Back from break

I'm back from break, but not sure that I'm ready to be. This last block was challenging as represented by the lousy grades. I worked hard, and was a bit lucky so again I fall above the bell-curve. 1/2 down, 1/2 to go till the end of term and the next break. The content is wonderful, but nothing like the scenery of break...

St. Kitts is gorgeous and filled with some of the most friendly people I've met yet. The views were spectacular, the food delicious, the relaxation about as complete as possible.

As ready as I'll ever be I guess to start back soon.

Happy Father's Day

Supportive, loving, caring, tenacious, courageous, bionic...no better Dad! Happy Father's Day today and all year round. Thanks for all you do for all of us!!

It's all about the hair

Walking home today, I past several homes with the same activity happening on the porch. Big girls, little girls..."doing" each others' hair.

I've heard it called several thousand things over the years, and frankly, I'm not sure what it's called here. It's braiding, platting, twisting, spiraling, and probably many other names. But all seems to end with beads or other such adornment.

There are more hair salons on this island than gas stations. There is an absolute dedication to the hair and being sure that it is different on a regular basis and "taken care of" even more regularly. It takes hours upon hours to "do" the average head of hair and is part of the social fabric of parts of the island. My landlord is a self proclaimed "expert".

But then, with the adorned beauty of the island, it's people, it's vegetation, there is good reason to keep the hair just right. And, to be honest, there's not much else to do, so why not the hair.

Effect and Effectiveness

It is amazing to me how one person can change the environment of a small school. Bring on a "filler", a 2nd or perhaps 3rd string to take on the role of a star, and chaos is likely to ensue. Such is the case with a small institution.

Clearly, another hiring mistake has been made in a BIG way. I totally respect experience, my elders and that dynamic of fraternal organizations called "senior" or "upper class"...those that have conquered before me. But I am also acutely aware that this position power lasts only briefly before the deeds have a chance to be planted. 100 days in the case of the President of the U.S. I suspect then that new teachers get only 10-30 by extrapolation.

He is terrible. He is chaotically disorganized. He has so few teacher positive qualities. And he is turning off students as quickly as he has come. Out of 28 registered students for one of his classes this week, 5 showed up and I suspect (as represented by the number of Facebook and IM windows I saw open in front of me) that only 1 was paying any attention at all. When student recognize low quality they walk with their feet since they can't walk with their wallets once invested in the semester.

I thought it was a aberrancy because of the GREAT teachers clinicians that I have had in my past. I believed what Dr. Stead said about the history of medicine education, that clinicians had a duty to teach. But the moral of the story is clear...clinicians can tell great stories but can't teach automatically. It is clearly a skill in classroom & time management, preparation, humility, organization, communication, planning and delivery that requires attention and deliberate learning. Even perhaps "unlearning" of bad habits. But what else are they to do? They are truly unfit to do little else, and that in lies the conundrum of hiring authorities.

And on a small campus, the implications of poor hiring are inversely proportional to the size of the campus. The smaller the campus, the greater the impact of both good, and unfortunately, poor teachers.

Junies, Happy Birthday

Seems that I have many family and friends that have birthdays in June. I hope that it is a wonderful birthday, filled with celebration, peace, love, and happiness!

Gastroculture

I was talking on the phone yesterday and one of the wonderful faculty maintenance/cleaning staff walked up to me, said hello and handed me 3 "things" that I didn't recognize. She is one of the most sweet ladies in the world and we have exchanged cordial conversation over the time I've been here. For some reason on this night, she decided I needed the gift of food? Yes, it was food. She explained, after I put my phone conversation on hold, that this was a walnut. But I know walnuts and this was no walnut. In her typically broken, Dutch-Island English, she explained that it was a fruit and that the insides could be eaten. She told me she just picked them and they were ripe and ready to eat. I asked what you could eat and she said "inside". I thanked her very much and went back to my phone call. As I did, I studied the "fruit" intensely. That's a cashew!! 

Now, I don't usually do this, but this morning, I carved up the fruit and put it in my oatmeal and ate it. What don't I usually do? I don't usually put an item in my mouth that I know nothing about on the word of another person. I got 1/2 way thru the bowl before I got on Google. Whew! You actually can eat this thing.

It tastes pretty good, but I can see that a juice or by itself, you may need to sweeten it. It tastes a little like star fruit and is often called the "star apple". And yes, you actually can make a cashew like nut from the top seed.   Officially it is the Spanish jocote de marañón, probably from Guatemala originally, and the seed at the top is the official fruit of the red pod.

But is some ways I felt the intrepid traveler and discoverer, eating something for the very first time. Can you imagine the person that first ate anything from the forest? Besides food sources, toxic poisons and medicines with profound effects were also discovered this way. I can happily say that after about an hour, I'm still breathing and have no signs of GI disturbance, but it is early. If this is my last day on earth, it's been fun!

Expectations

There are few expectations that traumatize us more than those we place on our own success or performance. I have post traumatic test syndrome (PTTS). S/S manifestation: undeniable urge to go diving and hang out at the beach. Periods of mindless TV punctuated by refrigerator raids, complete with standing at an open door trying to figure out what to concoct. Intermittent and symptomatic Rx: Napping and giving into the urge to reflect on the successes, and anticipation of the future. Few feelings like it in the world. I hope there is no cure. I did fine enough on exams to come back for block #2.