I am not quite sure how this blog became just the "weekly story of my life," but, for better or worse, that is what it is. I had originally set up another blog that I planned on being the website to keep everyone informed, and I was going to continue using this site as a place for my rambling on "deep shit" (you know, poems and stuff). But now that I have found myself in a situation where I am in actual deep shit, I find that I am less inclined to produce anymore emotional shit to deal with, and I am also weary to tell people other than my closest friends what is actually happening down here. So, after that preamble, here comes another "weekly story of my life that no one reads" (other than the most important people)...



In general this week was much better than the past few weeks have been. I think this is in part due to a number of small miracles (ie, certain children transferring to other schools and other certain children deciding it was time they got their act together and actually do a couple of division problems), but also in part due to my new-found "I don't give a shit" attitude. You see, this week I finally decided to drop the idea that I was going to make a difference in the life of every child. Even gone are notions that I am failing if children are not quiet and paying attention. These days, if certain kids or certain classes are awful, I just let it roll of my back rather easily. They aren't worth me caring about that much. This week I used all of the energy that I usually spend on correcting behaviors and instead focused it on actually teaching the good kids and letting them know that I appreciate them and like them. So even though at least 1/3 (if not 2/3) of my day is chaos, I honestly don't give a shit anymore. I just gear up to go have fun with the 1/3 of the kids who do respect me. I have found that this makes me a much happier and much more energized person at the end of the day.

Coaching basketball is another thing that is giving me energy and helping have a lot of fun during the days. The girls that I coach are absolutely hillarious and, even though I really don't have a clue about how to be a coach, it is something fun (and scary) for me to think about during the day. When I agreed to be a basketball coach I kind of assumed that I would be starting off as an assistant coach and not all on my own, but I guess that was a poor assumption because there I am running the whole show. Even with my lack of coaching experience, the string of miracles continued and we won our first game against the Barrientes this week. I don't know what a Barriente is, and neither did the one girl that I asked, but even though they had matching basketball shoes and we do not, we still kicked their asses. Our next game is coming up on Monday against a team that I hear is really good, and I am nervous because I do not feel that I have prepared my girls well enough, but I guess there is nothing I can do about that at this point.

I am starting to get to know a couple of girls that I teach/coach/live in close proximity to. I am amazed at how mature they seem and some of the experiences they have had already. I guess as part of the nature of the lives of people who live here, these girls and their families have moved around a lot from country to country and state to state. I like them a lot and am glad that I get the chance to spend time with them.

Okay, I am sure that I have more to tell, but at this point I have to run off to go see American Gangster with the Sam Houston Heights crew. Nothing better than Denzel and that other guy to top off my saturday night.