The Great Bread Debate

Conquered, tackled, done. This morning I was able to get all of my oral testing done for 3 classes. It normally takes 2 classes to complete, but I am woman, hear me roar. I did this because I found out AFTER I told my classes they were being tested that I am supposed to be testing them on a poem in 2 weeks. Well it seems a little silly to have 3 weeks of testing with no new material in my mind, so I did a group test for the first time today.

English lunch has wained this semester as midterms and life have apparently come into play. That meant that our standard routine fish w/chili, egg w/minced pork meat, and bok choy were joined only by one student. It was nice to get a bit of time to chat with Ray as well though--he has been busy and mostly out of the picture for the past month. The dynamic of our fabulous four has definitely changed--not in a bad way, just in an 'everyone's found something to keep them busy' kind of way. Talking about things keeping us busy, next week I go to training for volunteering at the prison ministry. I'm pretty pumped, not going to lie. I was supposed to have gone last Tuesday, but the singing competition came up.

Teaching the miniatures (1st grade) was a success today. Ray shared a Jeopardy template with me, which I revamped for a fun spin on word review. The only negative was that one girl got a question wrong in front of the whole class and I saw it emotionally crush her. Bahhhh. I don't like those moments. There was another little girl that told me she loved me when class was beginning today. Like I said, I never know what to respond to these things. I never want to tell a little boy I love him in return because people have warped minds, and the teacher-student relationship (at least in America) is difficult enough to navigate already. And if I won't tell one student (a boy) that I love them, I don't think it's fair to tell another student. Perhaps you think I'm thinking too hard about it, but thus is life. By the way, I did tell her 'love you too' after she kept repeating it begging for a response, but I'm not sure she understood...'too' is a big word for them. It's nice to be reminded I have fans big or small.

Angie and I went to dinner at a cheap noodle place and walked around having girl talk for a bit. On the way back towards home, we passed a Filipino restaurant that was selling Ube Tasty--a purple bread loaf. I heard another bread loaf across the way yelling, "No, YOU be tasty." Alas, the great bread debate was born (kidding, of course). So, it was only right that I be the bigger person (or loaf?) and be the judge. It was in fact tasty. Angie was telling me the Malay word for a vegetable like a potato sounds like 'you-be' and she said the purple was probably from the taro root that is popular in this area. Even McDonalds has taro pies. The Ube Tasty did taste a lot like potato bread (an old favorite father-daughter snack at our house)....I've talked about my dad a lot recently, haven't I? I love you too mom! (you just don't love potato bread...) Here's a look at the bread, and no the color of your screen is not off, it's purple.

Isn't that clothes pin just the cutest? It was a gift from a friend back home. Enjoy your Wednesdays!