These past few weeks have been extremely eventful. I've made my way around the city mostly just by getting lost in all these different places. Firstly, I met up with my friend Tati (we went to ASU together) and had a tipsy brunch next to Chris O'Dowd (the police officer in Bridesmaids and the actor in Of Mice and Men on Broadway) before we ventured to the Met to see the Charles James exhibit and then through Chinatown for the best, and cheapest, pastries. The next day, we went to NYC PRIDE which was incredible and full of a lot of different groups dancing and showing their support for the LGBTQ community. It was actually pretty overwhelming and emotional to see that many open minded people in one place and for an issue that hits so close to home for me, it was nice to see some hope for a change instead of just all the negatives about how far we have to go before equality for all is reached. It was a wonderful experience and by the end, I was covered in glitter so it was definitely a success.
Since then, I was almost attacked by a woman on the train for helping her pick up the wallet she dropped, got lost in the Bronx at 10PM with a dead phone, and meandered through SoHo which is definitely too ritzy for my taste and my wallet. I also went to a neighbor called Park Slope which is in Brooklyn and has this really good Fish N Chips restaurant. Mostly I went there because I read online that every weekend, the brownstones set out stuff on their steps that is free to anyone walking by. I read it in a blog so I wasn't sure if it was true, but I went and it was! I ended getting 7 books for free so I'm definitely going back next weekend to score some more. I'll probably have a whole box of just books to send home by the end.
I try to do one new thing every day which has sort of become a running topic of conversation between the interns and my mentor teachers; they're always asking me places I've gone and suggest new things for me to do. I'm more and more overwhelmed with just how much there is to do here. I've visited the UN Plaza which is really neat to see; 195 countries' flags are lined up to represent the organization which is a pretty powerful message. I've also been venturing to a lot of different bars to catch the World Cup games which always brings about an interesting crowd. Most days though, I'll go somewhere and then end up sitting in one of the numerous parks reading or writing which is the most peaceful things. It's the perfect place to enjoy outside, people watch, and be out of the stuffy dorm.
I only have 2 weeks left in the program and only 1 week left actually teaching! It's absolutely crazy how fast these 2 months have gone by. My mentor teacher has been really great about getting me to teach lessons in a summer school program that was not designed to have actual teachers. The students come in every day from 9am-12pm and have packets with a schedule and it's just supposed to be self-guided so I really only help them out when they have questions. I expressed my concern about this not aligning with what I was told the program would be like and my disappointment that I wouldn't actual be teaching like I'd hoped. Jade was amazing and had some meetings with the principals to make sure that the interns could teach a couple times a week, so now I teach hour long lessons 1-2 per week.
I've started compiling some questions, comments, and concerns for my principal when we have our end-of-program meeting, because I've been unofficially offered the job. I haven't decided if I will accept or not, but I'm definitely going to talk to him about coming back to observe teachers during the school year and see how their classrooms and curriculum run on a day-to-day basis, not just at the end of the school year with testing schedules.
Anyways, since Bastille Day is Monday, the city is having French Restaurant Week so I'm planning on getting some cheap French food this weekend and then going to a free Bastille Day Festival downtown. Pray that I don't get lost (again!) or that I at least have a phone charger! Ciao!
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