I woke up to the silvery light of a gray sky morning. It had rained last night; I listen to the gentle sounds of it falling across the terra cotta rooftops... something I hadn't heard since my return from Seattle. If I hadn't been so exhausted, I would have been tempted to have gone outside. Instead I fell into a motionless sleep under its rhythmic downfall.

I've been working at an elementary school in Cupertino for the past month. I'm there for any medical emergencies - and in particular for one third-grade boy who has severe allergies. Severe enough that they could easily trigger an anaphylactic episode.
I was quite vigilant about watching him in the first week, but nothing serious ever really happens. So (while keeping a watchful eye on him) I've now instead become more of a teacher assistant than a nurse assistant. I found myself enjoying it more than I ever thought. I needed a change from my months prior working at nursing home facilities or passive sitting jobs at hospitals. I grade papers in the class he's in, help the teacher with her projects, correct papers with the children, review math with them and during recess I show them how to do handstands, cartwheels and climb monkey bars backwards or edgewise... the time goes by quickly.

Unfortunately, it also requires a lot of my days, taking up my entire week and leaving my weekends to my other jobs... I have to squeeze in what I really like to do; reading at breaks and sketching between sleep cycles. I'll see how long I can survive being culturally starved.