teaching

so now i'm teaching for reals.

i have left my job - where i was doing hardly nothing - and now i'm working 4.  teaching four sets of kids - west oakland, east oakland, east bay and oregon.  hardly any time for the YPN...it's troubling.

but teaching is good.  it's kicking my butt in all the right places.  checking me up and down.  i can't get away with anything with these kids in the east.  they call me on all my shit.  'this is HELLLLLLA boring!  what's the point of this!?'  good question!  what IS the point?  what is the real difference we can make with this work? 

it's forcing me to not be the expert, but to be the newbie.  while that's stressful and a lot of work, it's worth it.  i'm really about trying to make change right now, and not just talk about it.  and working in oakland is real.

so real that it hurts.  a student got shot the other day, and oakland is riveted - people who knew him, taught him, are re-traumatized from their losses...all in all people are struggling.  and scared too.  it feels like a lot is going down these days, from robberies to bike thefts and shootings.  very scary stuff.  i think this happens sometimes in oakland.  things just get hot for a bit and then they calm down after a little while.  it's very different from my life in NYC.  as my friend said the other night - mad love in oakland, but mad work to do.

i keep moving...working working but my horus which makes it easier.  no boss who calls me for 2 hours at a time to talk my ear off about nothing.  just support and good work.  i'm feeling it.

hope you are all in good health and happy.  life is short and precious, and we should all live our moments like they are the best ones.

much loves.
alis