After lunch, though, was a different story. My mid-back started hurting SO badly after lunch, I about couldn't stand it. I felt like crying or whimpering. Not only was it painful, but it was so uncomfortable. There was just no finding relief or comfort. I felt like lying down flat, curling up in a ball, slouching in a chair, hunching over, sitting up straight all at the same time. Nothing made it feel better.
Quintin (the social studies student teacher) popped in the library around 2 or 2:15 just to say, "Hey, how's it going?!" I responded with, "My back hurts so bad.." and then the tears started to well up in my eyes and my face got all red. He asked where it hurt and I couldn't even say where; I just pointed... I knew if I spoke my voice would just crack. It was so embarrassing. I gained my composure and he understood how bad back pain like that sucks. I told him I was embarrassed for starting to cry in front of him, but he didn't care at all. He was nice about it. In fact, he was going to see if his supervising teacher (also a coach and p.e. teacher) had anything I could take to help with the pain. All he had was Excedrin and I have ibuprofen, so we didn't worry about it, but I appreciated it nonetheless.
Around 2:30 this afternoon, J. wanted us to go talk to D., the principal, about the incident I'd mentioned yesterday at the Discipline Committee meeting. So off we scurried to the office before students get released at 2:50. D. had me go into his office and tell him what happened and give specific examples of the "lines" these boys used. He was pretty pissed. He obviously did not think that was appropriate of those boys and wanted to get it taken care of right away so it wouldn't happen again.
He had me follow him to the two main boys' classes. Apparently those boys are known for being bullies and disrespecting the girls their age like this, too. He pulled them out separately, but asked the same questions. Do you know who Miss Cox is? Do you know she's an adult here? Do you know what sexual harassment is? Do you remember *said incident* on Monday after school? That is not appropriate. She is an adult here and you need to respect her. Etc. etc. He made them apologize to me, tell me it wouldn't happen again, and made them shake my hand. He told them this is a learning experience for them.
The first boy who is always looking at me and whatnot was embarrassed about the whole situation it seemed. He was looking down at the ground and looked at me only a few times. He did apologize, though, and said it wouldn't happened again. He handled it pretty well, I think. I hope this boy doesn't totally avoid me now. I don't want to just hold this against him for the next three months. I'd want to give him another chance and will give him another chance; it's just whether or not he lets me. I said thank you when he apologized. D. told him that now he can say hi to me when he sees me. I made sure to tell this student that he doesn't need to ignore me.
The second boy, though, is definitely a little punk. He just kept saying, "I don't know!" "I don't remember!" D. warned me of this when we were walking to his class. Apparently this boy's mother just reinforces his behavior, as well. And when he's approached about incidents, he always said he doesn't remember. D. said things to him like, "It's strange the other student remembers this happening and admitted to it, but you don't remember it." The boy did apologize and shake my hand... kind of. D. had to make him apologize basically. It was kind of lame. The other boy more willingly apologized and shook my hand.
It was less awkward than I thought the situation would be. I'm glad that I did bring it up yesterday and that J. wanted me to talk to D. about it. I'm glad he wanted to take care of it straight away too. He made sure to tell me that if anything like that happens again to tell him right away and not to wait until the end of the week. Note taken.
Onto a better subject!..
After school, Brittany's supervising teacher had invited us all to go to her house (a nearby village up a curvy road on a mountain/reallybighill) for dinner. There were a TON of people there. I think most were teachers and teachers' spouses from Smith Elementary on base. It was really fun. There was all kinds of Mexican food, margaritas, and lots of talking. One guy even got out a guitar and played and sang. He was pretty good. It was fun to have that music in the background. We all had a good time just talking and eating and drinking margaritas. Oh yeah, one teacher made an ice cream cake, too. So good.
It was a fun evening. We came back around 7 or so. Tomorrow is an early morning. Terry, Al, Jenna, and I are leaving the apartments at 5:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 train to Cologne. It takes about three hours to get there. We'll hang out there all day and be back around 9:30 Saturday night. Sunday=sleeping in.
My back is still hurting, but it's not quite as bad as it was this afternoon. Hopefully I can push through tomorrow and then rest up on Sunday. Falling on the ice sucks!
The teacher's house that we went to has this view from her house and some of her windows. I can't remember the name of the castle. Something that has an L or two in it. I'll find out the name. Her husband is a technology person at my school and his office is in a back corner of the library, so I see him all the time. haha. I took a picture of the castle at night when it was lit up, but that photo didn't turn out very well.
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