*While the outrage in the Muslim world over the YouTube video has spread to Bangladesh - there have been protests in Dhaka and Chittagong - they have been quiet, peaceful, and far away from me. This situation has made me more conscious of going out alone and does worry me a bit, but overall I am safe and happy.*
This week is my second "real" week at AUW, and I've now fallen into my normal, busy bee schedule. My Google calendar is filling up by the hour. On a typical day I either teach my Access Academy students or TA for my new media class, attend meetings with faculty and students, tutor at the writing center, and in the time between email, plan for my classes, drink cha, eat delicious free meals at the cafeteria, do grad school application work, and constantly look at said Google calendar. For me being both busy and productive yields contentment, and I'm happy to have finally fallen into this routine. I'm feeling great here at this wonderful university.
I love my Access Academy Pearls! I don't want to blog too much about them out of respect for their privacy, but I have been so impressed with their class participation, critical thinking skills, how much they genuinely want to learn, and the respect and appreciation they have shown to me. One of my students even approached me after class to ask if I could prepare a list of novels she could read in her free time to help improve her writing. Their in-class questions are also a source of personal delight. "Ma'am (they insist on calling me that, as they do all of their teachers), why did Gloria Steinem call her magazine Ms. instead of Mrs.?" YAY.
Update: I'm now officially the advisor of the AUW student news magazine! Excited!
What to do when we're not at school is something the other volunteers and I joke about a bit. Other than spending time in our apartments reading, watching the West Wing or other DVDs from AUW's extensive, if disorganized, collection, and doing other forms of chillin' the options that exist out in the city are basically shopping and eating. I enjoy both of those activities, but one can only look at so many textiles and eat so much naan! Or maybe not!
Off to another gloriously free and hopefully spicy dinner at the dining hall :)
This week is my second "real" week at AUW, and I've now fallen into my normal, busy bee schedule. My Google calendar is filling up by the hour. On a typical day I either teach my Access Academy students or TA for my new media class, attend meetings with faculty and students, tutor at the writing center, and in the time between email, plan for my classes, drink cha, eat delicious free meals at the cafeteria, do grad school application work, and constantly look at said Google calendar. For me being both busy and productive yields contentment, and I'm happy to have finally fallen into this routine. I'm feeling great here at this wonderful university.
I love my Access Academy Pearls! I don't want to blog too much about them out of respect for their privacy, but I have been so impressed with their class participation, critical thinking skills, how much they genuinely want to learn, and the respect and appreciation they have shown to me. One of my students even approached me after class to ask if I could prepare a list of novels she could read in her free time to help improve her writing. Their in-class questions are also a source of personal delight. "Ma'am (they insist on calling me that, as they do all of their teachers), why did Gloria Steinem call her magazine Ms. instead of Mrs.?" YAY.
Update: I'm now officially the advisor of the AUW student news magazine! Excited!
What to do when we're not at school is something the other volunteers and I joke about a bit. Other than spending time in our apartments reading, watching the West Wing or other DVDs from AUW's extensive, if disorganized, collection, and doing other forms of chillin' the options that exist out in the city are basically shopping and eating. I enjoy both of those activities, but one can only look at so many textiles and eat so much naan! Or maybe not!
Off to another gloriously free and hopefully spicy dinner at the dining hall :)
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