sunday blues, sunday bums

(i)

on mondays around this time of the morning i usually head to the swimming pool. but today nico is not 100% and fell asleep on the sofa as we were listening to "parachutes", coldplay's first album.

so i just grabbed the pc and am now typing this as he is next to me, looking like an exhausted badger curled up in his winter lethargy. "parachutes" is still playing and i will be forever surprised at how amazing early coldplay music sounds...while their latest albums seem just so very predictable...

(ii)

always have a hard time feeling energetic on sundays. the fact i now work on sundays does not change much this - and i walk to school every sunday morning feeling forlorn and grumpy... oh, so grumpy.

i still do manage to blag my way through all the atrocious niceties of the teachers' room - but i tend to hang out very little there. i still find the working attitude here rather bizarre and verging on the crazy / moody /bitchy / jealous / aggressive and temperamental - which might have to do with the fact that most teachers are women.

most working women in this country enjoy diplaying mannerisms and attitudes i have seen in some over the top american mafia movies where everyone is supposed to bow and kiss the feet (and hands and cheeks) of someone imitating (and unsuccessfully so) robert de niro in the Godfather.

i have kind of come to the conclusion women here are still living the very early stages of emancipation on the job and therefore assume they have to behave with the same hideous bravado they have been given for centuries by their fierce men, trying hard to look as arrogant, crucially pissed off and vain as possible.

the main result for me is that, during breaks, i take long...loong visits to the Ladies.

toilets are a great place to disappear in.

some kind of handy no-man's-land.

a cubicle of neutrality.

the switzerland of all offices.

(iii)

despite constantly being in a fowl mood on sunday mornings - i must admit i absolutely adore my sunday morning class. they are everything you can feel partial to in a group of young people: chirpy, curious, naive, sweet, genuine and at times awkward and clumsy.

as stroppy as i can feel on a sunday morning - they always manage to disarm any sad thought.

yesterday the topic for the class was horribly serious and had to do with putting together public presentations in three different areas:

1) giving information;

2) creating comparisons;

3) explaining cause and effect processes.

as i was about to tackle number 2 with some notes on the whiteboard - i watched from the corner of my eye two girls rolling up their sleeves and comparing their arms very intentely.

i could not help but smile.

"don't tell me you are talking about waxing while i am here like an idiot talking about TEXT ORGANISATION..." i said, rather amused - while the boys in the room rolled their eyes to the ceiling.

"can we see yours?" the two girls asked, half laughing.

to which i obliged.

"you have no!" one of them said.

"i have no what? no skin? no arms? no what?" i pretended not to understand.

"no, i mean, we cannot see hair on your arms. i have a lot" one of the two girls said.

"but that's because i take it off. ever heard of epilators? like...machines to wax it off?" i said, finding them sort of sweet as they listened with eyes wide wide open to my absolute revelation.

"no...no...if you do that - i mean - the machine...it gives you ACNE" one of them complained with a worried face.

hilarious, i thought..."acne? on your forearms? you must be kidding" i replied "who told you that?" i then asked.

"my cousin" she told me, to which i kind of concluded "i can promise you that there are more chances of getting acne on your butt than on your forearms" - which seemed to finally involve and amuse the boys in the class.

and, before anyone started asking questions about pimples on bum cheeks...

i turned to the whiteboard and wrote - "DEFINING CONTRAST".