Several days ago I arranged to go to the university to observe the teacher training I came down to work with. This morning I got the boat at 6:00 to go to Pana for the bus. It was the first time I had ventured out without Daniel, and I began to realize that depending on someone else while traveling can be a crutch and a distraction from observing and being part of the culture. By the time we got to Pana, there were about 20 people on the boat, and the last five were in the bow and not under cover. The women and some of the men were dressed in native garb, and I was the only non native. It was wonderful. Same thing on both buses I took from Pana to Sololá and then to the university. I had breakfast between buses and got to the university about 8:45. The teacher was shocked to see me, saying she had not heard anything about my coming to observe. She seemed very defensive, I think because she felt bad about not wanting me there. I reassured her that it was ok for me not to stay and that I had enjoyed the trip and didn’t mind having come. I am rapidly mellowing this environment because it truly was not a problem for me. I went back to San Marcos, picking up two young women on the boat and inviting them to sit on my porch and relax and then have coffee together.
While I wasn’t upset about the upset in plans, I felt it was good information, since my contact person ha assured me that the teacher would know to expect me. The communication from people at the university has been sketchy and sporadic all along, and I have been given very little in the way of support or information. Ramón, on the other hand, has been responsive, prompt, and helpful in all his communications. I have decided that I will wait for the university people to contact me and then decide, based on their tone about the misfire, my next step. At this point, I have no interest in working in that program.
I am enjoying the tranquility of San Marcos again after all my adventures in the last couple days but think I will enjoy being in San Pedro.
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