This past week I got to the part in my Peace Corps autobiography where my first counterpart had a meltdown in the middle of class. It was over something really silly: all I did was ask the vice principal if an activity that we were doing in class was fine. The children were getting in and out of a large box. It was totally harmless, but, coming from a country where a parent can sue the school for any number of totally harmless things, I just wanted to make sure that this was alright. The vice principal said it was okay, so I just went back to class and forgot about the whole thing. Unfortunately, the clerk gossiped to my counterpart about my conversation with the vice principal and you can guess what happened after that. Suffice it to say that I was somewhat relieved when the principal said that I could work with someone else.
Thankfully, I got to work with Pomeroy, the best teacher in the school. I transferred to his class right when he was about to go into the Civil Rights Movement, so I got to give an excellent lesson about Rosa Parks. I got him and our students to reenact the story of how she bravely refused to give up her seat to a white man, the act that kicked off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. To date, that is still my favorite class. I look forward to writing about it in the upcoming weeks, as well as my students, who were my favorite people on the island.
I still jot down ideas for my "Fionnuala" series. In particular, I write down details about Max, Cassandra's closest friend, a mysterious and beautiful assassin who, when they were children at the hellish Nineveh Academy, stuck her neck out to keep Cassandra from being killed by the gang that ran the school. I look forward to developing her more as a character once I finish my autobiography.
That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.
