I may as well just throw in the towel
No, not really. I mean, I am going to press on, but more and more this feels like an exercise in futility (and even if I do pass, different groups will contest the exam on different grounds, so it's possible that the whole thing will be thrown out, anyway.) So I don't know why I'm even bothering, except that at this point I've put enough into it that throwing in the towel is not an option.But still. Today I have been going through Science/Social Studies textbooks, and refreshing my memory about all kinds of things (though in one book, it says that 3/4 of the earth's surface is covered by water, and this same book, several pages later, announces that 2/3 of the earth's surface is covered by water. Genial.) A quick Google comes up with roughly 70% as the final figure. Whatever.
But then imagine my chagrin when I come across this bit of wisdom, enshrined upon the pages of the science textbook. It lists healthy habits, including: get enough sleep; have a healthy diet; eat at the right times (and here it references three meals a day, especially breakfast, but most places I have seen mention the healthier and more common 5 meals a day); keep your body clean; breathe clean air and get exercise (these two combined into one healthy habit); and the one that made my jaw drop (though it shouldn't have, really-- this is Spain): AVOID CATCHING A CHILL!
Really. Right there in the textbook, it explains that it's important to keep bundled up and avoid those diabolical air currents, which can cause us to catch a cold if we are at rest and one sweeps over us.
The mind boggles. I mean, I thought my MIL was crazy-obsessed with bundling up and avoiding cross-currents, but to think that they are actually teaching this in school? I might as well throw in the towel and begin to freak out if the kids go barefoot in the house or forget to zip up their sweatshirt, or -oh the horror- enter a room in which two different windows are open at the same time...
Granted, the next and subsequent pages are about viruses and bacteria and how they are the cause of illness. No mention of air currents. But apparently it's deeply embedded in the Spanish psyche...
(Also granted: this textbook is from a publisher that is popular, but nonetheless regarded as being less rigorous than others. Indeed.)
6 comments:
After years of simply being healthy fresh air here, those cross currents are now branded Green Energy. Would it be heretical to teach that on Earth Day?
sheesh!!
I feel really bad for you with all this exam crap looming over your head for nearly two years (right?). It royally sucks. And I'm sure it's hard to be hopeful and to think you can, maybe, pass.
I'm glad you still have your job for the next school year. Phew!
The texts there are so filled with weirdness. Honest to goodness, will you get piles if you sit on cold ground too?
Linda, eolic energy is appreciated here (they have quiet a few wind parks.) But apparently they don't want it in their homes...
Lilian, yeah, it does suck. I do think I will pass, but unfortunately I have to pass and be one of the top 290 to get a post, which is another story entirely. And I may not even pass-- it's hard to say, and some parts of it are so subjective that you never know. Though I am glad I have my job still.
oreneta, here it's not piles, it's something called rheuma. Whatever.
"I might as well throw in the towel and begin to freak out if the kids go barefoot in the house or forget to zip up their sweatshirt, or -oh the horror- enter a room in which two different windows are open at the same time..."
I couldn't help bursting out laughing... I know where you are coming from!
Adina, are you in Guatemala? When I was in Costa Rica, they were convinced that you could get terribly ill (I don't remember the term they used) if, after doing something that raised your body temperature, you exposed yourself to cooler air. Like, the woman I lived with was horrified that I would take a shower (no hot water) after aerobics class, and she didn't want to answer the door after ironing.
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