Another lazy saturday. Thank goodness. between all the time spent miming to students, meeting new teachers, switching between spanish and english, trying to feel out the ways of my house, and walking around trying to learn my city, i'm exhausted. I love it all, but it was beyond nice to wake up when I wanted this morning, hang out by myself and cook my own breakfast!- it's amazing how nice it is to choose what you are going to eat.
So let's recap again. it's been a good week. thursday I had a pretty full day of classes, i also had my first day with half the class at a time on my own. We had 6a first and we were working with them finishing up making an album of famous people where they had to use 2 physical and 2 personality adjectives "Justin Bieber is tall and thin. He is funny and sociable." After finishing this in the last 2 classes, thursday they had to practice what will be a graded presentation next week presenting 3 of the famous people they choose. So, my job was to walk around and help them learn how to pronounce words and correct their sentences. Then we broke off into 2 classes and each kid had to give a practice presentation in front of the class..this is when I was on my own. And actually, it was awesome. I'm not really sure what persona took over, but I got them to listen to me, they did what I asked, but they also seemed confortable and I was able to keep their attention/make them laugh. They also were pretty good at speaking, so I was a bit on cloud 9.
Then during my break I helped Eliu, the gym teacher translate some documents he needs to emigrate to Australia (he got a job there, but has to get all the other legal stuff together) he needed his life insurance plan translated, and although I kept asking him if he needed like an official translation, he just kept asking me to do it. So I did. I felt kinda cool being able to help him and knowing how to translate a life insurance policy (just in case he is going to send the spanish version too haha). Then I had to do the same presentation thing with 6b, only it was a bit more difficult this time. Classes are considered a or b for a reason. When it came time to split up the class Caroll took most of the class cause they were really acting up/didn't do their work. So, the class I did have was awesome and really good, but since there were so few we had like 15 minutes left where I realized i had to entertain them...Cali improvising being a teacher take 1.
Somehow it all worked out. I made up a game really quick where I would say a sentence like "Lady Gaga is tall and has blonde hair" and a person from each team would have to write it on the board, first one done correctly got a point. They seemed to love it, were screaming and helping each other and couldn't wait to get to the board. It was pretty awesome and I feel like they were actually learning, some poor kid will never forget how to spell blonde that's for sure. In the end they were tied and so I made a harder comparison sentence (which they had done in their album as well, something like Justin Bieber is taller and more sociable than Selena Gomez)---side note, thank goodness I have the music taste of a 6th grader sometimes, it's proving to be helpful-- and obviously one team one. 1. i didn't realize how hard the losing team would take it and 2. i didn't realize how bad it would make me feel telling some kids they didn't win. it's not like they even won anything (even tho they kept begging me for candy, but it wasn't mine to give). I'm going to have to get used to some kids being disappointed I guess.
The rest of the day was a 8b and then 7a class and I don't think much happened in those classes. I also can't seem to remember what happened that night, so i guess i just came home hung out with the fam and tried to make myself stay sane until "dinner" at 9. And then friday happened.
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Friday is a "hard" day cause it's all the older kids all day (well...til 1) with no breaks. So we had 7a and taught them about past tenses and they actually weren't bad, the kids in that class are warming up to me so it was nice. Then we had 8a and we gave them a worksheet on superlatives (tallEST, most beautiful, etc.; turns out I'm learning a lot about the rules of why we actually form words the way we do. it's kinda nice just knowing how to form sentences without having to learn the rules, although at some point in time I don't remember I'm sure this was a struggle. It's also nice to remember that I actually can speak a language fluently.) anyways, they were somehow really into this worksheet and kept asking me for help and were really good at it. I was pretty excited about how it was going, and then halfway through someone came and told us that they were going on a field trip to a nearby high schools 8th grade day, so our class was over.
Caroll and I weren't sure what to do next because it was 10:45 and we were supposed to just have 8th grades the rest of the day, so we went and asked the director who told us we could just go with them....spontaneous field trip? ok! Turns out, the 2 teachers who were supposed to chaperone were sick, so really we just got sucked into being subs. Either way, it turned out to be an adventure. We literally ran to the bus with 2 schools worth of 8th grade classes stuffed in (these people sure do know how to sardine themselves into spaces). Caroll explained to me that we were going basically to a trade high school where most of these kids would go-I guess im learning more and more that this is a low income school, not as bad/scary as some here, there isn't a drug or violence problem, just lots of mental illness and lack of opportunities. So we went to this small high school where we spent the rest of the day going from class to class listening to each area present why the kids should chose to become a secretary or accountant or whatever.
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I was really surprised by the students' behavior here. They are loud at school and usually don't shut up, but eventually they do give you some respect and attention, but here they were just so rude. Talking and laughing and even leaving the rooms as the high schoolers were presenting. I was so shocked. They paid no attention to Caroll, me, or other teachers there who were telling them to listen. I know I went to strict schools, but I still can't imagine not listening to a teacher, especially one at a high school I am visiting when I am a little 8th grader...was I the only one really overwhelmed and intimidated on 8th grade day?? I was getting really frustrated, but really my standing by them, telling them to be quiet, etc. was useless. I think in general this is something that had been bugging me most about schools here. On the outside it looks so formal and put together, everyone wears uniforms, they line up to enter your room, they stand waiting for you to say good morning, say good morning mees back, you tell them to sit down and they say thank you mees, and then all hell breaks loose. they have all these formalities for writing with the correct pens and making it look neat and clean (don't get me started on the use of white out here) but then their notes make no sense or are incomplete. There is just such a disconnect between the formalities and appearance and what is really happening.
So as we were leaving the school at 1 I was really ready to leave these kids. I was so disgusted by their rudeness and lack of respect and really ashamed to have them as a representation of our school (possibly even worse, we weren't the worst students there). Then things took another twist. For some reason our bus couldn't come pick us up, so we ended up waiting for over an hour for one to get us. During this time a lot of the kids were coming up to me and IN ENGLISH trying to ask me questions. It felt like such a breakthrough. It was the first time they didnt just try in spanish, realized I "didn't" get it and walked away. They were asking each other how to say things and at least tried. They also tried teaching me spanish, which I think helped them in the end cause they would teach me by saying it in english and then spanish..so obviously some connections were being made there. and then I would ask how to say something else and make them work to make the connection in spanish. That was actually really positive and I felt like all these walls between us were breaking where they were seeing me as a normal human being and they were seeing that we actually can communicate.
So somehow I managed to start to like the kids again...they really are toying with my emotions here. A micro (city bus) came to pick us up and if I thought we had squeezed onto the bus before, I was wrong. After standing in the sun for an hour, these 13 year olds smelled less than fresh all smushed together on a bus. (I'll have to talk about hygiene here some time too...although I'd rather not think about it hah). On the bus it was kinda cute when I told Caroll that i was hungry and one kid understood me and said "Mees, here" and handed me a sucker.
So we got back to school around 2:30, instead of 1, missed our new teachers meeting and got our stuff to go home. While I was waiting for Caroll (who was picking up her son and was going to give me a ride) I was talking to the gym teacher, who is going to help me get a pool membership here, but we were talking in spanish and some kids came by and heard and yelled "SHE SPEAKS SPANISH, SHE'S BEEN PRETENDING THIS WHOLE TIME," i panicked a bit and just said, "what? what?" they laughed and walked away, so we'll see on monday. -except then I cam home and Pilar told me that Eryn, the boy who was their teacher before, had emailed them and when they said that I don't speak any spanish like him, he responded saying, no that's not true I speak really good spanish...so, thanks Eryn.
Anyways, Caroll dropped me off, I ate really quick and then walked into town to meet Laura and Bria, other volunteers. It turned out to be an awesome night. We sat and vented a bit in the plaza and then walked to the "isla" which is not an island...considering you can walk to it. We sat and had octopus empanadas (!) as the sun was setting and it was gorgeous.
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Then we walked a bit more south (which I have been wanting to do since I got here so I was pleased) and saw some other beaches and areas that were really nice. We then walked back to the port area, saw some sea lions, tried not to puke from the smell of the fish market and she showed us where the good restaurants are-so mom I know where I am taking you. It was really pretty to see the boats and bay lights from the port, definitely somewhere I need to go in the daytime too.
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Then we walked to literally a hole in the wall bar Laura knew (she's been here since march) and had terremotos ("earthquakes"-called this cause you leave with your legs feeling shaky they say; you can also follow them up with the same drink but half the amount, called a replica or "aftershock" haha) They are basically just drinks with pipeno, a fermented white wine and pineapple ice cream. So we sat there for awhile talking and then decided to hike up the morro..the famous rock/hill. So we walked up some hills to the entrance, but it was closed. It didn't really matter, the view was still really spectacular, it looked a lot like vina (where I lived before) actually. Very pretty views of the bay and city lights and hills.
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We decided then to go get ice cream (Laura's favorite things are also ice cream and empanadas, it's too bad she's leaving in a month). We went to the main street and got 2 desserts to share, a "hot cake" which was kinda like a brownie with fudge and ice cream...i can't tell you how happy i was. and then a mil hojas cake, the same we ha made for hector's bday. we stuffed our faces and then decided to call it a night.
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I took a collectivo home (first time!) and was all ready to go to bed, but eduardo and stephanie asked me to play a card game with them, so I did. It was like rummy but with 12 cards and with like 10 rounds with things you have to do each round. for example, you have to get just 2 trios (3 of any card) at first, then next round you have to get 2, 4 card straights, and you just keep changing/adding on what you need. it took about 2 hours to play. although it was really fun and felt pretty normal hanging out with them. I also tried a dulce de leche liquor that was incredible. you literally sip like a teaspoon amount with ice for a long time cause it is so sweet...obviously i loved it. finally at 2 i went to bed, got up today, and here we are.
This really was an exciting week looking back on it. Lots of firsts, lots of learning, lots of adjusting, and lots of really starting to love my new life. It's going to be a challenge, it's definitely pushing me, but I already feel more assured and proud of myself and even more than that I feel overly blessed and lucky.
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"It's amazing where I'm standing.
There's a love that, we can give.
It's just ours just for a moment.
There's a lot that we can give."
-Vega 4 "Life is Beautiful"
With love, from the southern hemisphere,
Cali
