cough cough cough

One of the hazards of working at school is that when the kids get sick, you get sick. We've had a lot of kids out sick the past two weeks, Nelya's been sick (and still teaching...I admire her dedication), and I have picked up a phlegmy-sort of cough, a reduced voice, and excessive weariness. I told my kids yesterday that I couldn't talk very loud, and they were actually pretty good about it. I had to grin at Olena in my 10th form, who took over the teacher role, and asked everyone if they'd done their homework. "I'm helping you!" she said.

(Why am I not holed up in my apartment? Because Internet is my one form of communication that doesn't involve talking, and after this, I am going to go buy apples at the bazaar, lock myself in my apartment, and spend the rest of the day making applesauce and carrot or pumpkin bread. And sleeping. Or maybe just sleeping. Still haven't decided about church tomorrow.)

I'm helping some of my better older students prepare for the Olypmiads in December by giving them conversation practice. It's amazing what you find out...Katya's favorite color is orange; Natasha N. and Olena have only been going to my school for a couple of years, after their village school closed due to lack of people; and Ira, who is very smart but has a chronically bad attitude in English (in part due to conflicts between her and Nelya), had a wonderful conversation with me about music, books, her plans for the future, and pets. On a level that no other kid in my school has reached...and then at the end, she said she'd done a bad job. (Her twin sister goes to the pedagogical college in town and is specializing in English. I suspect that Alla is both how Ira's English has improved and a mark that she feels she can't reach.) I want so much to connect with her...not even about English, but as a girl who has a lot of potential, who claims she has no friends but would rather study, who complains about the teachers at our school but wants to come back and be a biology teacher here. I tried to prod her into thinking about how she could teach differently than the teachers she dislikes. The conversation left me upbeat and hoping we can talk again.

The Y kids got a new cartoon DVD last Saturday, and when I visited on Thursday, they were on Viewing #7 and could already quote along with it.

[I was intent on my typing just now when someone opened the door of my little cubicle and asked how much longer I'll be. I jumped!]