Assessing The Damage

8:00 AM:

Katy ventures into the battlegrounds to assess the damage we inflicted on the Mice.
She carefully tiptoes through the living room and inspects the traps. My eyes follow her every step through the crease between her wooden doors....nothing yet. She ventures into the kitchen, with cat-like fixation on every crevice...

nothing...

nothing...

I wait....

BAHAERACAHGAGHHHHH!!!!

Becca and I pounce out of bed, and Katy's sole shrill scream becomes a bellowing chorus of The Gilman Girls screaming in unison at the sight of our first mouse-trap-inflicted Fatality.

The Damage so far:
-2 Deaths by Mousetrap: one in the cupboard, one on the kitchen floor.
-One death by Kyle's heroic bucket maneuver yesterday night.

The war continues...

And Then There Were None

The Women of Gilman and their loyal comrade Kyle have put their foot down.

They have declared that the Mice of Gilman shall no longer grace their presence.

The traps are set. Hearts race. A thick fog of intensity fills the air.

We anxiously wait for the first trap to snap.

There's gonna be a genocide
-Becca Keleher

Awkward-o Turtle-o

I had to do a 20 minute "role play" by phone to test my Spanish proficiency for TFA. I had to pretend to be a teacher (crazy, I know), and the woman on the phone was a worried mom.

I hope I'm not as awkward in actual conversations with parents next year.

Oh, and they're still letting me teach in a bilingual classroom.

Back to Life

I went to Egypt in a confused and confusing state, and returned to Madison with some mental clarity. I left under the assumption that I had lost a part of myself, a piece of my identity, and that that Egypt would give me the answers of what I needed to revert back to. Two weeks later, I came home to Madison with the realization that I do not have to revert back to anything, but instead that I simply have to continue to build upon the person that I am and to evolve and move forward in that personal growth. I came home realizing that the idealized and nostalgic vision of Egypt doesn't exist in the way that I always expect it to. I realized that in ways, Egypt is more confused and confusing than I am. I don't know if I will ever figure it out.

It's good to be home.