Made it to Mississippi! Woke up Saturday, bobbed around in Lake Sinclair for a while, then said goodbye to the Whitings (who are the best ex-boyfriend’s-parents a girl could ask for) and headed to Alabama where I was finally reunited with Anjana the amazing. We watched Marty McFly for a little, then she and Peter took me on a driving tour of Birmingham. Oh! This was after we got sushi and I ate seaweed that looked like one of those latex casts they do of veins and capillaries that you see in science museums.
And THEN we went on our driving tour, which began with the tail end of a gay pride parade closer to downtown, and then wound up with a couple beautiful overlooks as the sun was setting.
And then the next morning Anj busts out with cheesy eggs and gluten-free cornbread. Awesome.
Then I drove to Mississippi! Lots of hills, then lots of flat and trees, and then lots of corn. Corn, soybeans, and a whole hell of a lot of sky. And then heat!
And then Institute began! We don’t see students until next week, so thus far it’s been sessions, workshops, power points, and more group-work, partner discussions, and “think-pair-share” than I did in all of high school and college combined. I’m going to be teaching 11th grade U.S. History for four weeks starting on Monday. In MS, this is post-1877. So it’s westward expansion, industrialization, the gilded age, and so forth. Up to present day, I think, but I’m not sure. I’m really excited to be teaching my subject AND grade placement (I’m assigned to teach high school social studies in Charlotte) during Institute, since a lot of people aren’t.
Other tidbits about the Delta? There are a lot of mosquitoes. I literally just had to pause in the middle of typing the word “mosquitoes” to kill one on my arm. And I have bugspray on. At breakfast I killed seven, and smeared blood all over my white purse, which is kind of gross and a bummer. They spray pesticide in big noxious clouds off the back of pick-ups around campus here. They insist we can breath it to no ill effect, but I swear I could feel my cells mutating as it drove past.
But also, everyone here is so incredibly excited for us to be here. There were a ton of volunteers sitting around in tents to help us move in yesterday, and boy scouts to help us carry luggage. We got a whole packet of discounts and coupons from local merchants. One place has $1 drafts. The whole community here just seems so thrilled to have us, which is really kind of humbling and exciting. A lot of responsibility, but also just really encouraging.
Up at 4:45 tomorrow morning...!
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