Gelato and Hair Gel
I had an unforgettable time on our West Coast Extravaganza 2006 (WCE 2K6). We even made shirts to commemorate the event. In Northern California, we ate cheese, got a contact high (jk) in Arcata, and manuevered through the beautiful coast along Hwy 101. I've never driven that whole stretch, it was fabulous. In Oregon, I gave my friends the full Eug.ene experience by showing them the Saturday Market- the hippies were in full effect, but the drum circles were a bit mellower than usual. In Portland we went to Powells where books fell open and my bookworm friends fell in. I had to drag them away so we could go eat gelato (my one track mind...). They didn't think Salem was a "shithole" as I had suggested and they challenged my claim that there are "a gazillion lesbians" in Eugene... But after you visit Humboldt State, I guess Eugene is not so hardcore anymore. We made our way back down I-5 with a quick stop in Ashland.
In San Francisco, we sat around mostly, we're really good at that after a year of crazy 12 hours-of-running-around days. Staring at the wall has never been more awesome. My buddies left June 20 and I stuck around for a few more days...saw my nana in Santa Barbara and returned to my brother's house in san francisco for like the tenth time in two weeks. For my b-day we went out to the Bliss Bar (actual name- my brother has gotten kicked out/almost kicked out on numerous occasions while trying to claim familial ties to get free drinks) which is in Aden's neighborhood. It was really fun... suffice it to say that with a bar that carries your name, a few (translation: a lot of) drinks and two huge bottles of hair gel, you are just asking for awesomeness. A memorable 23rd. See pics below and note excessive use of hair gel:
During this trip, I found myself missing my kids a LOT. It's the little things that I'll miss the most about them. The way they talk- "I'm is! I'm am!" * I gotta USE it (the bathroom) * You WRONG for that! * You got boocoo (beaucoup) stuff up in here, Ms. Bliss * berled/ernge/pernt (they don't do the oi sound..so boiled comes out berled, etc.) I'm not much for cheesy, but these fifth graders changed my life. If there's one thing I really learned this year, it is that every kids wants to learn, and it's really the system/teachers who are at fault for hte fact that so many kids (usually low SES) are failed year after year. Many of our kids came to us without being able to add or subtract multiple digit numbers, write a grammatically correct sentence or read above a 2nd grade level. How is it possible that we live in the richest and most powerful country in the world and over half of my kids fit the description above? Education has such a powerful impact, and these kids want to learn, they just need people who want to teach them. And even though I was far from a great teacher, I was at least someone who helped them realize their own abilities. I can only hope that they learned as much as I did this year.
Until next time,
Sarah B.
In San Francisco, we sat around mostly, we're really good at that after a year of crazy 12 hours-of-running-around days. Staring at the wall has never been more awesome. My buddies left June 20 and I stuck around for a few more days...saw my nana in Santa Barbara and returned to my brother's house in san francisco for like the tenth time in two weeks. For my b-day we went out to the Bliss Bar (actual name- my brother has gotten kicked out/almost kicked out on numerous occasions while trying to claim familial ties to get free drinks) which is in Aden's neighborhood. It was really fun... suffice it to say that with a bar that carries your name, a few (translation: a lot of) drinks and two huge bottles of hair gel, you are just asking for awesomeness. A memorable 23rd. See pics below and note excessive use of hair gel:
During this trip, I found myself missing my kids a LOT. It's the little things that I'll miss the most about them. The way they talk- "I'm is! I'm am!" * I gotta USE it (the bathroom) * You WRONG for that! * You got boocoo (beaucoup) stuff up in here, Ms. Bliss * berled/ernge/pernt (they don't do the oi sound..so boiled comes out berled, etc.) I'm not much for cheesy, but these fifth graders changed my life. If there's one thing I really learned this year, it is that every kids wants to learn, and it's really the system/teachers who are at fault for hte fact that so many kids (usually low SES) are failed year after year. Many of our kids came to us without being able to add or subtract multiple digit numbers, write a grammatically correct sentence or read above a 2nd grade level. How is it possible that we live in the richest and most powerful country in the world and over half of my kids fit the description above? Education has such a powerful impact, and these kids want to learn, they just need people who want to teach them. And even though I was far from a great teacher, I was at least someone who helped them realize their own abilities. I can only hope that they learned as much as I did this year.
Until next time,
Sarah B.
posted by MissBliss at 6:00 PM
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