A Kasey update

(Kasey here)

School is going pretty well this week. I've had the 9th graders twice every day 3 days this week. They're awesome and I love them, but they require more constant supervision to be kept under control, and that wears you out fast. And the other day, I didn't have just half of them. I had them ALL. OMG.

Besides being tired at the end of the day, I'm keeping on top of my subjects and my classes are going well. I seem to be well-liked (as much as you can like a teacher). Next week I'm being featured in the first edition of the school paper. Guess why. They think I look like Angelina Jolie. ALL of them. So much so that when Kristen (my office mate, and their teacher) kindly tried to steer them toward something more interesting/relevant, they insisted on me. I tell you, it's my claim to fame here. Also, that I can bend my thumbs backwards. That put me a step up in the guys' books.

Polly is doing well. They other night she fell in the toilet and was just a general disaster, so Jon gave her a bath. For as fascinated as she is by water, baths are now in her book Not Okay. I was in the other room, but from the sounds of panic and the desperation with which she fought back, I'm pretty sure that she was honestly afraid for her life. When the Bath of Hell was over, Jon came out carrying a towel. He handed me the towel, and turns out it was a cat burrito.

The cat in the burrito had the biggest eyes I've ever seen and her ears were laid flat back on her head. She kept reaching out of the twoel with one paw to hold onto my shoulder sans claws.

I finally sat down on the floor with her and let her out of the towel... but she tried to climb back in. She was shaking really badly. I tried sitting her on the couch by herself, but she walked in quaky circles with her back curled like she was about to spit, and then she fell off the edge and came back to huddle in my lap. She wouldn't sit still unless she was curled up in the teeniest ball possible in my lap and I covered her with my hands. VERY traumatic evening that, by the next morning, she seemed to have forgotten. She acts a lot more like a cat, though (cleaning herself, minding her litter, mostly ignoring people food). I think we might have driven her back to her catty roots.

Jon's on a field study this weekend. He left this morning at 5:30 and won't be home till late Monday, so it's just me and Polly. He did, however, rent me Fiddler on the Roof before he left :D I've been dying to watch it since I got here.

I coached basketball this afternoon since I had nothing else to do. I know nothing about basketball, nor do I really want to, but it went pretty well. I'm about to head home (and drag a buttload of grading with me). I have a couple hours until I have to be back for volunteer!church.

Oh yeah, and they asked me if I'd like to sing sometimes for church.

AND we might have been given an internet miracle.

So my life is going bizarrely well on this side of the world.

Prayer requests

• Please pray for Jon's safety and his peace of mind. He misses me a lot when he's gone, and even though this is an awesome experience, he'll have a hard time with it.
• My safety. I'm on my own for a full 3 days.
• Miracles! We did our budget last week and it was extremely discouraging.

Praises

• The internet miracle, which we will tell you about if it works out.
• Our apartment was finally finished and we are moved in except for a few things (we have yet to be able to make an IKEA run)
• Yey school! No huge disasters yet, which is promising :)
• We're healthy. Unless you count my left forearm which has 8 bug bites on it. From at least 4 different kinds of unseen critters. I am itchy.

<3