little miss and mr. men

i decided a few weeks ago to fill up some of my available days during the week with volunteer work at the club. i realized that had i done this a year ago, i might have been given more hours to work with the kids. instead i just decided to keep to my office work and when the time came to hire more people for the summer, i knew i had missed an opportunity.

working with little kids (first - third graders) is not easy. once in awhile i will start thinking about how cute some of them are, then the next moment i'm shouting at them to stop playing while they're standing in line. because i don't look like an adult, i don't have their respect yet (i'm working on it).

since they are small i've decided to nickname them which brings me to the title of this post: little miss and mr. men. since these are little kids i work with, the title little miss and mr. men are perfect for them. there's one second grader who is chubby and adorable. she rarely does her homework and is often disobedient. she also already has an attitude. therefore a name like little miss attitude suits her well.then there's little miss shy. she's a little bit smaller than the other first graders. she's quiet and is often found wandering around the club playing by herself. today my supervisor came out to the park (just outside the building) and told me about little miss shy's wandering tendencies and to please, keep an eye on her. there's also two little miss sunshines. they are both blonde haired and adorable. little miss sunshine #1 has been a member for a couple years now. she is always seen with a soda or ice cream stain around her mouth. little miss sunshine #2 is new. she has a round face and today she tattle tailed on the boys who were sitting at her table. (i wish i could take pictures of them but it's not permitted.)

i have to admit the first two days (i started last week) working with the kids i felt lost and wondered what i was doing there, thinking to myself, "i need to get another job." that feeling is now gone and i feel more at ease now. (though i am still looking for another job.) however, there is stuff i need to learn including disciplining them, boundaries, etc. i feel like i've been trying to go after every misbehavior when everyone else only calls out the really bad incidents.

i also signed up to volunteer at an elementary school in my neighborhood. one of the first grade teachers called me last week to see if i was interested in helping her in the classroom with a reading activity. i won't be starting that until the week after next. i'm currently taking a yoga class that conflicts with her schedule. hopefully i'll be less tired once my yoga class is over. right now right after class, i have to go home, take a short break and then head out to work which is tiring since i commute on foot and by bus.

hungry?

photo from yelp member, ticha

i just read a post my friend made on facebook regarding something she just ate. what my friend just ate was a pupusa. i never tried them before but i know i've passed by restaurants that make them (pupuserias) in downtown l.a. usually and were curious as to what they are. according to this article from the la weekly blog,

Pupusas are cheap and cheerful, exceptionally hearty, stuffed and griddled disks of slaked cornmeal or rice flour that originated in El Salvador.[...]

 We learned three very important things when sampling them across L.A. The first is that there are five standard fillings to choose from: beans, cheese, minced pork (chicharrón, which is ground pork in this case, and not fried skin), loroco (a type of vine flower) and revuelta, which consists of beans, cheese and pork. And while the beans will for sure have lard, the masa itself won't, so this is a perfect vegetarian meal if you order correctly.

yup, now i will be thinking about them when hanging out and someone asks, what to eat?

this is the second ethnic cuisine/dish that i've been all of a sudden wanting to try. the first was indian food. i live very close to an indian community. i've never ventured to go eat there but after one of my friends visited vij's in canada, i looked up indian food and restaurants and thus began my list.

old memories

I found these souvenirs in another souvenir (a tote from edinburgh). yup, i pretty much saved everything, even receipts. notice the mcdonalds logo? i was told macdonalds had gone green in parts of europe. i think germany (probably the greenest european country) started it. although i'm not sure how they are green.

the last image is of my expense booklet. i think the booklet was made for teachers but it works well to record expenses, too. i was on a tight little budget so this helped me stay within it. i loved recording my expenses in there and it's one of my fondest memories.

une chambre de bonne

this goes along with the previous post where i mentioned a blog by the title of tales from the chambre de bonne. a chambre de bonne is a tiny studio-like space up on the top floor of parisian apartment buildings. therefore it is the least expensive room in the building though this is paris, so it's still expensive. it is translated to be the maid's room (perhaps a long time ago that was it's purpose).

so googled i did, and came across this on apartment therapy. a couple had transformed two chambres de bonne that they owned into one guest apartment. it is adorable.

images from apartment therapy.