two double takes

1. glanced into my purse this morning to see that i had a voicemail and a missed call from my mother. it did not seem urgent so i left it for the end of the day. when i finally listened to it, the message was merely to inform me that "oh my god kiddo, the owner of the polo club where we're staying is this argentine and he is adorable! oh you will fall head over heels!" my mom has a habit of doing things like that. after i got back from argentina the first time she kept introducing me to the mexican barn guys and telling me to "talk spanish" with them, assuming that since they spoke spanish they must know where to find argentina on a map. i would say perdón, es que mi mamá está loca y le fascina que hable español. the first thought in my head after hearing that message: didn't you get the memo, mom? I AM THROUGH WITH ARGENTINES and my tastes have moved a bit closer to the equator! but given the fact that i haven't spoken to her for like two weeks i don't blame her for being unfamiliar with the recent developments in my personal life.

2. received a set of copies for this after school club. i glanced over what they were about, something called "the good news club." ha i should have known. anyway i noticed that one side was written in english and the other side was... blank. hmmmmmmm. so i made the instantaneous decision not to give them much importance, given that whoever wrote those little notes did not give much importance to the majority of kids that attend our school. later this afternoon when i had the chance to look at them a bit closer, i paid more attention to the words that were actually printed on the page. my volunteer was with me, and we were listening to liberal talk radio. i closed the door (i feel like there's a high xtian population among the staff) and put on my character voice. my enthusiastic brainwashed character voice, that is. yes, the GNC as they have abbreviated it, is AN AFTER SCHOOL BIBLE STUDY for kids!

CAN YOU F*CKING BELIEVE THIS? i said, Volunteer, what should i do? IS THIS LEGAL? i'm calling ED SCHULTZ (the host of the show on at the time).

so i have narrowed my reaction down to two options: one, make a flyer for an imaginary after school koran study group; two, make a stink about it with the principal.

i used to think that people who made a big deal about people exercising their freedom of religion were a bit ridiculous because what was the point? but look what's going on in so many other places in the name of various religions or sects of religions. for that precise reason we have a secular society. for PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES to be used for a bible study just... makes me upset... sure it's an hour after school, but that's another hour that the secretary has to be there, that's another hour somebody in charge has to be there to supervise. it makes me mad. why not do something cultural instead? my students LOVE poetry. why not do a poetry reading/writing group? why not ask for an art program??? those can be benificial to EVERYONE and will allow for MORE CREATIVE THOUGHT, the exact opposite of which occurs with bible study groups. and it would benefit the students, because they learn how to think and create on their own; they learn more how to express THEIR OWN IDEAS.

oooooooooooooh i'd better stop or i'll get so worked up i won't be able to sleep! tomorrow i'll talk to the principal about it.

anybody out there in blogland have any advice?

ooh it's thunderstorming!