The fall holidays
Three immanent fall breaks:
I began the session by showing soccer replays. “Look at how rapidly the ball travels in the high altitude,” I said. I taught about the elevation of La Paz. Then I showed photos of that city. The students gasped. Then I told them about El Alto, La Paz’s suburb, which is even higher and more populous.
I continued lecturing about the soccer replays. “Here is Ecuador’s first goal. See Antonio Valencia’s perfect first touch. The player who ends up scoring the goal is Énner Valencia, who almost got arrested during the previous game for not paying his child support.
“Here is our tying goal, scored, near the end of the game, by the same player.”
“One question,” interjected an athlete in the back row. “Ronaldo or Messi?”
“Messi plays better,” I replied (to his disgust).
“Can we watch replays of the Cubs?” asked a skinny young man in the back row.
“No.”
Then I taught about the impersonal se (as in: se habla español en Bolivia) and about the se which disavows responsibility (se me olvidó la tarea). This was the most crystal-clear part of the lecture. I was very pleased with how well I taught that day.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The previous day, little Ziva’s uterus was removed. The surgery was completed by mid-afternoon, but Ziva was groggy all evening: her jumps were too low for their intended surfaces, and her head kept on bobbing sleepily.
Now her belly has a large, shaved patch where the surgery was performed.
Despite these ignominies, she recovers more of her strength every day.
- the high school’s (Fri. of next week, and then Sat., Sun., and Mon.);
- IUSB’s (Mon. and Tues. of next week);
- Bethel’s (tomorrow).
I began the session by showing soccer replays. “Look at how rapidly the ball travels in the high altitude,” I said. I taught about the elevation of La Paz. Then I showed photos of that city. The students gasped. Then I told them about El Alto, La Paz’s suburb, which is even higher and more populous.
I continued lecturing about the soccer replays. “Here is Ecuador’s first goal. See Antonio Valencia’s perfect first touch. The player who ends up scoring the goal is Énner Valencia, who almost got arrested during the previous game for not paying his child support.
“Here is our tying goal, scored, near the end of the game, by the same player.”
“One question,” interjected an athlete in the back row. “Ronaldo or Messi?”
“Messi plays better,” I replied (to his disgust).
“Can we watch replays of the Cubs?” asked a skinny young man in the back row.
“No.”
Then I taught about the impersonal se (as in: se habla español en Bolivia) and about the se which disavows responsibility (se me olvidó la tarea). This was the most crystal-clear part of the lecture. I was very pleased with how well I taught that day.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The previous day, little Ziva’s uterus was removed. The surgery was completed by mid-afternoon, but Ziva was groggy all evening: her jumps were too low for their intended surfaces, and her head kept on bobbing sleepily.
Now her belly has a large, shaved patch where the surgery was performed.
Despite these ignominies, she recovers more of her strength every day.