jefe

i got to hang out with one of the new kids today and she is awesome. her name is selma. she isn't mexican, but she speaks spanish fluently. two of the other kids on the unit also speak spanish. it is exciting to me because when i am around people who speak spanish, i start picking things up again and get happy to learn new words. i learned that chella means drunk (like borracho) and that pinto means paint. i learned it in the context of fingernail polish.

selma is exactly what i think of when i think of a mexican woman. she is proud and strong. she has more of a right to complain about her life than anyone, but never does. she is patient and self-aware. at her home she takes care of her entire family and on the unit, she picks up after her peers and throws away their dinners when they are done. all out of habit. she has a sad history and it enfuriates me to know that people that cool can be treated so terribly. i told her that my favorite spanish word is "little bug". you should look it up, it's silly.

i had to deal with racism today and didn't really know how to. manjula was saying racist things outside and i just told her that she had to come back to the unit if she said one more racist thing. she did and i made her come back to the unit. she knew she was in big trouble and came willingly.

oh yeah, martha quimby threw a foosball table at some kids. i just don't think she gave an f. this sentence is here to remind me to write about troy mcclure tommorow.