Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday, June 15 - work progressing
What an amazing experience I am having. Thursday I taught my second official class at the school here and had some more horsing around by some of the teachers, to the point that I was really considering not teaching here any more. Luckily I have so many possibilities for teaching that I am in the catbird seat. Thursday after the class and Friday morning I made a point of speaking with several of the teachers, specifically the rowdier ones. One of them told me that he and the other teachers were talking about the problem and sorting out among themselves how they were going to change. I had an interesting exchange with another, one of the leaders in the school, a master teacher so to speak, who was frankly a pain in the butt. He was the first man I have experienced as being macho, and we had quite a conversation. He tried to dominate the discussion and convince me I was wrong, but I stood my ground and told him I had too many possibilities coming at me to consider wasting my time with students who were not willing to give me respect. Later in the day I had a long conversation with Selvin, and he told me that he had talked with Ramón, the director, about the situation. After having felt so isolated in my teaching for so long, I find it a remarkable experience to have so much communication with other teachers.
Selvin gave me the schedule for teacher training, and I have learned that there about 10 classes a week for teachers. as well as two weekly meetings to discuss schedules and goals for the school. Yesterday at 3:00 I sat in on a class taught by him about the way to teach beginning Spanish speakers and then a class by Rafael about how to make a weekly plan for students. Again, I am so impressed by the commitment to good teaching and the amount of time spent on developing skills. The teachers are also so participatory that it is a joy to be with them. The teachers typically have lively discussions and arguments throughout the classes. In both classes I found myself at the blackboard illustrating particular points of English.
Yesterday morning I went to the university (“La U”) to observe the teacher training class I will be taking over in two weeks. There were 10 students in the class, and I was impressed by their level of English. The training itself is less rigorous than I would like, but soon I will be able to set my own standards, at least to some extent. One of the students in the training is a young man named Pedro. He told me that he has been teaching English to high schoolers for six years. When I was how old he was, he said he was 22 and had started teaching English when he was 16.
Before class I met a woman who is teaching an English class, and we chatted for a bit. When I was leaving at 11:00, she invited me into her class, and I talked with the students for over an hour at her urging. This is exactly the kind of interaction and sharing that I have been missing for so long, and it was moving to be with all of them.
It is a remarkable experience to go to La U. I take a boat from San Pedro to Pana, then a bus to Sololá and another bus to La U. Pana is known as Gringotenango and is crazy with stalls and people trying to sell everything under the sun, but I am lucky enough to change buses on the outskirts of town and avoid the circus. As I experienced last week, I saw no other gringos on the boat, on either bus, or in Sololá. Today while waiting for the bus in Pana, I watched a man on another bus open the back door and climb up to the rack on top to unload packages while the bus was still moving. In Sololá, I saw a man in the back of a pickup truck milking a goat and several other pickups with up to 20 people standing up in the back. Most of the pickups have frames so that people can be transported relatively safely.
When I got back to the San Pedro and the school, I had a Spanish class with Rafael, my first since I’ve been here. It was a wonderful experience. I had scheduled an English class which didn’t seem to be a go, but another teacher came and we decided to do a group class. I was more than a little intimidated by Rafael because he has an authoritative air about him and because he had done such a good job teaching the class the evening before. He asked me to just start talking, and I ended up telling him about my painful experience teaching last semester and about how much my confidence had been shaken by that. He commented that he had noticed my being diffident and self-effacing in several interactions and invited me to put down the load of self-doubt (that I hadn’t realized I was still carrying). He also said it was hard to correct my Spanish because I made so few errors and invited me to speak more freely and openly without worrying so much about making mistakes, assuring me that it was his job to correct me and my job to simply communicate. He also told me that he was aware of the problem with some of the teachers in mny classes, that he was distressed by it and that the situation would be handled. Javier, the other teacher with us who has been a wonderful student, said after the session that I could always count on him to be supportive and available whenever I needed him.
After an hour, we switched roles, and I became the teacher. This was the first time Rafael had worked with me, and he shared what I could observe, that he felt very timid and vulnerable being the student. It is such a special experience working with other language teachers and trading roles back and forth and sharing our expertise and our vulnerability. I did not know such a rich exchange was possible, and I treasure this time so much.
I am getting really good feedback from some of the teachers about working with me. Several of them have commented that they have made a huge leap on their confidence and willingness to speak English. I feel so welcome here and have a very special role as the resident English expert. I had already planned to attend (I should stop using the phrase “sit on on” because I am whole- heartedly welcomed as a participant) as many of the teacher training classes as possible for my own benefit, but Rafael asked me to attend as an interpreter as well. Every request I have made at the school - to sit in on a class, to borrow a book, to use a “classroom”- has been met by “Por supuesto (Of course).” I have never seen such a transparent organization or one in which there is so much mutual respect and camaraderie. I feel truly blessed to be here.
I am settling in to my life here in Guatemala. I wash my own clothes and hang them on the line in the garden. I generally feel a little grubby, but then Guatemala is grubby so I fit right in. Rosa does all her laundry and dish washing outside and her cooking in the kitchen across the courtyard from where she and her family sleep. I don't spend much time with her and Felipe, her husband, but our conversationas are always warm and rich. Rosa has a natural ability to work with Spanish learners, although I imagine her educational level is quite low. Felipe and I have talked some about he war here, and he told me of having been shot and abducted for eight days when he was 16. He says that several of his relatives who were disappeared have never been found. We also talk about the mixed blessing of tourism and the growing problem with la droga (drugs) in San Pedro.
I am met with another Felipe, who is the director of the program for children here at the school. He talked with me for over an hour about the project, in Spanish, and I taped it so I could listen to it later. The directors here have a strong vision for the future of Guatemala and tremendous skills to do their part in creating changes.
The incesant rain has finally stopped, and the weather is crisp and clear with some rain in the evening or at night. I usually shed my sweater or jacket about midday. Right now I am sitting near the lake at 6:30am listening to the birds and the waves from the lake and catching an occasional glimpse of a fisherman.
It is interesting” to be here in Guatemala and read about all the bad news in the US and wonder if the Mayan calendar is truly correct. It seems to me that significant and dramatic changes are occurring in a number of areas in the US and around the world. Guatemala has so many problems that sometimes it seems there is no place to go but up, and I have no illusion that I will have much of a role in addressing any of them, really. However, I have a strong sense of being in exactly the right place at this time in my life. I am experiencing a healing that I didn’t know I needed and a sense of community I didn’t know was possible.
I welcome anyone who is reading this to consider coming down to spend time with me and my friends this summer. God Bless.
Selvin gave me the schedule for teacher training, and I have learned that there about 10 classes a week for teachers. as well as two weekly meetings to discuss schedules and goals for the school. Yesterday at 3:00 I sat in on a class taught by him about the way to teach beginning Spanish speakers and then a class by Rafael about how to make a weekly plan for students. Again, I am so impressed by the commitment to good teaching and the amount of time spent on developing skills. The teachers are also so participatory that it is a joy to be with them. The teachers typically have lively discussions and arguments throughout the classes. In both classes I found myself at the blackboard illustrating particular points of English.
Yesterday morning I went to the university (“La U”) to observe the teacher training class I will be taking over in two weeks. There were 10 students in the class, and I was impressed by their level of English. The training itself is less rigorous than I would like, but soon I will be able to set my own standards, at least to some extent. One of the students in the training is a young man named Pedro. He told me that he has been teaching English to high schoolers for six years. When I was how old he was, he said he was 22 and had started teaching English when he was 16.
Before class I met a woman who is teaching an English class, and we chatted for a bit. When I was leaving at 11:00, she invited me into her class, and I talked with the students for over an hour at her urging. This is exactly the kind of interaction and sharing that I have been missing for so long, and it was moving to be with all of them.
It is a remarkable experience to go to La U. I take a boat from San Pedro to Pana, then a bus to Sololá and another bus to La U. Pana is known as Gringotenango and is crazy with stalls and people trying to sell everything under the sun, but I am lucky enough to change buses on the outskirts of town and avoid the circus. As I experienced last week, I saw no other gringos on the boat, on either bus, or in Sololá. Today while waiting for the bus in Pana, I watched a man on another bus open the back door and climb up to the rack on top to unload packages while the bus was still moving. In Sololá, I saw a man in the back of a pickup truck milking a goat and several other pickups with up to 20 people standing up in the back. Most of the pickups have frames so that people can be transported relatively safely.
When I got back to the San Pedro and the school, I had a Spanish class with Rafael, my first since I’ve been here. It was a wonderful experience. I had scheduled an English class which didn’t seem to be a go, but another teacher came and we decided to do a group class. I was more than a little intimidated by Rafael because he has an authoritative air about him and because he had done such a good job teaching the class the evening before. He asked me to just start talking, and I ended up telling him about my painful experience teaching last semester and about how much my confidence had been shaken by that. He commented that he had noticed my being diffident and self-effacing in several interactions and invited me to put down the load of self-doubt (that I hadn’t realized I was still carrying). He also said it was hard to correct my Spanish because I made so few errors and invited me to speak more freely and openly without worrying so much about making mistakes, assuring me that it was his job to correct me and my job to simply communicate. He also told me that he was aware of the problem with some of the teachers in mny classes, that he was distressed by it and that the situation would be handled. Javier, the other teacher with us who has been a wonderful student, said after the session that I could always count on him to be supportive and available whenever I needed him.
After an hour, we switched roles, and I became the teacher. This was the first time Rafael had worked with me, and he shared what I could observe, that he felt very timid and vulnerable being the student. It is such a special experience working with other language teachers and trading roles back and forth and sharing our expertise and our vulnerability. I did not know such a rich exchange was possible, and I treasure this time so much.
I am getting really good feedback from some of the teachers about working with me. Several of them have commented that they have made a huge leap on their confidence and willingness to speak English. I feel so welcome here and have a very special role as the resident English expert. I had already planned to attend (I should stop using the phrase “sit on on” because I am whole- heartedly welcomed as a participant) as many of the teacher training classes as possible for my own benefit, but Rafael asked me to attend as an interpreter as well. Every request I have made at the school - to sit in on a class, to borrow a book, to use a “classroom”- has been met by “Por supuesto (Of course).” I have never seen such a transparent organization or one in which there is so much mutual respect and camaraderie. I feel truly blessed to be here.
I am settling in to my life here in Guatemala. I wash my own clothes and hang them on the line in the garden. I generally feel a little grubby, but then Guatemala is grubby so I fit right in. Rosa does all her laundry and dish washing outside and her cooking in the kitchen across the courtyard from where she and her family sleep. I don't spend much time with her and Felipe, her husband, but our conversationas are always warm and rich. Rosa has a natural ability to work with Spanish learners, although I imagine her educational level is quite low. Felipe and I have talked some about he war here, and he told me of having been shot and abducted for eight days when he was 16. He says that several of his relatives who were disappeared have never been found. We also talk about the mixed blessing of tourism and the growing problem with la droga (drugs) in San Pedro.
I am met with another Felipe, who is the director of the program for children here at the school. He talked with me for over an hour about the project, in Spanish, and I taped it so I could listen to it later. The directors here have a strong vision for the future of Guatemala and tremendous skills to do their part in creating changes.
The incesant rain has finally stopped, and the weather is crisp and clear with some rain in the evening or at night. I usually shed my sweater or jacket about midday. Right now I am sitting near the lake at 6:30am listening to the birds and the waves from the lake and catching an occasional glimpse of a fisherman.
It is interesting” to be here in Guatemala and read about all the bad news in the US and wonder if the Mayan calendar is truly correct. It seems to me that significant and dramatic changes are occurring in a number of areas in the US and around the world. Guatemala has so many problems that sometimes it seems there is no place to go but up, and I have no illusion that I will have much of a role in addressing any of them, really. However, I have a strong sense of being in exactly the right place at this time in my life. I am experiencing a healing that I didn’t know I needed and a sense of community I didn’t know was possible.
I welcome anyone who is reading this to consider coming down to spend time with me and my friends this summer. God Bless.
Thursday, June 12
After feeling so excited and overwhelmed yesterday, I am having my most uneasy day today. I think I could tell yesterday that I was running out of adrenaline. Last night I was annoyed by the kids’ noise; they were playing loud games when I wanted to go to sleep. I haven’t oriented myself to the area either; last evening I went out and was taken aback by what looks like a very lively bar scene which, luckily, I can not hear from my room. I’d rather hear the kids than the partiers, so I’ll try to remember that.
Today I set up a time to talk with Selvin, the office manager, but we kept getting interrupted, so we decided to meet tomorrow instead. I’m starting to hit some culture bumps. Yesterday I realized that I didn’t have correct change for la lancha (a must in order not to pay the tourist price) and stopped for coffee in order to get change. I learned that getting coffee quickly in Guatemala and expecting the correct change first thing in the morning doesn’t work. I also found out the boat schedule: every 12 people. Good to know.
I feel a little lonely today, for the first time since I left Guatemala. The teachers are lovely, but they are young, and the conversations mostly revolve around language. The couple I am staying with are wonderful and more my age. I think our friendship will develop as time goes on.
Today I set up a time to talk with Selvin, the office manager, but we kept getting interrupted, so we decided to meet tomorrow instead. I’m starting to hit some culture bumps. Yesterday I realized that I didn’t have correct change for la lancha (a must in order not to pay the tourist price) and stopped for coffee in order to get change. I learned that getting coffee quickly in Guatemala and expecting the correct change first thing in the morning doesn’t work. I also found out the boat schedule: every 12 people. Good to know.
I feel a little lonely today, for the first time since I left Guatemala. The teachers are lovely, but they are young, and the conversations mostly revolve around language. The couple I am staying with are wonderful and more my age. I think our friendship will develop as time goes on.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wednesday, June 11
I feel as though I have been in San Pedro for a lifetime and at this moment I want to stay here forever. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have found this place. It is hard to believe that I only came here yesterday and have been here only one night. So many things here are magical, and the impressions and experiences are coming at me so fast I feel as though I am being flooded with richness. With my friend Steve’s help, I was able to recognize that I badly needed to get away and collect my thoughts.
This place is very noisy compared to San Marcos and, honestly, to anywhere I thought I could live. As I write, I hear directly outside my window the three little boys of the family playing stickball and yelling in the courtyard. Behind that sound is the strong beat of the music from the fiesta at the school next door.
There are 25 teachers at the school, and I have met many of them now – Selvin, Francisco, Lukas, Rafael, Lety, Lety dos, Estella, Niko, Julio, Javier, Lorenzo, Omar, Elijio and others whose names I can't remember. I told the teachers that since there is only one of me and there are 25 of them, I am going to change my name every day for 25 days. Every dayElijio calles me another name and tells me his new name for the day. There is an air of camaraderie and motivation here that I have never before experienced in a work environment. I have lost count of how many teachers have approached me to talk and ask questions in the past day and a half. I keep coming across groups of teachers meeting to talk and improve their skills and to learn more about and discuss their teaching. Today I spent over an hour teaching an impromptu class. Yesterday I sat in on part of a class about how to teach preterit vs imperfect tenses. Today I sat in on a class Ramon gave about teaching interactively.
I am having second thoughts about continuing this blog. It is disconcerting to write into what feels mostly like a vacuum, and I notice that it has become more difficult to write in the past couple of days.
This place is very noisy compared to San Marcos and, honestly, to anywhere I thought I could live. As I write, I hear directly outside my window the three little boys of the family playing stickball and yelling in the courtyard. Behind that sound is the strong beat of the music from the fiesta at the school next door.
There are 25 teachers at the school, and I have met many of them now – Selvin, Francisco, Lukas, Rafael, Lety, Lety dos, Estella, Niko, Julio, Javier, Lorenzo, Omar, Elijio and others whose names I can't remember. I told the teachers that since there is only one of me and there are 25 of them, I am going to change my name every day for 25 days. Every dayElijio calles me another name and tells me his new name for the day. There is an air of camaraderie and motivation here that I have never before experienced in a work environment. I have lost count of how many teachers have approached me to talk and ask questions in the past day and a half. I keep coming across groups of teachers meeting to talk and improve their skills and to learn more about and discuss their teaching. Today I spent over an hour teaching an impromptu class. Yesterday I sat in on part of a class about how to teach preterit vs imperfect tenses. Today I sat in on a class Ramon gave about teaching interactively.
I am having second thoughts about continuing this blog. It is disconcerting to write into what feels mostly like a vacuum, and I notice that it has become more difficult to write in the past couple of days.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
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