Tuesday, May. 27, 2003
Italy is on, posted at 5:41 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com There was a moment late in today that it looked like the Italy trip would be cancelled. Bill came over, said that his extended family was having some problems, and that it might be cancelled. He was very pissed off, and I didn't quite know what to do, as I had allowed myself to grow excited about the prospect of going.He just called, though. The trip is back on. His dad's not going, that's all. Otherwise, it should be a blast. Apparently, he used his "friend who's never been on an airplane" as ammunition in his successful attempt to talk whoever it was (a great uncle, I think) into letting the trip still occur. That's hyperbole - I was on an airplane during my sophomore year of college, when my grandparents sent me a plane ticket to fly down to Florida for spring break - but I've never been out of the country (traipses through Canada excluded) and never bought my own plane ticket. I won't be doing the latter this time, either, as Bill is buying the plane tickets as we speak, and I'll be paying him back.
I'm so damn excited about this trip.
Now, the next step is getting a passport. I just looked online, and it looks fairly complex, and I could not find any Maryland-specific information as of yet. I'm heading to a bbq right now; hopefully they'll have some information. I know I need my birth certificate, which I believe is still under lock and key in the bottom of my parents' closet. I just called them to send it up. Hopefully I can get this taken care of by the end of this week so I don't have to pay rush charges of $60 in addition to the $85 it's already going to cost.
I'm also unclear on the whole photo thing. From the passport website I looked at, it looked as though any 2X2 photo would work, as long as it met the requirements. I hear Kinko's does it; I'll head over there I guess.
If anyone has passport advice, especially in the Baltimore area, I'd love to hear it.
Today was an okay day at school. A girl decided to yell at me today in first period, and I sent her out of my room. That class is making me angry lately, but it's not all their fault. I hate the course, as well. I was so excited about teaching AVID, but without a context, I don't like it at all. It's all study skills and crap like that, and you can never gain any momentum in the course because of the Tues/Thurs tutorials. I've got a bad attitude about the class and so do the students. I hope they're learning something...
Anyhow, I sent this girl out for yelling at me, and was surprised when I sat back down on my desk that I was shaking. This made me feel like it was an emotional response rather than an objective one, so I'll be sure to talk to her a little tomorrow about it. Not apologize, as she disrespectfully insubordinated me, but give her a chance to apologize without further action.
I am tired, and am heading over to my colleague's place for a bbq/potluck, during which we'll be wining and dining a prospective teaching candidate. By the way, the pool of decent english teacher candidates is currently bone dry, if anyone is thinking about picking up a career.