Jim had relatives named Uncle Bob and Aunt Jan who were gracious enough to host us for a couple of days before we settled into a hotel in downtown Phoenix with the rest of the corps members. Why wasn't Jim staying with Rach? Jim and Rach were and are very traditional and that would not have been kosher pre-marriage.
Teach For America had arranged for all the corps members to stay together in a hotel while we got our bearings in the new city. Most of us were not from Phoenix and had all just arrived from Houston, Texas after the Institute.
The city of Phoenix is laid out in a grid that makes it easy to get around. As you would expect, Central Avenue runs north and south right through the center of the city. East of Central avenue are the streets starting with 1st Street on up. West of Central Avenue are the avenues starting with 1st Avenue on up. The crossroads in central Phoenix are all named after US presidents.
As I recall, the corp members were staying in a Red Roof Inn between Fillmore and Van Buren Street. This is not the best part of town as we would find out.
Even though it was free, I still complained that all we were offered was a continental breakfast in the morning. There was oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast, and muffins. When I was in line one day, I remarked to another guy, "What's with these women's breakfasts?? Where's the bacon and eggs and sausage and pancakes?" A female corp member overheard me and apparently held a grudge against me from that moment forward. She eventually confessed to me months later explaining that she likes bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes too.
One morning, we woke up to discover some vandalism had occurred in the parking lot. Some people's vehicles were broken into including Jim's beloved purple bug. Someone smashed his driver's window looking for valuables. They did not find any, but Jim had to get the broken window repaired and was crestfallen to discover one of his favorite pictures of Rach that he kept in the car was damaged by the mayhem.
Thankfully, the vandals did not touch my car. They would not have found any valuables anyway. Since I started the road trip from Indiana to Houston, I made it a habit of keeping all my earthly possessions with me everywhere I stayed. It was a pain hauling everything back and forth from my car to where I was staying, but it reduced my chances of being robbed. The marquis item was the Bondi blue iMac that I transported in its original box in the passenger seat of the Toyota Celica GTS.
Some teachers arrived in Phoenix with classes already started, and they had to scramble. Thankfully, I had a week to prepare. Teach For America helped coordinate communication with the schools and also offered workshops for "how to create a life" in Phoenix. Today we might call the topic "adulting." We had workshops on how to create a budget, typical expenses living in Phoenix, recommendations for apartments, etc.
One day, Jim and I were sitting on the floor next to a giant map of Metro Phoenix trying to determine where to pick an apartment. "So, our schools are here." I put my finger on the area representing South Phoenix. "And Rach lives here." Jim put his finger where Rach's apartment was in Chandler, which is south and east of Phoenix. "So I think we should start the apartment search here." I put my finger in the upper left corner of the map in the Glendale area, which is northwest of Phoenix.
During this week, I visited C.O. Jorgensen, which was the school where I was assigned to teach. The school was K-8 and situated deep in South Phoenix in the Roosevelt School District. I met Principal Flores who was a champion of Teach For America. I also met the office staff and Mrs. Welcher, who was the fearless Vice Principle. Many of the schools in Arizona are not like the schools I went to in the midwest. The schools I remember were all one big building. The schools in Arizona are separate buildings, and you have to walk outside to go from one classroom to another classroom, the office, the cafeteria, or any other part of the school.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the classroom for the first time. I opened the door and realized that the classroom was situated so that the single door would be in the back and left of the room if you were sitting in the middle of the class facing forward. Right away I noticed there were long tables and chairs rather than individual desks. Immediately to the left were some filing cabinets and the classroom phone. The main wall had whiteboards and a projector screen. The sidewall had a chalkboard. There were also empty corkboards throughout. The teacher's desk was in the back corner of the room opposite the door. There were some cabinets behind the desk. There were ratty-looking math textbooks haphazardly stored in a long bookcase that was against the wall and below the chalkboard.
I had only a few days to prepare my classroom and myself for the first day of school on Monday.
Teach For America had arranged for all the corps members to stay together in a hotel while we got our bearings in the new city. Most of us were not from Phoenix and had all just arrived from Houston, Texas after the Institute.
The city of Phoenix is laid out in a grid that makes it easy to get around. As you would expect, Central Avenue runs north and south right through the center of the city. East of Central avenue are the streets starting with 1st Street on up. West of Central Avenue are the avenues starting with 1st Avenue on up. The crossroads in central Phoenix are all named after US presidents.
As I recall, the corp members were staying in a Red Roof Inn between Fillmore and Van Buren Street. This is not the best part of town as we would find out.
Even though it was free, I still complained that all we were offered was a continental breakfast in the morning. There was oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast, and muffins. When I was in line one day, I remarked to another guy, "What's with these women's breakfasts?? Where's the bacon and eggs and sausage and pancakes?" A female corp member overheard me and apparently held a grudge against me from that moment forward. She eventually confessed to me months later explaining that she likes bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes too.
One morning, we woke up to discover some vandalism had occurred in the parking lot. Some people's vehicles were broken into including Jim's beloved purple bug. Someone smashed his driver's window looking for valuables. They did not find any, but Jim had to get the broken window repaired and was crestfallen to discover one of his favorite pictures of Rach that he kept in the car was damaged by the mayhem.
Thankfully, the vandals did not touch my car. They would not have found any valuables anyway. Since I started the road trip from Indiana to Houston, I made it a habit of keeping all my earthly possessions with me everywhere I stayed. It was a pain hauling everything back and forth from my car to where I was staying, but it reduced my chances of being robbed. The marquis item was the Bondi blue iMac that I transported in its original box in the passenger seat of the Toyota Celica GTS.
Some teachers arrived in Phoenix with classes already started, and they had to scramble. Thankfully, I had a week to prepare. Teach For America helped coordinate communication with the schools and also offered workshops for "how to create a life" in Phoenix. Today we might call the topic "adulting." We had workshops on how to create a budget, typical expenses living in Phoenix, recommendations for apartments, etc.
One day, Jim and I were sitting on the floor next to a giant map of Metro Phoenix trying to determine where to pick an apartment. "So, our schools are here." I put my finger on the area representing South Phoenix. "And Rach lives here." Jim put his finger where Rach's apartment was in Chandler, which is south and east of Phoenix. "So I think we should start the apartment search here." I put my finger in the upper left corner of the map in the Glendale area, which is northwest of Phoenix.
During this week, I visited C.O. Jorgensen, which was the school where I was assigned to teach. The school was K-8 and situated deep in South Phoenix in the Roosevelt School District. I met Principal Flores who was a champion of Teach For America. I also met the office staff and Mrs. Welcher, who was the fearless Vice Principle. Many of the schools in Arizona are not like the schools I went to in the midwest. The schools I remember were all one big building. The schools in Arizona are separate buildings, and you have to walk outside to go from one classroom to another classroom, the office, the cafeteria, or any other part of the school.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the classroom for the first time. I opened the door and realized that the classroom was situated so that the single door would be in the back and left of the room if you were sitting in the middle of the class facing forward. Right away I noticed there were long tables and chairs rather than individual desks. Immediately to the left were some filing cabinets and the classroom phone. The main wall had whiteboards and a projector screen. The sidewall had a chalkboard. There were also empty corkboards throughout. The teacher's desk was in the back corner of the room opposite the door. There were some cabinets behind the desk. There were ratty-looking math textbooks haphazardly stored in a long bookcase that was against the wall and below the chalkboard.
I had only a few days to prepare my classroom and myself for the first day of school on Monday.