What ever happened to an Apple for the teacher?

So we all remember my student from the Ivory Coast. She is this beautiful little black girl who speaks French and follows me around. Today she shows up to school and hands me a little box and says, "pour toi" (for you). As a sixth grade teacher to kids from a latin culture I have seen this before and quickly refuse before they get too set on giving it to me. I don't accept gifts for many reasons:

• my kids are poor
• I am a government employee and I am sure it is illegal
• speaking of illegal I don't want them to give me any stolen goods
• most importantly I don't want the crap that they tend to give me, i.e. old hair baubles and bows, gum, used pencil top erasers, junk they find in the park, small ceramic kittens in Santa Claus hats etc

This little girl thinks that I am not understanding her so she keeps pushing the little box on me, so finally I relent realizing that it won't kill me to put a used Sponge Bob eraser on my pencil and appear to cherish it so as to make nice and bridge the cultural gap. I take the box and give Fatime a hug and say thank you. Then I open it.....inside there is a ring and what appears to be a diamond perched on top!
I try to give it back, Fatime puts it on my finger and looks quite intent on keeping it there. I ask her if her dad knows she gave it to me. She says yes. I decide we have to start class and this has gone on long enough and that I will talk to her later. So I teach my class then when Fatime leaves I put the ring in the box and lock it up. I go and consult my Assistant Principal and my dean, they say "COOL, Keep it!" they are obviously really classy. Fatime sees me later and asks if I have lost the ring, she is very concerned so I take her back to my class where I have it locked up, she pulls it out and puts it back on my hand and tells me not to take it off or I will lose it. So I teach the rest of the day with this ring on my hand and four other teachers ask me if I am engaged.

Here is the thing...
She is from the Ivory Coast, known for a brutal diamond trade.
(As I am writing this I am afraid the UN is going to come and arrest me)
I am fairly certain the diamond is real based on some things she has told me.
I am morally opposed to owning or wearing a diamond because of the atrocities committed on children in the diamond trade in Africa. How ironic is it that the first diamond that I ever receive is from the exact population I am trying to protect with my stand against them?
Given that there was a huge miscommunication problem with the diamond ring, this could mean that I am engaged to some random African man.

So, what do I do? Anyone ever had to give back a diamond ring?

The First Two Weeks

Teachers are told not to smile until Christmas so that the students don't rip you to shreds by June. Turns out, I can't make it even through an entire day. To counter my smiles I am perfecting a disapproving teacher glare that can strike fear into the heart of even the most thuggish of thugs.

I am much more prepared this year, than last so...things are going a lot more smoothly.

The first day of school, a sixth grade teacher came up and said, "Ms. Allred there is a girl in my class from the Ivory Coast who speaks not a word of English and she looks like she is going to burst into tears at any moment." She had recently been sent to live with her father whom she had never met and was separated from her Mother for the first time. Then she comes to our crazy school and is in a classroom where she can't understand a word and all the students are staring ar her and she has a bunch of teachers who never smile and glare angrily. I went into grab her immediately and broke out my rusty French. She started crying and hugged me, then she followed me around for a week. She never wanted to leave my side. She is doing better now and even trying out some English.

Some interesting things...
1- On September 11th I wrote on the board, "What happened 7 years ago today in New York City?" Nobody knew the answer. These kids were 3 or 4, seven years ago so that event seems like ancient history to them. After a few hints, (I drew the twin towers on the board and an airplane) one boy raised his hand and said, "George W. Bush ordered that someone blow up the twin towers." This is what happens when parents let Micheal Moore educate their children. We had a discussion about theory and fact.

2- Today I was discussing the issue of race with another class and one of the boys raised his hand and said, "Ms. Allred, you white like milk."

3- Another boy in another class came up really close to my face and after staring into my eyes curiously asked, "Did you buy those at a Halloween store?" He wants a pair of eyes "just like" mine to freak out his friends and family.