Shhh! Don't Tell My Parents....

Things I miss about the south.
What you thought that I was going to write something controversial and post it on the internet?

I never thought this would happen but it has, after being outside of Boston for a month and a half I've started to miss some of the things about the south. Here they are in list form:

My best friend
My family
Having friends in general
Fat Tire and Crystal River Hot Sauce
Buying Beer at the Grocery Store
Central Heating and Air
Driving with the windows down, (the weather makes it hard to do here).
People smiling at me randomly on the street
Strangers striking up conversation with me in stores
Being able to roll up my sleeves outdoors

Here is what I don't miss:
Not having a job
Feeling like my life was going nowhere
The heat
Mosquito Bites
Tourists
Driving 30 minutes to get to a study spot
Southern Accents
Living with my parents
Being held up for long periods of time because I'm too nice to end conversations.
Police with nothing better to do then pull over black people.

Life is good, for the most part, in these parts. I enjoy it. I made really great dinner tonight. I am finishing assignments for class. I have been meeting people. It's just slow going. I love my job, I love the weather. I like the people. I just need a chance to establish myself.

Today someone "borrowed" my keys.

My new job is not something I ever thought I'd be doing. Ever. I didn't think I'd be good, at it. When I was fifteen, I certainly didn't think I'd ever want to do it.

I've had a few moments over these past week that make me appreciate this opportunity more and more.

I will share them with you here:

The kid who doesn't talk very much, and often hangs out by himself, let me go with him to see the school bunny. When we were looking at the bunny, he chatted with me. Well, not like a chat I would have with my friends, but still it was really cool. When I walk into the room, I always say hi to him.  I make a point of it actually, even when I walk by the class, just because I feel like he's one of the kids that doesn't get as much attention as he likes. As a consequence, he often smiles when he sees me. It's so cool.


On Friday, one of the kids kept saying that he looked like me. It was really funny, he put his hoodie on his head, and said "I look like Sara, Sara we look alike." Obviously we're twins.

I got to make an ornament with the girl that doesn't like unfamiliar females (that's me). She didn't stab me with the wooden skewer she was working with, I feel like that's progress. She even said we could paint together. It was cool.

And today, a kid "borrowed" my keys and took them home with her. I left my keys on my purse, and my purse just chilling in the middle of the class. I would've taken them too. I'm just happy she didn't get a hold of the Red Bull in my purse. I learned a valuable lesson about locking my purse and keys up. The whole idea of her taking my keys putting them in her purse and bringing them home with her is kind of funny. (Not so much funny at the time when I was trying to figure out how I was going to get home). It all worked out.

The best part of my job is the number of smiles I see every day. Seriously, I probably see over a hundred smiles when I'm at the school, between the staff and students. I know that I'm in the blissful ignorance part of my job.  The part where everything is just perfect. I am trying to keep it that way. Taking advice when I can, but doing my best to make judgments for myself. I know once, I start seeing things in a different light, it's going to be harder to remind myself why this job is so great.

So for now, I am burning the good moments into my head.

Working on puzzles, the kids telling jokes, dancing, smiles, high fives, playing games, teaching new skills, being greeted by the kids that don't normally talk.

It's not perfect, nothing in life is, but it's good. It feels right. I am supposed to be here for now.

:)