It's now been three weeks since we arrived in Oxford, Mississippi and with each week I'm learning new things, professionally, culturally and personally. I've had opportunity to experience so much already and slowly I'm starting to really love Oxford. It is a town with a lot to discover, on the surface very isolated and not a lot of depth but once you scratch the surface you understand why the people here are so proud of it.
This week both Ruth and I got the cold, (obviously inflicting us both because of how much contact we have with each other!!) it kinda wore us both out so we didn't do a lot of what we'd originally planned to do but we still had a busy week and it flew past as did week 2.
On Monday the study abroad office had organised a trip to Memphis to see an NBA game, the LA Lakers v the Memphis Grizzlies. I was really excited to go and see a basketb
all game and I'd been told by my male friends at home that it was completely ridiculous that I had the privilege of going to a game like this because I wouldn't appreciate it as much as I should...in the end I really don't think I did. A lot of people don't know that I have a pretty awful head for heights, rooting back to family outings in the Mournes which more than likely ended with me lying on the ground paralysed with a fear of falling off the mountain (I do understand that to the people who aren't scared of heights this sounds ridiculous!), but surely I wouldn't have an issue at a basketball game?! Well it turned out that as I looked up to our seats that fea
r which I thought I had slightly combatted this Summer in Cyprus was most definately still there! Our seats were a row from the very top of the stadium and as I sat down I started to sweat and cry like a total child! It was very embarassing but I was thankful for Ruth's loving support to her friend who was freaking out! Ruth alerted one of the study abroad co-ordinators who tried to calm me down but eventually I just turned around to them and said 'I have to get down!!!' I actually cannot remember the last time I was that afraid and embarassed at my fear... Half an hour into the game new seats were found and this time I wasn't scared, Ruth just loved being along for the ride and getting better seats out of the whole ordeal! So by the time I had stopped freaking out and had calmed down, emotional exhaustion kicked in and I was rather sedate for the rest of the match....it was a good game though!!!Tuesday was a little less eventful, we were back to Willie Price in the morning and had the opportunity to do further observations and work alongside the younger children again. In our night class on classroom management the focus was on managing the psychosocial environment within school. We were split up into groups and each given an area to focus on. This was a fun way to get through the material as we had to extract the key points and put it together in a presentation format. Our group was looking at working with colleagues and I came up with the idea of doing an acrostic of the word 'colleagues' which impressed the professor and we did well as a group getting positive feedback.
On Wednesday morning we frequenting Bottletree again to have breakfast with some friends before we went to class, I think I need to start having breakfast before I go here however because the menu is definately doing damage to my diet! On Wednesday afternoon we had our first experience of Leapfrog, this is an organisation which serves as an after school club for underprivileged kids in the community. I enjoyed working with these kids, it is very freely run so basically we just play with the elementary aged kids from 4-5pm. I spent the hour learning rhymes and skipping songs, and playing hide and seek, I'm looking forward to continuing with this work throughout the semester. After Leapfrog we walked to First Baptist church where they have a free meal for students on Wednesday nights and after we took part in a kids club called 'Awana' which is run by one of our friends.
I enjoyed Th
ursday morning in Willie Price and I found a particular resource really interesting, they were reading the book, 'Chicka, Chicka, 1, 2, 3' and doing activities based around this book. The book introduces numbers right up to 1oo and the children worked around different centres based on number recognition including a resource, 'Handwriting without tears' which encourages children to learn to write in fun and interactive ways. The children were learning to form numbers using dough and they seemed to respond well to this, especially with the stimulus of the book.On Thursday evening we were invited to the premiere of 'Thacker Mountain Radio Show' a radio show that is broadcast live from Oxford every Thursday night. I loved this, it made me feel extremely cultured and definately moved Oxford up in my estimations. There were performances from the inhouse band, James Dupree and Young Buffalo, an up and coming band from Oxford. Alongside music there were readings from different authors who were promoting their books, one written about growing up with a love for the blues and the other a biography of Paul Newman...Best of all this is a free event every week! My love for music and in particular discovering new bands and new sounds is definately being fostered here in Oxford.
Friday morning we were back to the Finer Things Club, this week discussing the pros and cons of an advancing world where technology is increasingly becoming the focus of communication. We had an interesting debate on the world of Facebook and Twitter and the guy who led shared his own poetry. It's my turn to share next week so I'm a bit nervous as I feel like I've a lot to live up too!
Fridays' classes were a little different than usual, in Professor Chessin's class on discovering us to be a lot less responsive than normal called 'Mr C' into the room who had just been passing by. Mr C is a professor at Ole Miss who had been an elementary principal for many years and you could tell! His method for waking us up on a rainy Friday afternoon was to get the whole class to do the handjive, teaching us fun ways to sequence and also motivate kids when they're feeling lethargic...The whole time I was trying to imagine this ever happening in Stran...somehow I couldn't put together that picture!
This weekend was busy but very enjoyable...we heard a LOT of blues! We were invited to two birthday parties but it was only after accepting the invitations that we discovered both were happening in the same place. The venue was 'Ground Zero,' a blues club in Clarkesdale which is in the delta area and is the home of the blues. This restaurant was set up by Morgan Freeman who comes from the delta and it had a very authentic atmosphere, one which I don't think you could ever replicate. On Friday night we heard 'Daddy Rich' giving us lots of blues music by way of the harmonic and voice along with his band. 'Super Chikan' played on Saturday night and in my opinion was the better of the two. I have never seen anything
as unique in all my life (so far!), glittery chicken guitars, beaded necklaces with chickens stuck to them and a
catchphrase, 'Somebady shoot that thang!' which was said after every song. Another unique aspect were the doodles and signatures which stretched from floor to ceiling, toilet seat to table cloth, I was quite happy when after signing my name on Friday night I was seated at a table with my name on it on Saturday night!On Sunday we attended the College Hill presbyterian church which has a lot of history of its own being the church where William Faulkner was married many years ago. It was set among huge cedars out in the countryside surrounded by miles of farming land and it fit my imaginings of a church in Mississippi perfectly. I enjoyed the service and the people we met were once again extremely hospitable and welcoming.
Looking forward to a new week and what will unfold in week 4....
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