beantown basics

Let me first take a moment to marvel at modern technology. As I write this, I am sitting on a bus somewhere between Boston and New York. I'm on the Internet! On a bus! Between the interwebz, the outlets, and the peacefully slumbering man next to me -- not to mention the $30 round trip tix I scored -- I am feeling swell about this journey. In a few hours I will be sipping pina coladas and reminiscing about WashU with Jeanenne, wondering how we went from sleeping til 2 pm (okay that was mostly me) to waking up at 5:30 am every day (I just... can't believe this is my life). But before we slip into the past, here is the present:

The Home. I live in a big yellow house in Jamaica Plain, a cozy neighborhood in southwest Boston. Still unsure of the vibe of JP (official initials), as it has its WASPy elements as well as its urban swag. As of yesterday, there are 8 of us living in our Real World: JP pad. We are living in what I would call a dual-family home - at least that's what they call it on House Hunters - and we have the top 2 floors. There are 5 bedrooms and a bathroom on the third floor, and on the second floor we have another bathroom, a kitchen, dining area, living room, and a back porch. I would say that my favorite part of the house is that it has character, but we all know that when people say that, they mean there's a mouse problem and a non-functioning dryer.

OH WAIT. SOUNDS ABOUT RIGHT.

I mean, there was a mouse. Or maybe two. I'm not on mouse duty. I'm on "stand in the corner and squeal til someone else fixes the situation" duty. And to be fair, the dryer was fixed today. But the fact that we don't have air conditioning is real tough. I am literally sweating from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. And they said Boston was cold...

The Homies. There are 50 Corps members in my program, most of whom are fresh out of undergrad. The Cou gang (I wanted to be alliterative and say clan, but for obvious reasons, I’m going to refrain), which is my house, well, we spend literally every minute of every day together. We walk to work together; see each other throughout the work day; walk home together; sit on the couch together, talking about how tired we are; watch Cupcake Wars and Jersey Shore together; and crawl back into bed together… I mean, no. I love my housemates and when I upload pix onto my computer, I will be sharing some images of the best-looking people in Massachusetts.

The Job. Unlike the last adventure I was on, down in Australia, they actually expect me to be a productive member of society here. Our middle school is a no-excuses charter school, which means that we do things just a tad differently than the ol 501 school district (what up T-town). Some examples: silent transitions from class to class, with everybody walking clockwise to efficiently get around; school days that go from 7 am to 4 pm; and two hours of intensive 1 on 2 tutoring Mon-Thurs. That's where we come in. As tutors, we are responsible for 5-6 kids. I have two 8th graders, two 7th graders, and two 6th graders. Every day we meet with each grade for both math and English tutorials. The tutorials are pretty structured, but the goal is to infuse energy and creativity into them so that algebra feels like an opportunity, not a chore. On top of tutorials, we also have secondary duties and school responsibilities. So I eat lunch with a 6^th grade homeroom (today was Fish Friday, and before you gag, know that these meals are on point for school lunch and I take an extra one every day for myself), deal with the group of kids who get picked up in cars (versus taking the T or the school bus), and do a lot of random tasks with the operations team. Last week the team and I built cubbies until my fingers fell off.

The Kiddos. After two looooong weeks of training, I was anxious to actually meet my tutees. I don’t want to be the creepy adult divulging personal info about children on the internet, so maybe I’ll just go initials when referring to my babies. Yes, my babies. I love them already. MJ and MG are 8^th grade boys who are good kids but feel like they’re too cool for school. It’s my job to show them that they aren’t. MN and BP are 7^th grade girls who are such 7^th grade girls. They’re the ones who called me out on my flesh-eating rash* and I can tell we are going to have some really lovely bonding moments and some really rough patches. My 6^th graders, NS (girl) and JP (boy, not to be confused with Jamaica Plain), are clearly new to the structure of our school and have a lot of catching up to do academically. After only three days of tutorials, I am already fiercely protective of my cubs and may have secretly chosen professions and long-term aspirations for all of them.

Mr. Sleeping Asian is so peaceful that he has convinced me it is time for me to nap as well, and although I’m sure you’re hanging onto my every word this lovely Friday night, I will save the rest of my insights for the next post. Expect an in-depth comparison on Boston vs. Topeka (spoiler: they have nothing in common).

*Allergic reaction + the first day of school = freakish monster face.