I've been spending a fair amount of time on the computer...
... but not an overly long amount. No more than the others spend on the computers and TV. And yet, David said I was a computer addict. I was slightly annoyed (he's probably teasing, but he's mentioned it twice now) and pointed out that at the moment I was looking up words so I could try and learn Romanian. I told him this in a friendly way and I don't think I came across as annoyed.
I'm tempted to point out that I'm miles from my friends and family and this is my only way to communicate with them. He had friends over last night, so that would have been particularly relevant. If we didn't have computers here, I expect I would either try and find an internet cafe or I would be much less cheerful. E-mails and LJ keep me from feeling very alone.
Also, I've been on the computer to research contacts for fundraising for the ill young woman.
Sorry. I shouldn't be so sensitive, but it got on my nerves a bit and I'm feeling pretty vulnerable...
Anyway, I'm going to teach some English today for a few kids. I've decided to try numbers and some simple opposites like yes/no, good/bad, hello/goodbye... just trying to think of what I've found helpful to learn in Romanian.
The little ones this morning were *all* over the place. One little boy is kind of... well, he strikes out physically. I've had a remarkable number of very small boys cock a fist at me. Only three or so, but it shocks me a little.
Diane and I had an interesting cultural conversation today. She said that in the Roma culture, the parents don't restrict children very much... that they don't force them to do certain things like go to school. It contrasts strongly with her attempts to maintain order in the small space we use for kindergarten. I realize, in my attempts to help create some peace and order, that I'm bringing my cultural assumptions into the space. I feel faintly that I shouldn't, but my alarm bells go off when I see children hitting each other... and mostly I try to enforce the same rules I see Diane enforce. It's a strange line to toe. While I don't want to inflict my culture on these children, my heart wants to make sure they don't hurt each other... I don't know. I need to think about it some more.