The week started on a serious down as a serious downer as I was struck down by the lurgy. On Monday morning I wasn't feeling quite myself. By the time I had delivered a mental maths test literally doubled over with stomach cramps I decided it was time to give in and go home. The rest of the day was lost in sleep and unpleasantries I won't explain in detail! On the upside, I have discovered there is a female doctor at the surgery who just gets on with it and treats you, without any inquisitions or inappropriate sarcastic comments - what a delight! Also, a friend explained to me how you are actually supposed to collect the samples. How was I supposed to know? Nobody ever talks about it - I am enlightened!
On Tuesday I started to recover and lost myself in a world of books and movies. I found 'Made in Dagenham' on my shelf (I must have subconsciously wanted a visit down memory lane the day I bought that one - maybe to remind myself how fortunate I am to live in the salubrious neighbourhood of Bukoto!?!) For those of you who don't know, I started my teaching career there. I can't say I look back on that time with rose tinted glasses. Sure, it's near enough to London, as long as you don't mind a ten minute bus ride to the 'eafway (Dagenham Heathway Underground station if you don't speak Dagenhamese), followed by an hour long ride through over twenty stations on the dilapidated District Line. And if you couldn't face the epic journey into town, then you could always entertain yourself by watching cars burning on the Safeway Car Park. The borough kindly provided us with affordable 'key worker' accommodation - a converted car park nestled between two tower blocks. I have never felt like more of a foreigner or outsider - when I went into shops and spoke in my dulcet northern tones, I was regarded with stranger looks than a muzungu in a remote Ugandan village. Anyway I digress ... back to the movie. I had no idea that the women of Dagenham were so instrumental in bringing about the Equal Pay for women act. I enjoyed watching these brave women fight for what was right and am not surprised that the feisty women of this area managed such a feat!
By Wednesday I was well on the road to recovery and enjoyed celebrating a friend's birthday at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered sangria and it came in a vase. She was also served a very special cake - it's amazing what can be done with a bit of icing these days!
Back in school, I have been surprised by how innocent my Year Sixes are. I'm not sure whether it's the cultural differences or whether they just have a different vocabulary, but they have certainly not giggled at the same things I did when I was eleven. At the start of the year, I read aloud from 'Godnight Mister Tom' and there was barely a snigger at the mention of poor little Willie. Yesterday, I was teaching the kids about Blogs and had to spell out the pun of Blogroll - a gag that most English eleven year olds would get in a second. We have been using calculators in maths for sometime now and the kids have been experimenting with spelling out the usual words - hello, shell, oil and so forth. I don't think my student was expecting to be congratulated when I spotted he had 58008 displayed on his screen. I said it was fine as long as he could write me a 3 step problem leading to that answer!
Fast forward to the weekend please!
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| Oh my - someone's in for a happy birthday! |
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| Oh dear - have just noticed my vase of sangria is chipped! |
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