Info and Antics of the (half British) (half Sudanese) (1 of 2): Info.

The other week I was hanging out with my one (half British) (half Sudanese) friend and his sister, who both grew up mainly in the Sudan until they were in their early teens, and they were talking about Sudanese food.

Quite frankly, he said the appearance looked nasty, and that the cuisine was more about nourishment than being pretty.

He also said that there aren't many desserts to speak of, though one pretty widespread one is like the Ethiopian bread injera, you take some of that leftover and sprinkle sugar water on it, and that's your dessert.

Last time he was in the Sudan, like 3 years ago, he asked a relative to make some for old time's sake.

"It was disgusting," he was like.  "I can't believe I used to eat that."

A Lab Scientist's Reaction to Pope Francis.

So, the other week I was going out with my one (Asian-Canadian) friend, and I ended up talking about all the stuff the Pope was doing or planning to do on his Mexico trip, like the Mass at the border with people separated by a fence.

He *loved* that.

"Good job modern organized religion," he was like.

New Orleans Mardi Gras: The Day After.

So, my one friend with the cat now lives in New Orleans.

The day after Mardi Gras, she texted me that she had to "drag her ass" to work or something of that sort.

In surprise, I texted her back, b/c I had always just assumed that people would get the next day off.

No, she said, the day after Mardi Gras, everyone has to come to work hungover with ashes as "penance".

Dream of a Postal Booth.

The other week I dreamt:

I was out on a snowy day, and stopped by a rough-hewn board kiosk painted a pea green.

A (middle-aged) (white) woman bundled against the cold and sitting on a tall stool inside took my letter to mail, and I walked away like ten feet, and then turned back because I remembered that I had forgotten to buy a book of stamps.

As I get there, she is outside by the side of the booth, since she just got off shift, and the man inside who just replaced her can't sell me a book of stamps.

Then...  I wake up!

. . .

(The other week I thought I needed a book of stamps and was going to go to the post office to get some, but then some turned up in my office supplies...  I had also recently made pea soup and had been thinking about the color of it, and the weather right now in the city is similar to that of the dream...  Also, the kiosk very glancingly resembles a newspaper kiosk in my neighborhood, but more so others I saw in other countries during travels.)

Two writing student interactions:

1) During a small group meeting, at the mention of the winners of the New Hampshire primaries and specifically when I said "Bernie Sanders", my one freshman writing student who grew up in the South as the child of working class East African immigrants broke out into a smile and began snapping her fingers and moving her head back-and-forth.

2) Two small group meetings later at the end of a very long day, one student was like, "I'm hungry," and another was like, "I need a coffee," and so I looked off into the distance theatrically and sighed and was like, "I need an espresso martini," at which this (female) (Asian-American) freshman with stylish glasses broke out into a smile, and when someone was like, "Do those even exist?", she nodded and quietly affirmed that yes indeed they do.

Addendum:

My one (older) (Chinese) colleague really gets the political logic of unions.

Once I explained to her what they were in terms of legal privileges, she saw immediately how they would work as a tool...

"Very powerful," she was like.

She had been a financial reporter back in mainland China, though has now lived in the U.S. for years.

I wonder if her being raised under a repressive government means she keys in the major dynamics of political systems more quickly.

She's also a fascinating person...  She had given me that little red ornament last Chinese New Year's, and has a lot of thoughts about how modern cultures don't value teachers enough, about which there are long-standing, healthy traditions in China, she thinks.

It really floors me what a diverse, interesting, thoughtful group of colleagues I have, and I've never really spoken with them as much as I should have.

Unionization developments at the art school: Colleagues, admin salaries.

So, for the first few weeks of class at the art school, I've been hanging around the part-time office at the art school to refresh acquaintances and meet new folks.

It's weird how separate everyone is, and how cool once you talk to them, which makes you wonder why you didn't connect before.

One of my colleagues, for example, is an Afro-Futurist sculptor.

Another is a(n older) (deaf) (white) man who I've known for a few years and w/whom I've had a hard time communicating by speaking, and so I finally admitted that by typing, at which point I admitted that I had been bothered by my own standoffishness and had been wondering how best to communicate.  That effort seemed to forge a moment of real connection, since he seemed genuinely happy to hear that, and patted my shoulder to say that it was all okay.

Really, it makes you wonder, what made me not make that effort before.

Also, after a conversation with a (Chinese) colleague who wasn't aware of admin salaries, I looked up the forms online, then printed out the compensation list, highlighted it, and put it on the door with Post-It notes, since I couldn't find any tape anywhere.

And, the next time I came in a few days later, it was still up - and someone had swapped out the Post-It notes to tape.