Thursday, October 21, 2010

"Don't matter if you're black or white..."

Last entry I left off after receiving my pink eye medicine.. Unfortunately, a week later my eyes were only worse. I went to the school doctor this past Monday who took the time to look in my eyes. He said I am still having an allergic reaction to the Bactrim I was placed on a while back. I have a new medicine now that burns and itches badly but has helped a lot too. My eyes are much better then they were though they have not completely cleared up. My friends have started joking that if someone here isn't going to make it home, it will be me because I have the worst luck. AND that if I were one of the first settlers I would have been the first to die from illness.
I know it seems like I complain a lot. I generally don't complain as much as I do down here. I had a girl come up to me today and say "Like omg Melissa, I totally can't see why you hate it here." (Yes she is blond). My response was this, I don't hate it here. I don't hate the view or the beaches. I don't hate some of my classes and I don't hate some of the experiences I have had here. It's just that whenever you think of an island in the Caribbean you think tropical paradise. For ME this was a complete let down. For me, this is not my paradise. I love changing weather (thanks Missouri for that). I love snow and mountains. I love whales and trees that are so tall they seem like they might fall with one gust of wind. I love the small town feel. All of these things this island doesn't have. Not to mention the illnesses I have had and the people I have encountered.
I was so very nervous when I arrived in Juneau but I grew to love it very quickly. I made friends easily and stomped through the snow to class with an appreciation for Gods beautiful creations. It was gorgeous and the people were nice. Here I knew when my dad and I landed that something just felt wrong.
This is not "God's Country."
Here is one example of something little that, mixed with everything else, is kind of unbearable.
I have this art teacher. She is smart and knows her stuff, a graduate of NYU. However, she is very anti-American, anti-American schools, anti-democracy, anti-Christianity, anti-EVERYTHING that I am. Her opinion becomes fact in class and she often teachers more about her opinions and personal life rather then art.
Recently she stated that:
*the cross on which Jesus died is shaped like a penis because all Romans, even Christians, had small penises and built all kinds of structures to compensate for this.

* that all conservatives start wars because they are christian and therefor are not having, or are having lousy sex, or because they have small penises. Hence why Bill clinton didn't start a war, he had plenty of women, same for JFK.

*that Christians took the Bible and rewrote it to say what we wanted.

*that Jesus is not God's son or God. He was just a guy teaching about love and peace. She knows this because she speaks fluent hebrew and that's what the Bible REALLY says.

*being celibate is a sin because god said to "Go Forth and Multiply," and said nothing about marrying.

*that all Iowa teachers are horrible, because her sons current teacher is horrible and happens to have lived in Iowa for some time.

*that all of the USA is like New York. (I told her she needed to get out a bit.)

*that all birthing hospitals or centers are only places to make women feel inferior. She states that we as women can have children without doctors (which is true) and that doctors are only around to keep women dependent on men. (which is SO FAR OFF)

and finally
*that all American public school students are drugged and on ADHD medicine to keep them from being kids and to make the teacher's job easier. (mind you her son is in a private school and they have told her that he may be ADHD.)

Oh man, I could go on forever. And she is not the only teacher to behave like this. Another of my teachers has no idea why Columbus sailed the ocean. SIGH
I promised myself never to be this kind of a teacher or person.
So yeah, been an interesting semester so far. I would like to say that I am looking forward to what this next week brings but...the past weeks have only brought pain.
Sorry that I have no fun pictures this time around. Not really in funny mood.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!





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