Job Discussion Forums

johnslat · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2003 1:35 am Post subject: Funny you should mention that

Dear Panama Teacher,
Whoa, careful there. There's room for only ONE King in the Kingdom. If the Saudi secret police are monitoring this forum, I could get arrested for attempted usurping. Speaking of the secret police ( and one does so very quietly ), I still recall, way back in '82 in Jeddah, looking in the English version of the telephone book and actually seeing a listing entitled: Secret Police. I toyed with the idea of giving them a ring

" Hello, is this the Secret Police? "

" Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Who wants to know? "

but decided that my fantasy call was probably better than the reality could ever be. As for " funny ". well, if you don't have a good sense of humor when you get to Saudi Arabia, you'd better develop one quickly or you won't last long. This is a very funny ( i.e. strange ) place, and seeing the comedy ( admittedly sometimes of the " black " variety ) here helps keep it interesting. If you're more the " life is real, life is earnest " type, the Kingdom will quickly drive you batty. Gone? Me? Only for a little while. Once I get settled back in New Mexico, I'll return to haunt these forums. Talk about funny, in my final year here, I was offered two other jobs, one of them just last night. And that was a hard one to turn down, financially speaking and otherwise. But although money's important, there ARE things more important. And, if we were the sort of people whose lives are ruled by the Almighty Dollar, heck, we wouldn't ( or shouldn't ) be in this line of work anyway.
Regards,
John

PanamaTeacher · Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 278 Location: Panama

john maybe u'll understand my view
I see teaching in panama as my walden pond
and minding my classes as taking care of my beans
i try to live by the mantra simplify, simplify, simplify

since i've been doing this money is way down, but so is stress and sadness
satisfaction is much higher, and I have made great friends based on the person not the $$

i drove through new mexico 17 years ago but didn't pay much attention
are you going to settle in a town or city? will u teach, write or just kick back for a while?

Tu amigo en panama

johnslat · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2003 9:33 am Post subject: Human beans

Dear Panama Teacher,
That's a good mantra to have - something that's become more and more clear to me as I age. I just " simplified " my shipping home stuff situation -gave or threw almost all of it away. I've just never been able to abide those " Going Home " sales, where people end up haggling over 50 cents. I figure I'm lucky - I've never felt much need to own stuff. Walking through the malls here ( something I very infrequently do ) I'm always flabbergasted by the number of things I have no desire to buy - and equally amazed by the number of people who seem to get quite a thrill out of aquiring the newest, the latest, the best. I did ship home my computer, a 5 year old laptop which I intend to use until it finally dies on me. Why not - it does everything I need it to do? All too often we don't own things; they own us. Oh, I'm not quite ready to seek out a cave somewhere just yet ( though I never feel more alive than when I'm out in the wilderness of the southwest ), but it seems the less I own, the more I enjoy living. I'll be settling in a " city " initially ( Santa Fe - the " City Different " ) because I WILL have to work for a while longer - which is no problem since ( lucky again ) I love teaching. But one of these days - inshallah - well, I've got 4 1/2 acres in the little town of Mancos CO ( pop. around 800 ) about 2 miles east of Mesa Verde; that's where I hope to really " settle " in the not too distant future. And yes - I want to write. Probably not the Great American Novel, but maybe a good one, at least.
So, if you're ever in the neighborhood, ( Santa Fe, for probably the next 5 years or so ) just PM me and drop by - you'll always be welcome. And my rates are really quite reasonable ( just kidding ).
Regards,
John

PanamaTeacher · Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 278 Location: Panama

Funny John I came down here with a bunch of essentials and today I don't own a single one of those things. Santa Fe, sounds good--I miss Tex-Mex food, I'm sure you'll have a lot of that there.

I don't live in a cave. I have a small, comfortable apartment with a nice view of the Pacific. Got my computer in front of the window and I teach right here. If I retire here though, I'm going into the interior of the country and buy or rent a small place away from a city.

OK amigo, see you