Catching Up

It has been another packed week, so this is a quick catch-up before I head to La U to teach my first class of seven. I spent the first part of the week sorting out a schedule with the the Spanish school. It has been almost impossible to teach because the school is at capacity and so the teachers never have time to meet with me. This weekend there is a fiesta in San Pedro, so school isn't even meeting Monday. Next weekend I will start teaching a beginner class on the weekend. That means I'll be working at La U every Saturday, then coming back here to teach Saturday afternoon and/or Sunday. Busy weekends! I have been meeting individually with a number of teachers, and that has been a good experience. The other part of the arrangement I made was to get 20 hours of Spanish classes because that is the only way I can get access to information about the school. I will be working with Rafa, who is the only administrator who is also a teacher.

Thursday I went to Antigua to pick up Cristina, who is here for a week. While there I met with Patrick Atkinson, the "One man NGO," as someone here put it. He's the man I met on the plane to El Salvador. He took me around to his various educational projects and invited me again to work with him in Antigua. It became very clear to me through my talks with him that I am not ready to leave San Pedro. I am learning so much here about teaching and community and team building that I feel I have barely scratched the surface of what I would like to learn. In addition, because I have spent so much time negotiating the agreement here at the school and talking with many people here in Spanish out of necessity, my Spanish has become very sloppy. I can communicate what I need to, but I am becoming increasingly frustrated with my lack of accuracy and ability to communicate fully.

This week Cristina and I will be sharing my 20 hours, so I will have some time to sit down, gather my thoughts, and do some studying.

I am seriously considering staying here through December. I would probably go back to the States in August as originally scheduled to take care of some business, then come back here.