It is wednesday afternoon (well, it is 6:30, but that is still tarde here), and I'm in need of a siesta. Or a swim. Or a shower. This would probably be the case if you asked me how I was at any time, any day this week. Things have picked up since my blog/playa/exploration-centered weekend, and I'm gasping for free time. This isn't a bad thing, it just means I don't blog or swim as much as I'd like too. Poor me, I know. And it means I have a lot to tell you:
I. I am Kelly. I am a new teacher with La Catalina. I am from Oregon in the United States.
I've introduced myself to 5 classrooms and three after-school English sessions since Monday, pronouncing each word slowly and emphasizing certain vocabulary. I've been asked three or four times, "Do you have a boyfriend?" and "What is his name?" with a lot of giggling. Every week, the foundation holds after-school English and Adult English classes on Mondays and Wednesdays (the after-school is mostly young kids, and anyone from 12 to 60 comes to the adult classes. Varied age groups work together, play together, and learn together pretty harmoniously here.) We also teach English in the telesecondario (grades 7-8) and the teleprimaria (4,5,6) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
[Every morning at the Primeria, the principal leads group stretches to get everyone together. It is ridiculously entertaining and adorable to watch]
This week I've mostly been observing Stephanie teach or teaching bits and pieces of the lessons. I have to get used to the ways the different age groups can take in, remember, and combine information. It is a total learning process for me, never knowing how much they are understanding or how much they already know. I taught my first solo class (After-school English) this afternoon. It was tough, but I am excited to become more comfortable with thinking on my feet and pacing lessons energetically while not too quickly, both seem so necessary for teaching children.
[This is the Centro Educativo. The kids are lined up, ready for class. Well, as ready as they are going to get when what these girls really want to do is draw pictures with good markers... More students show up, mostly on bike, throughout the first ten minutes]
What has surprised and excited me most is how eager [most of] the kids and adults are to learn English through the foundation's programs. Kids appear to come to the afterschool classes totally on their own accord, and some older kids come to the drop-in Adult English with notebooks prepared and homework completed. Pedro, a student at the secondario, lives next door to us, and whenever I'm at Stephanie's late and come downstairs to my place, I see him on his plant-covered porch working on his homework. Stephanie says many of the parents, and children too, realize the many opportunities provided by the foundation, that this is unique to La Manzanilla, and embrace them as they come.
II. Escuela de español.
[Terry and Stephanie in Spanish Class]
Monday, I started spanish school at the La Catalina Natural Language Institute (what a name), three hours a day, everyday of the week. I'm afraid my mind might be at war, because it knows that in three months I'll have to return to the French I am so ardently trying to erase right now. The school's philosophy is that of natural language learning, so they put very little emphasis on memorization. Even more helpful than three hours of class a day, is that class gets me in the rhythm of speaking Spanish, and surrounds me with people who have come here to learn Spanish. Our teacher is a local woman (20-30s I think), Lyn, who doesn't create the lessons, but presents them. Her english is shaky, so I learn many words through descriptions in Spanish.
Spanish school introduced me to three new friends, my classmates, all from the Pacific NW. I guess we NW's love to travel...or have a desperate need to escape the rain this time of year. They came--two girls from Portland, and one woman from Olympia--to Stephanie's apartment last night to watch a movie in Spanish with Spanish subtitles, which was really helpful. We watched "Vitus," an adorable German film, about a child prodigy (not one of THOSE movies, but kind of). It's a clever movie, especially when it takes you a while to figure out what's happening.
My spanish will also improve as I continue teaching and beginning my "intercambio" or language exchange with David, our water delivery guy, where we will talk a half-hour in Spanish and a half-hour in English.
III. Otros pensamientos
That said, I feel pangs (yes, the cheesy word fits) of nostalgia or want when certain little things come up. For instance, I am around a lot of family gatherings, and get nostalgic for summer reunions at my Grandma's and playing in the Rogue. After the soccer game, I was thinking on and off about watching the world cup games in Portland last summer and eating lots of potato-based bar food. We read a Spanish article about Frida today, which reminded me of the Frida exhibit at the SF MOMA that Trevor and I saw when we took a road trip down the 101 the first summer we met. I explained in broken Spanish (flooded with accidental French) how cool the exhibit was and how painful and interesting Frida's non-portrait paintings were (they had handmade wooden frames sliced with red paint and barbed wire and were endlessly layered). Learning different words in Spanish class, I always attach them subconsciously to different occasions (most always summery occasions). It doesn't help that I'm usually tired during Spanish class, and the class room opens out into a beautiful view of the coastline. My mind can wander forevvver.
[the view from my "classroom." whatttt?!]
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