "OK, let's pray." And then he did. Right there in my classroom. He sat with me and prayed for me. So even on long and difficult days, I am reminded that I really don't have it all that bad.