Placement

Like Michael W. Smith, I both look and sing like a girl AND have been searching for my place in this world. And by “place,” I mean job. And by “this world,” I mean the Mississippi Delta (I can spell that backwards, by the way). As it turns out, I have been roaming through the nights to find myself teaching middle school English/Language Arts in Helena/West Helena, AR. And I didn't even have to cross a dessert or get all weepy with a hunky Caucasian Jesus!

For a number of reasons I won't bother detailing, I am opting not to put anything more specific about my placement on my blog, but I do know the school and grade I will be teaching- yay! I'm still not sure exactly what the rest of the details will be- where I will live, exactly when school starts, what my students will be like- but it's kind of nice to have a place to start thinking of as home-to-be. I am told that the blues festival there is a Big Deal as well, so everyone I love should make plans now to come sleep on my floor.

I am currently in the Nashville airport wrapping up a lovely family reunion in Monteagle. Although I can't predict what the next three weeks of institute will bring, I feel pretty sure that said family gathering could not have come at a better time. I got to sleep late, take off my watch, sleep late, talk to grown-ups, and eat a lot of yummy food. As is always the case when leaving Monteagle, my mom and I got all sad this afternoon as we were packing everything up and sending various aunts and uncles and cousins on their respective ways. This year, however, I had the added heartache of realizing that I would not be jumping in my car and driving back to Atlanta to my friends and my cat and my home. My institute friends had joked that I would be loathe to come back to Houston today, and they were right.

This is not Houston. No, sir.

Don't get me wrong- TFA is wonderful and institute has been a great experience so far. I also get a free place to stay and all of my meals for free. But I can't imagine any of you would be surprised to learn that I don't love Houston all that much, I miss my Atlanta friends, and life in a dormitory is . . . something for people who are 10 years younger than me. On a more general level, I also miss being able to dictate my own agenda. The vast majority of my days at institute are scheduled for me, and what free time I do have tends to get sucked up by institute related work. As soon as I am back in my room tonight, I have at least five different items I have to revise or complete or turn in (or all three . . .). But hey- I did get the three day weekend to hang with my family for our big reunion, so maybe I shouldn't whine too much.

UPDATE: I wrote the above on Sunday. In hindsight, I might recommend that future TFAers just never leaving institute until it's over. Coming back to Houston and jumping back into things was not remotely easy, fun, or full of sleepy times. I am going to bed now, though, so we're back on the up and up.