in which i find two things interesting...

My students consistently amaze me. On Sundays (the Tuesday equivalent) I have 7th grade and then 10th grade for the last two periods of the day. One of my 7th graders was having a particularly rough day, and I had asked him to speak to me after class (cliché, I know). The bell rang and the student waited for me by the door while I talked to some of my students who are insisting that they should get a 100% just for their effort ["Yes, I realize you spelled your name correctly, but I can't give you extra points for that."] In the mean time, another student who seems to believe that his purpose on this Earth is to make other people's lives a living hell decided it would be a good time to mess with him. This resulted in a fight and all sorts of ridiculous shenanigans. Keep in mind this is a teacher's nightmare...fight between 7th graders + class change + 10th graders milling about with the middle schoolers = disaster waiting to happen.

Surprisingly, a brawl did not break out...but what did happen is what surprised me. One of the 10th graders checked on the 7th grader. Not related. Just...checked to make sure he was okay. Wow. I found out later that the 7th grader is cousins with his friend, but still. It always interests me how loyal these guys are to their respective groups. I honestly haven't seen anything like this in the States. They really are totally invested in each other's lives and in a mostly positive way (as far as I've seen). This doesn't ignore the fact that they still give the other groups crap in a way that is like a much more animated nerds vs. jocks thing in the US. But hey, I'll take it.

On a lighter note, I learned today that there are three different ways to say "passing gas" in Arabic. And yes, of course, two of the three describe the type you're experiencing. "Taq'a" is a loud one with no or little smell. "Faswa" is a SBD (silent, but deadly). The name for passing gas in general is not without hilarity as it is "atlaq alreeh" which literally translated means "fire the gas"...that's right...as in out of a canon. Here endeth the lesson.

You're welcome.

Vicariously yours,