So I'm a week and a half into PD without much to report. I have all sorts of new toys (newest gadget--a Dell laptop with permanent wireless. This would be a huge win, except for three hours with this computer have reminded me why I swore I would never buy a PC again. Sigh.), my coworkers have finally learned my name (I found out they had all been calling me Ms. Harvard for the last week), and I've experienced the wide range of culinary options in New Orleans East (Subway, Wendy's, salad from Winn-Dixie, and my personal favorite--Pho Bang, a Vietnamese restaurant. Not so much for the food as for the name). But a week and a half in, I couldn't be happier with my school. Even as a first-year, I feel very supported, and I feel like I fit in with the culture of our charter network.
I haven't been able to spend that much time in my classroom this week, which may be a good thing, as our building is completely overrun with all sorts of critters. I killed two cockroaches in my room yesterday, and we've caught no fewer than seven mice (luckily, the mice have been living mostly in the second-grade end of the hallway without wandering down to the third-grade end). What I have quickly learned is the biggest downside to having a building staffed by all women is that everybody is terrified of critters. I am the calmest in these situations, and as my college roommate can tell you, I do not deal well with rodents.
Junior year, a mouse ran out from under the radiator in my bedroom, and I jumped on the bed to cede the floor territory to it before calling my roommate. This is how that conversation went down:
Kate: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG THERE IS A MOUSE IN OUR ROOM WHAT DO I DO?
Ellen: Oh, it's been there for a month.
Kate: WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???
Ellen: Well, I knew you'd freak out.
Last Thursday, one of the second-grade teachers brought a few of her friends in to help her move boxes. They moved a box and a whole family of mice jumped out of it, which made the two grown men scream. At this point, everyone started shrieking, and my principal jumped on a desk and told everyone to leave the building, saying we couldn't work like this. We then proceeded to the front office, where she was told by our CAO that she shouldn't have freaked out like that. I am just waiting for the first time someone sees a mouse during class. I can only imagine how a class of second-graders will react when their teacher jumps on a desk and starts screaming.
Anyway, since I haven't had much to do outside of school, I've been able to spend time moving into my apartment (almost done!) and exploring the city. I don't feel quite at home yet--as Emma put it today when we walked out into the heat-index-105 afternoon to get lunch, "This feels like vacation...with work"--but I'm definitely getting there. I think the biggest sign that we're starting to settle in is that last weekend, my friends and I didn't venture to Bourbon Street once, choosing instead to hit dive bars a little bit closer to our Uptown homes. I've started to figure out how to deal with utilities (still waiting on our trash bin...lots of trash sitting in our kitchen), learned where the best takeout nearby is (Naked Pizza!), and have definitely begun to appreciate the perks of living in my own apartment with things like cable (I can make pasta for dinner and sit on the couch and eat it while watching Entertainment Tonight!). Routines are starting to be established, and I am still really loving the people I'm meeting down here.
Yesterday afternoon, at my mother's urging, I decided to go for a walk around my neighborhood (apparently, cockroach-killing and moving boxes at school does not count as exercise). This was the first time I'd actually walked down my street, which I'm quickly appreciating is one of the most beautiful in the city. It's still surreal to walk along quiet streets with big trees and perfect Southern mansions and realize that this is my neighborhood, my home for the next two years. But there's no city outside of Boston that I've ever felt this at home in, especially after just 10 days of really living here. Even with all the time I've spent in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, none of them feel right in the way that New Orleans does. It's so different from Boston, but it's a beautiful city with an exciting pulse and such friendly people. I'm thrilled that I get to call it home for (at least) the next two years.
I haven't been able to spend that much time in my classroom this week, which may be a good thing, as our building is completely overrun with all sorts of critters. I killed two cockroaches in my room yesterday, and we've caught no fewer than seven mice (luckily, the mice have been living mostly in the second-grade end of the hallway without wandering down to the third-grade end). What I have quickly learned is the biggest downside to having a building staffed by all women is that everybody is terrified of critters. I am the calmest in these situations, and as my college roommate can tell you, I do not deal well with rodents.
Junior year, a mouse ran out from under the radiator in my bedroom, and I jumped on the bed to cede the floor territory to it before calling my roommate. This is how that conversation went down:
Kate: OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG THERE IS A MOUSE IN OUR ROOM WHAT DO I DO?
Ellen: Oh, it's been there for a month.
Kate: WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???
Ellen: Well, I knew you'd freak out.
Last Thursday, one of the second-grade teachers brought a few of her friends in to help her move boxes. They moved a box and a whole family of mice jumped out of it, which made the two grown men scream. At this point, everyone started shrieking, and my principal jumped on a desk and told everyone to leave the building, saying we couldn't work like this. We then proceeded to the front office, where she was told by our CAO that she shouldn't have freaked out like that. I am just waiting for the first time someone sees a mouse during class. I can only imagine how a class of second-graders will react when their teacher jumps on a desk and starts screaming.
Anyway, since I haven't had much to do outside of school, I've been able to spend time moving into my apartment (almost done!) and exploring the city. I don't feel quite at home yet--as Emma put it today when we walked out into the heat-index-105 afternoon to get lunch, "This feels like vacation...with work"--but I'm definitely getting there. I think the biggest sign that we're starting to settle in is that last weekend, my friends and I didn't venture to Bourbon Street once, choosing instead to hit dive bars a little bit closer to our Uptown homes. I've started to figure out how to deal with utilities (still waiting on our trash bin...lots of trash sitting in our kitchen), learned where the best takeout nearby is (Naked Pizza!), and have definitely begun to appreciate the perks of living in my own apartment with things like cable (I can make pasta for dinner and sit on the couch and eat it while watching Entertainment Tonight!). Routines are starting to be established, and I am still really loving the people I'm meeting down here.
Yesterday afternoon, at my mother's urging, I decided to go for a walk around my neighborhood (apparently, cockroach-killing and moving boxes at school does not count as exercise). This was the first time I'd actually walked down my street, which I'm quickly appreciating is one of the most beautiful in the city. It's still surreal to walk along quiet streets with big trees and perfect Southern mansions and realize that this is my neighborhood, my home for the next two years. But there's no city outside of Boston that I've ever felt this at home in, especially after just 10 days of really living here. Even with all the time I've spent in New York, Chicago, and Atlanta, none of them feel right in the way that New Orleans does. It's so different from Boston, but it's a beautiful city with an exciting pulse and such friendly people. I'm thrilled that I get to call it home for (at least) the next two years.
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