Day 3: Classrooms, Cuisine and Great Conversation

I treated myself a lot today, perhaps more than I should have, but all for good reason. Today, I got the chance to bond hard-core with a lot of my coworkers. I am someone who values friendships a lot, and much as (like I've written previously) I value alone time, I also feel personal relationships are crucial to becoming comfortable in new environments.

Yes, this shoe fit very well.

To start my day off, I got up a half-hour early to go to breakfast with two of my new friends at a nearby bake shop. One of the two is a young woman who just graduated from the University of San Francisco last month and she was delighted to be able to introduce us to one of her local favorites. It was this cute little nook called Cinderella Bakery and Cafe. It had a variety of weird Russian foods with names I could hardly pronounce, so I opted for an egg and cheese sandwich on a croissant and a chai latte. Both were very affordable and absolutely delicious. The croissant was toasted just enough to be crunchy and flaky without losing its soft interior, and I would venture to say the latte may have been the best I've ever had. I definitely plan on visiting again, especially since it's so affordable and close to where I am staying for the summer.

Is "chai" Russian for "nectar of the gods"? Or, as Ron Burgundy might say, "a whale's vagina"?

We then trekked a mile and change straight uphill to the school where we are teaching. Yesterday, our orientation was in a different part of the city, so this was our first chance to explore the building where we will be spending the rest of our summer, and... holy cannoli, it is freaking gorgeous. The classrooms are modern and well-kept, the library may as well be a bookstore and the rooftop playground has a stunning view overlooking the city. It is clearly a private school and is a shining example of how wealth provides resources which lead to better educational opportunities and even further wealth.

As part of our training today, we had to share "Life Maps", which were essentially drawings we each made to explain critical events in our development that led us to become passionate about education and apply to this program. I will share mine in a future post, but working on this was a wonderful exercise in self-reflection. I was also truly touched by many of the stories my fellow teachers shared. Everyone was very open and heartfelt, and we each had very unique paths which have led us to where we now are.

My school from the outside... The skies make it look gloomy, but trust me. It's ridiculously beautiful.

We spent the rest of the day working on non-academic responsibilities for the summer, from strategizing with our committees for the events we are running (I am co-chairing the "Social and Spirit" committee with a returning teacher from this site, and I am very excited by what we have planned so far!) to planning lessons for our electives (I am teaching "Improv and Acting" alongside a  hilarious and insightful young woman who is half-British and half-American. Her accent is, needless to say, spellbinding.) We got to see our classrooms for the first time. Mine is one of the smallest in the whole school, but I actually love the intimate feeling it provides. My class sizes are significantly smaller than last year (around half the size) and the students won't be able to hide anything from me, which will make maintaining order and discipline much easier for me!

A meal fit for a King... or Kings... or Kings and Queens... or just Royals. #nobinary

After work, a bunch of us from the dorm agreed to go out to dinner together. Again, my USF-grad friend took charge, leading us to a Thai restaurant on Clement St. It is truly amazing how many delicious and affordable restaurants are within just a few blocks from where I am residing! Always one for trying new things, I pulled an "I'll have what she's having", which got me an overwhelmingly-portioned, cheap and delicious plate of chicken and fried rice. At a friend's suggestion, I also tried Thai Iced Tea which was to die for. (Wait, sorry, I'm a writing teacher. I suppose it should be "for which was to die"?)

If Red Bull gives you wings, this must give you jet engines.

Over dinner, we had a really enlightening conversation about power and privilege through the frames of gender (specifically in Greek life, prevalent for me today given the fact that I am trying to deactivate from my fraternity and was informed a few hours ago about a brutal assault that took place in another Penn fraternity in which I have many friends) and ethnicity (based on a fascinating and shockingly relatable anecdote about someone's roommate having studied abroad, come back and acted like her host country's heritage was her own). I cannot remember the last time I had a discussion so deeply challenging and ultimately enriching. I felt uplifted and, for once, completely able to hold my own despite the fact that I was one of only two white individuals discussing these extremely trying topics among a very diverse and well-versed group of individuals. Thinking back on the Life Maps from earlier in the day and engaging thoroughly in this conversation reminded me why I love this program so much; everyone involved, despite having vastly different personal backgrounds, cares deeply about social justice and educational equality and is willing to have uncomfortable conversations requiring perspective-taking, strong listening skills and mature responses in order to respectfully challenge each other's beliefs and better their own in the process.

Your eyes do not deceive you.

After this whirlwind of a meal, we walked around a little in the surrounding neighborhood. A few of the teachers wanted bubble tea, so we went into another little shop nearby. I was ecstatic to discover that this small restaurant served... wait for it... FRIED OREOS. This was particularly weird because a) as a joke, I had written "brought to you by Oreos" on my Life Map since I'm pretty much fueled by them at this point and b) I had actually discussed these delectable desserts just last night with a couple of teachers who had never tried them before. Thus, it became imperative that we order them. One of the teachers kindly treated us to them and everyone got to have a bite of these sumptuous morsels.

Once we were finished inflating our thighs, we skipped back through the densely foggy neighborhood to our dorm where, after adding each other on Snapchat (which I've never really used much, but now have an incentive to), we headed off to bed. I did a bunch of homework to get ahead so I can take a little time off this weekend; that Thai Iced Tea must have had caffeine in it because I am wired. Nonetheless, I know I need sleep and so I am off to Dreamland. As I drift to sleep tonight, I am feeling stimulated, conflicted, eager, blessed and satisfied: stimulated by the amazing talks I had today, conflicted by my positions of power in the world and how they affect my place in the field of education, eager to continue building these wonderful relationships with smart, savvy, passionate, open-minded and caring individuals, blessed by the incomparable opportunities in which I am engaged...

This will be the "before" picture for my new reverse-Jenny Craig campaign. Or a remake of "The Exorcist".

...and, of course, satisfied by a belly full of fried Oreos.

Until next time,
Nate