Hello friends, family, and strangers (I flatter myself)! I am a recently-graduated girl finding my way in the "real world" (apparently, I've been floating around the fake world for the past two decades). Many of my friends' "real world"s consist of cubicles, nine-to-fives, marriage, babies, and other such grown-up things. My real world looks a little different. Yes, I still get up and go to work every morning, same as they do. But instead of battling fax machines, computer programs, disgruntled spouses and dirty diapers, I arm myself against a legion of 14-year-old boys. Well, 83 of them to be exact. You see, I teach 8th-grade boys' Science in an inner-city, high-poverty school. What it is not: glamorous, prestigious, boring. What it is: humorous, heartbreaking, and the most challenging thing I will ever do.

The stories I tell and the people I describe are real; you can't make this stuff up. If you are new to my blog, I hope you'll start at the beginning and fall in love with its characters, just as I have.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Modest is Hottest

The thought of taking some of my best boys on their first international trip excites me immeasurably. The thought of having to wear a bathing suit in front of them does not.

In fact, I can't think of many things worse. I tried to think of a way around it entirely, but most of the activities we will be doing center around water. Sailing, swimming, skiing, tubing...you can't wear jeans for that kind of stuff.

I went out and bought a one-piece, but the fact that my stomach is going to be covered does not take much away from the fact that the thing is still plastered to my body and leaves everything but my torso exposed.

Think about it. Every day you go to work with the mindset of a nun. Hemlines low. Necklines high. Loose fit. RMS has little in common with a convent (other than the fact that there are a lot of sistas running around its halls), but the dress code is similar when you're under the eyes of 80+ pre-pubescent boys daily. Now, all of the sudden it's okay to basically be naked in front of them.

After perusing the internet for hours yesterday, I finally stumbled across a bathing suit that I would be comfortable wearing around my students.


Unfortunately, it costs about $150.

All of this has me thinking about other uncomfortable situations this trip is going to include.

Like:

I am sleeping in the same room as the boys.

Awkward.

I mean, couldn't I get arrested for that? And what do I wear to sleep in? My usual T-shirt and boxers fit the convent dress code in their bagginess and coverage, but I'll be darned if I want my STUDENTS to see me like that. I found a pair of pajama pants that I haven't worn since 6th grade (and consequently hit about 4 inches above my ankle) and half-heartedly threw them in the bag. This is going to be beyond weird.

I hope the bathroom has a door.

Sending uncomfortable thoughts your way,
Ms. M
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1 comment:

  1. Lindsey SmithJuly 13, 2011 at 11:08 AM

    this will be so amazing, i cannot even wait.

    where did you find that bathing suit? i need to figure out a way to work it into the budget.

    ReplyDelete

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