happiness, no matter

Montezuma
Cortes

Atahualpa
Pizarro

I'm loving history class lately. World civilizations.

I was too busy to enjoy teaching history the first two years because, well, I was busy with grad school and the steep learning curve of it all - the craft of teaching, the English content and the years and years of HISTORY that I had left in some dark corner of the basement that is my mind.

Last summer I made a trip to Ecuador and Peru with Vanessa and Monique.

We stayed in a beautiful hacienda by a volcano near a town called Banos in Ecuador. We hiked through the cloud forest, bathed with the locals in the hot springs, fell in love with tree tomatoes. Met native Ecuadorians that were expert weavers and anthropologists - ethnographers of their own people and culture. I bought a small purple keychain from them. I loved this part the most - being in the Ecuadorian countryside.

Then we went to Peru. Medication in hand for the sudden elevation shift. We spent time in the ancient city of Cuzco surrounded by massive stones everywhere. Sketched Saksaywaman - I remember the blue sky, the white clouds, the grey stones zig zagging in the foreground. We hiked for four days and camped in a small valley one night, there was a small river. It was below freezing. We were headed towards Macchu Picchu. We made it there early in the dark, so that we could see the sun rise.

My students families are mainly from Central America or South America. And so, I feel this heavy responsibility to not only bring to life the incredible civilizations of Mesoamerica but to really have them walk away from class full of questions, uncertainties, wonder, awe and sadness.

The Spanish defeat of the Aztecs and Incas is a California standard.

Robert shared with me a clip from the documentary "Guns, Germs and Steel" - a National Geographic film based on the work of Jared Diamond, a UCLA professor. Over the weekend I read the first two chapters of Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".

Suddenly, the gravity of what happened to the Inca Civilization hit me. Maybe more than the sight of Macchu Picchu revealing herself as the sun appeared and filled it with light. The massacre and devastation of an entire civilization -- through guns, germs and steel. And greed.

So tomorrow I will introduce our inquiry into the Aztec and Inca Civilization. Its been on my mind for a week and I'm nervous I won't do justice to it. I think my students will rise to the occasion. I think they will be able to decide for themselves and form their own opinion about this history. Specifically -

Was the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca Civilization exploration or exploitation?

Roads to Rome

Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire.

I spent several hours yesterday thinking and writing about Julius Caesar, the Pax Romana, Roman roads, Jesus, St. Paul, and Roman law and justice. Remember learning that in middle school? And only today, while skipping around the blogosphere and landing on a stranger's account of Rome did I really remember Italy.

Italia, the Vatican, prosciutto, Botticelli, gypsies, La Scala, Milan, train rides and Firenze. That was Summer 1999, translating and celebrating my Japanese host family's son's destination wedding. I dreamed about eventually learning Italian and living there. Summer 2009, I'm not there, I'm writing about it and about to teach about Italy's ancient history but right now, I'm definitely, there. I want to be there wining and dining and writing my way into a fantastical state of mind.

Summer, Here

So I'm returning to JLMS to teach. Same students, same classroom, same partner teacher...but as a long term substitute. What will happen? I have no idea! But I believe it's a blessing in disguise. It's been so good to see familiar faces back at school! The questions have mostly been like this: How are you? How was your summer? What did you do? Where did you go?

It's so difficult to answer questions like that in sound bytes.

Most of us were pink slipped but we all responded in drastically different ways. Some left L.A. to go find themselves. Central America, South America, So. Carolina, Fresno, New York. I spent summer, here. Also, finding myself. Traveling to new places is bound to be an intense experience, but travel can also happen whilst staying in one place, and can also be as intense. This summer, was hard in every possible way, but beautiful too.

So how was summer? Here are some photos I remembered to take, more to come.

Pleasanton


Writing & Wine


Karen


To be Married, Shirley & Tom


San Francisco Ferry Building



Santa Monica Beach


Santa Monica Beach, Vanessa


Eaton Canyon Falls


By the Falls, Erica & Karina


Before going in

Virginia to DC

I met these three friends in Japan, only to see them a few years later, for just a few days on the east coast. Emily, Anne and Alison were awesome hosts - I loved being with them =) Its always good to reminisce about Okayama, but it was about time to add some new adventures and photos to our collection.

Virginia

collard greens, grass fed cows, hay! the blue ridge mountains, bret's restoration work

Washington D.C.

music at the blackcat, my favorite: stegosaurus, the pentagon flag, vietnam war memorial