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Monday, March 2, 2009

Back in Bisbee

With no job offers today for town, I gladly accepted an offer to work the day at the Bisbee High School. I hadn't been there since late January and was missing that place. Despite all the troubles the school district has had with its deficit budget (and having read the most recent Bisbee Police Report in today's newspaper about two 14-year-old boys threatening a Junior High School teacher last week), I was glad to be able to be there for the day.

With March upon us now, the sun rises sooner and sets later. My 7am drive into the Mule Mountains meant a bright drive all the way there. Gone was the proverbial morning powerwalker who strides up and down for several miles along the highway. Gone were also all the Border Patrol Vans parked in dark crevices of the desert. The only recognizable sign today that told me I was in Bisbee were the disheveled rehab guys walking down the highway north of Naco.

Yeah, this is the Bisbee I remember.

Gone (I think) are my dreams of living in Bisbee. The houses are too old and termite-infested, the ground is too unstable, the underground pipes and gas lines too precariously sliding into destruction. Just yesterday I saw a small house for sale in Old Bisbee; a mere 700-plus square foot home for sale at a discounted price of $85,000. The ad also stated that the house was "A major fix-up ( but what an OPPORTUNITY to develop your dream in Old Bisbee.") The photograph showed what once was a miner's shack that was more in need of demolition. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/511-Bailey-Hl-D-Bisbee-AZ-85603/2139831631_zpid/

Driving to Bisbee, maneuvering every curve, every hill and every right-angle turn in the road seemed so habitual to me. As if I had been driving this route every day since last September when I first started working in town. And when I got to the school, I signed in, picked up my keys and got ready for the day.

I had forgotten names but remembered faces. Some recognized me. Three of the Hispanic boys remembered me from my last English class I subbed for, the ones who started that belt-whipping story I wrote about. Those three protagonists again tried to chap my hide, but this time I stood firm. They were to stay on task and get their assignments in.

One of the girls I had in January--it was the 20th, Inauguration Day--had her baby later on that same day. She only missed two weeks after the birth of her daughter. My biggest focus with her was keeping her boyfriend's hands off of her during class. (Boy, was he persistent)

The last class I had was a talented group of video editors. Some showed me their work. One team had created a rather nice video of two boys getting "arrested" on school grounds for selling drugs and fighting. Although well-done, I couldn't help but think that the boys who had created this video had perpetuated a stereotype of Hispanic boys getting into trouble with drugs at school. Someone with such talent could use their skills for something so much better than drug dealing.

"Are you gonna be back tomorrow?" asked one student. "You're the best sub ever!" I'm always uncomfortable when I hear that because my #1 goal is to always follow the teacher's lesson plans for the day. Secondary is the classroom atmosphere, at which I am getting better. (Those Monday workshops have helped!)

Despite the boy's harassment of another student, it was another good day in the school. I met another student who is part Lebanese and part American; he speaks Arabic, French and German and is going back to Lebanon this summer. Someone with such linguistic talents seems so out of place in a poor and crumbling mining town such as Bisbee.

It was a great day until I came home and realized Kevin was sick again and came home early, the dogs hadn't been walked, and most importantly, my computer crashed, losing all my school notes and hundreds of photographs I have taken over the year. I had to re-write my book report from memory in the three hours I had before my evening class, forfeiting my 4pm workshop to rewrite the paper.

This is going to be a busy month for me. I have a Midterm this Thursday and another one the following week AND a long take-home exam due the following week. And more projects and book reports to do...!!!

One of my molar's fillings cracked yesterday. I'm going to need to get it capped. Since my dental insurance doesn't cover this sort of treatment until 1 November, I'm seriously considering finding a dentist in Nogales, Mexico to do it for me at a much cheaper price. I've heard of enough people here along the border who have all their dental work done in Mexico. The American Dental Association (ADA) frowns on US citizens seeking dental care south of the border, and my dentist in town even passes out flyers warning patients that dentists in Nogales, MEX do not practice the same hygiene standards as the ADA does and that Americans are taking their chances on dentists in Mexico. Everyone I've spoken to who has sought dental aid in Mexico has been pleased with the treatment, so I see a lot of these messages from the ADA as a scare tactic.

It was in the mid 80s here today. This is way too soon to get this hot. We never had any significant winter rains this season. Yet all the plants are growing new shoots and leaves now!
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http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/03/03/news/doc49ab904f94cda167237662.txt
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/fromcomments/282373.php
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/282395
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/16/2009/march/02/snow-continues-to-accumulate-in-county.html

http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/03/15/lifestyle/james_tucker/doc49bc2f6e80a66237317880.txt#blogcomments

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