Sunday August 29th
What a tumultuous adventure the past two weeks have been. After setting up my classroom and working as best as I knew how, I found I was totally unprepared for the start of the school year. Luckily the first week was only three days and half days at that. I had different teachers helping each day, but honestly, first grade is by far the hardest grade to teach. As they are all coming from preschool, it is a huge transition for them as the days are four hours longer and they have to learn how to read, write and think in a different way, all of which requires a great deal of concentration, which none of them have. That is to say, more than doing any teaching, games or projects like I was excited about, I had to spend every moment trying to discipline them, trying being the key since everything I tried seemed to fail miserably. The first few days were so trying as I felt like everything was way over my head and that the job was more that I could handle.. Taking into account many different reasons and factors that I will spare you the boredom of explaining; I am switching from my job. Still a little up in the air, but the last few days of last week I worked as an assistant with the new first grade teacher who moved from pre-school. Not only does she have a lot of experience, but she also had many of the students before. So its been interesting seeing how she works, and how to run the classroom. If all works out as planned I will be working as the teacher of “nivelación”, which means I would be the English tutor for students who are behind in their class, since almost all the materials are taught in English, it’s essential that students are all on the same level. This way I would work in small groups with the various grade levels and not have to be in charge of being responsible for an entire classroom of 20 crazy 6 yr olds. Buuuut things are still kinda up in the air so hopefully ill figure it all out early this week. Im also trying to get some dance classes up and running as soon as I can. I have the OK but I need to figure out the logistics of it.
In other news three very exciting things have happened. Number one was that I just had a lovely visit from my father! Well technically he was here for the ninth regional conference for burn medicine that was hosted by Aproquen. So while I was working during the day he was busy with meetings and lectures. On Thursday I escaped from work early showed up as a surprise at his lecture, which both in Spanish and in biology language I was surprisingly able to follow about half of. I also took advantage of his staying a nice hotel here, going to the cocktail parties they hosted for everyone at the conference, and sleeping each night at the hotel. Since the conference was only Thursday and Friday, on Saturday there was a planned excursion for everyone. We drove to Masaya, about 45 min away and went to the artisans market there. I went there when I was here in May, but there are so many beautiful things that it’s hard not to buy something every time you go. We left with some lovely cloth bags, a hammock, and someother little presents for people. The trip continued on to Granada, a colonial town that runs up against lake Nicaragua and has become one of the largest tourist cities here. The cars dropped us off at the water and we took a boat to one of the isletas. The lake is one of largest lakes in the world (I want to say 19th??) and has about 300 hundred tiny islands in it that are the results of a volcanic eruption many many maaaany years ago. Many of the islands have been bought by individuals who construct houses or whatever on them. All 57 of us jumped out of the boats onto a dreamlike lump of land surrounded by warm fresh water that is owned by the parents of Carlos Pellas (he and his wife are the founders of Aproquen). There was live music, endless refills of fresh coconuts, macuas (national drink of guava, orange juice and white rum), rum-and-cokes–since the Pellas’ are the owners of nicaragua’s national rum, Flor de Caña—a swimming pool, and an incredible meal of meats, tortillas, beans, and typical sweets from here. After about four drinks I somehow found myself taking a nap on a concrete bench, as most other people danced, sang, talked business, and the unfortunate few who were pushed into the pool without warning by one mischievous guest. Around 4 pm we headed back to the hotel and arrived just in time for the daily rainstorm. In the evening my dad, his girlfriend Susan, and I met up with the parents from the house I’ve been staying at (they became friends with my dad immediately) across the street at a famous restaurant here. I had bought tickets a few weeks ago from the swimming teacher at my school who told me that there was going to be a concert as a fundraiser to send the school’s swim team to Panama later on this year. For some reason I assumed there would be some typical Nicaraguan music or something of the sort. Instead we were presented with an unfortunate surprise of having young teenage rock bands make up the lineup, which could only be justified by the fact that most of them are students at the school. Let’s just say that after a piña colada and some sweet plantains, the group of us was sneaking out the back to make it an early night of good sleep. I hope they don’t ask me any questions at work tomorrow… This morning my dad and susan left in the weeeemorning while I caught up on the sleep I’ve been missing. Then comes part 2 of my exciting news! I spent all day moving into my new home!!
I met an American last time I was here, named Matthew, who has been here for about 6 months working with an NGO and more recently started working part time at Aproquen as well. He was gone these two weeks that I’ve been here so he’s been off my radar, but when he came back for the cocktail party last Wednesday and I told him I was still looking for a place to move, he asked me why I didn’t move in with him, as though it was the obvious solution, which it ends up being. His work provided him with a house in Altamira, a much more centrically located area. The two other people who were living with him this summer left and so the house has more than enough space. I have my own room with lots of space, a big window, a fan, a bathroom, plus the house has a large living room, huuuuge kitchen which im going to take full advantage of, a porch and a little garden out back. In other words, PLENTY of space for guests to come stay with me! So I spent today setting up my room, walked to the grocery store near by, and got home just in time before it started pouring…which it has been doing all afternoon. We were going to go to the softball league’s final game (its become this new craze here of having lots of softball teams, maybe 7?, that all compete against each other.. kinda weird and random) but it got rained out so we’ll go tomorrow.
Lastly, third exciting thing is that I visited an NGO here on Friday and will beginning working some with them. They are called FIMI—International Indigenous Woemn’s Forum—and are a sister organization to MADRE, where I worked as an intern in New York two summers ago. MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that actually began as a partnership between American and Nicaraguan women who worked together in solidarity during the war in the 80s. Before moving here, I got in touch with them to see about continuing some work with their sister organizations here and FIMI is who they put me in touch with. Hopefully they will be paying me, but if not then I will just do some volunteer work since I am very passionate about the issues they deal with, just wont be able to do as much.
In sum, Im feeling much more optimistic about things, still have much to figure out but am feeling more grounded, especially having a new home I feel comfortable in and an awesome roommate. I hope this upcoming week will be busy and will help me work out some kinks I’ve been needing to do…
Lots of love!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
head first
Its incredible that it has not even been a week since I’ve been here and I feel like so much has happened. After a nightmarish episode of catching 3 planes to get here, all of which I nearly missed, I arrived exhausted Tuesday morning to the Managua airport. A friend from work, Dennis, picked me up (without my luggage, which of course got lost amongst the craze of my transfers) and brought me to the house I am staying at. A lot of details of unfortunate events such as not having a room ready for me, or a bed, or clean clothes, so long story short I found a little sofa and passed out for the majority of the day. Aside from these preliminary complications, I adore the family I am staying with. The woman, Mirna, is a dentist along with her 23 year-old daughter Pamela and they work together in their own private clinic. The husband, Pablo, works with some security company and an avid reader (Schopenhauer over breakfast? Not my favorite way of starting the day). And then there is their son Pablito who’s 25 and does something, hasn’t really given me the time of day and seems too serious. Despite liking the family and the convenient location of being about a 15 min walk from the school I am working at, I am looking for a new place for next month. The room I have barely has a window, horrible light, tiny with plaster walls, and no air circulation.. not somewhere I can call home for a year. Plus I’ll need a place where all my friends and family can come stay with me!
The day after arriving, Wednesday, I went to my first day of work. Of course, a la Nicaraguan, I hadn’t hear anything from the woman who hired me regarding the where or when of the day, so I just showed up and hoped for the best. Upon arriving, the new teachers, a group of 6 of us, were given a tour of the school in which we saw our classrooms to-be. The rest of the day was dedicated to a meeting with all the teachers where we learned more about the school, the upcoming changes, and did introductory games. One of the women invited me to her house for lunch where I met her son who will hopefully be in my class. Then I found out my bags arrived so with a lot of difficulty of finding a ride, arriving after the airline’s pickup hours, running all over the airport, by some miracle I finally got my bags. By the time I got home I had to run to my first Junior Board meeting at APROQUEN. Basically I was feeling totally overwhelmed and on day one hit the “Oh Shit!” part of my trip when I seriously beginning to question why it was I had come back here given the fact that nothing in my trip had yet gone as I expected or hoped for. With that said, it was such a relief to arrive at the office and see familiar faces of friends/co-workers who were the one’s who inspired my return. The meeting itself was rather uneventful, my understanding is that we will just be planning a bunch of monthly social events to fundraise and spread awareness about APROQUEN. I suppose another avenue for meeting people and getting involved.
Thursday and Friday I spent at the school roaming around without too much direction/instruction. The classrooms are beautiful, the majority have an open garden in them. While mine doesn’t, it is huge with lots of wall space. So I got to work decorating with the materials left over from the previous teacher, working with the other first grade teacher to decorate the wall outside. She is also new so we are both on the same page of being in over our heads and just having to jump right in first. While at some level I feel like I have no idea what I am doing, it’s a friendly environment where I feel comfortable asking anyone for help or a question. The main part that will take some getting used to is being addressed as “Profesora Alana”.
By Friday night I was exhausted and conked out in order to wake up early and go with the parents to el Huembe, a huge and chaotic market place where you buy pretty much anything you need, from fans, pots, shoes, hair producats, piñatas, fruits and vegetable, freshly cut cow and other farmhouse goodies. Definitely an experience in and of itself, useful to where to get things for cheap, but totally overwhelming and an easy spot to get ripped off as a tourist. After that I went to a beginning Salsa class that a co-worker of mine was teaching at the dance study I spent all of my time at last trip. While the class was seeeeeeriously for beginners and a few unnamed people who cannot hear or hold a beat to save their life, it was great to be back in the familiar environment and see some friends. Afterwards my friend/surrogate mother (don’t worry mama! You’re not getting replaced!) la Dra. Ivete Icaza, her 13 year-old son Claudio who is the younger brother I always wanted, and her brother picked me up and we drove to Leon, a city about 1.5 hrs from Managua. It was one of the many days spent in honor of the Virgin Maria. The story is that there is a volcano near Leon that used to spew ash and sand over the city, which would destroy not only people’s health but also their houses and the city’s infrastructure. So one day (some time in the 40s) the city’s priest prayed to the virgin for her protection. Since then the volcano has not erupted..or so they say. So the 14th is a day of celebration in honor of the virgin. At 6pm there are fireworks that go off by the cathedral with someone ringing the bell and las Gigantonas dancing. The rest of the night is some version of Halloween with kids (and some adults including myself) going to different houses and asking “quien causa tanta alegria?” the people respond “la asuncion de la virgin maria!” “Que viva la virgin!” “Que viva!” and then you get candy! Or rice, or coffee or matches, etc.. For most people the night is spent sitting on their doorsteps chatting, watching the procession of people, or for people like us, scurrying inside when you hear someone has a knife… meh. I guess some teenager got really overprotective of his candy or something.
After that episode we wound ourway to a little discoteca where a band from the north coast was playing live music interspersed with some bachata and reggaeton, danced a couple hours, some Nicaraguan rum and then went to bed… since we brought a 13 yr old in with us who wasn’t quite used to the nightlife scene…whoops.
This morning we woke up and went to the beach where Ivete’s mom has a restaurant on the beach. Spend about 4 hrs hanging out, chatting, eating delicious sea food and then hit the road back to Managua…
So here I am and gonna start my first full week tomorrow with the students coming on Wednesday! Feeling pretty uprooted and missing home and family which I guess is normal, but since I don’t think ive gotten homesick since I was in middle school, it’s a bit weird… anyways, I know once I get up on my feet and get into the rhythm of things ill be fine…. Besos!!!!!! Please send updates this way!!
The day after arriving, Wednesday, I went to my first day of work. Of course, a la Nicaraguan, I hadn’t hear anything from the woman who hired me regarding the where or when of the day, so I just showed up and hoped for the best. Upon arriving, the new teachers, a group of 6 of us, were given a tour of the school in which we saw our classrooms to-be. The rest of the day was dedicated to a meeting with all the teachers where we learned more about the school, the upcoming changes, and did introductory games. One of the women invited me to her house for lunch where I met her son who will hopefully be in my class. Then I found out my bags arrived so with a lot of difficulty of finding a ride, arriving after the airline’s pickup hours, running all over the airport, by some miracle I finally got my bags. By the time I got home I had to run to my first Junior Board meeting at APROQUEN. Basically I was feeling totally overwhelmed and on day one hit the “Oh Shit!” part of my trip when I seriously beginning to question why it was I had come back here given the fact that nothing in my trip had yet gone as I expected or hoped for. With that said, it was such a relief to arrive at the office and see familiar faces of friends/co-workers who were the one’s who inspired my return. The meeting itself was rather uneventful, my understanding is that we will just be planning a bunch of monthly social events to fundraise and spread awareness about APROQUEN. I suppose another avenue for meeting people and getting involved.
Thursday and Friday I spent at the school roaming around without too much direction/instruction. The classrooms are beautiful, the majority have an open garden in them. While mine doesn’t, it is huge with lots of wall space. So I got to work decorating with the materials left over from the previous teacher, working with the other first grade teacher to decorate the wall outside. She is also new so we are both on the same page of being in over our heads and just having to jump right in first. While at some level I feel like I have no idea what I am doing, it’s a friendly environment where I feel comfortable asking anyone for help or a question. The main part that will take some getting used to is being addressed as “Profesora Alana”.
By Friday night I was exhausted and conked out in order to wake up early and go with the parents to el Huembe, a huge and chaotic market place where you buy pretty much anything you need, from fans, pots, shoes, hair producats, piñatas, fruits and vegetable, freshly cut cow and other farmhouse goodies. Definitely an experience in and of itself, useful to where to get things for cheap, but totally overwhelming and an easy spot to get ripped off as a tourist. After that I went to a beginning Salsa class that a co-worker of mine was teaching at the dance study I spent all of my time at last trip. While the class was seeeeeeriously for beginners and a few unnamed people who cannot hear or hold a beat to save their life, it was great to be back in the familiar environment and see some friends. Afterwards my friend/surrogate mother (don’t worry mama! You’re not getting replaced!) la Dra. Ivete Icaza, her 13 year-old son Claudio who is the younger brother I always wanted, and her brother picked me up and we drove to Leon, a city about 1.5 hrs from Managua. It was one of the many days spent in honor of the Virgin Maria. The story is that there is a volcano near Leon that used to spew ash and sand over the city, which would destroy not only people’s health but also their houses and the city’s infrastructure. So one day (some time in the 40s) the city’s priest prayed to the virgin for her protection. Since then the volcano has not erupted..or so they say. So the 14th is a day of celebration in honor of the virgin. At 6pm there are fireworks that go off by the cathedral with someone ringing the bell and las Gigantonas dancing. The rest of the night is some version of Halloween with kids (and some adults including myself) going to different houses and asking “quien causa tanta alegria?” the people respond “la asuncion de la virgin maria!” “Que viva la virgin!” “Que viva!” and then you get candy! Or rice, or coffee or matches, etc.. For most people the night is spent sitting on their doorsteps chatting, watching the procession of people, or for people like us, scurrying inside when you hear someone has a knife… meh. I guess some teenager got really overprotective of his candy or something.
After that episode we wound ourway to a little discoteca where a band from the north coast was playing live music interspersed with some bachata and reggaeton, danced a couple hours, some Nicaraguan rum and then went to bed… since we brought a 13 yr old in with us who wasn’t quite used to the nightlife scene…whoops.
This morning we woke up and went to the beach where Ivete’s mom has a restaurant on the beach. Spend about 4 hrs hanging out, chatting, eating delicious sea food and then hit the road back to Managua…
So here I am and gonna start my first full week tomorrow with the students coming on Wednesday! Feeling pretty uprooted and missing home and family which I guess is normal, but since I don’t think ive gotten homesick since I was in middle school, it’s a bit weird… anyways, I know once I get up on my feet and get into the rhythm of things ill be fine…. Besos!!!!!! Please send updates this way!!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Beginning
It's a 4 day countdown until i embark on my voyage to Nicaragua. For those who dont know what I'm doing, I will be teaching 1st grade at a k-12 international school called The Pierre and Marie Curie school. Unlike most private institutions attended by the Nicaraguan elite, this school extends itself more towards the small middle/upper-middle class that exists creating a slightly more diverse group of students. Furthermore, an aspect that I am extremely excited by, is that the school promotes an integrative and experimental approach to education, sort of montessori-esque. With that said, I have absolutely no experience teaching but decided when i was there earlier this summer that i wanted to find a way to go back and stay for an extended period of time. Like many recent college graduates, i figured teaching english would be the most convenient way to make this happen. Walking out of a barely 5 min interview with the school's director my last day (during which she did not seem to be worried about my lack of pedagogical skills but rather ecstatically pleased by the simple fact that I was a young, nice, and energetic native speaker who had just graduated college) I somehow spotted a full-time job. As I have found out since then, I am not teaching english exactly, but various subjects for 1st graders..in english.
Along with this, I will be working part-time with a non-profit that I was working with earlier this summer called APROQUEN (Association for Burn Children in Nicaragua). As of now all I know is that I will be one of the members on the Junior Board, which will consist of a small group of 20 and 30-year-olds working to plan social outreach through events...at least this is the understanding i have. This is all to be clarified once I get there. I will also hopefully be helping out with their annual fundraiser that I got to attend this June that is a large dance/theatrical production in the Teatro Municipal in the capital. This year they performed Peter Pan. Since I was only there two weeks before the show went up, there wasn't too much work I could do.. but this year I will have a more hands-on involvement with the choice of show, the choreography, etc.
Lastly, the woman who originally invited me down this summer, Vivian Pellas, who is the founder and president of APROQUEN, also began a dance studio where I spent all my afternoons. During last couple of days some of the instructors of this "Ritmo Latino" dance class they offer, let me teach some portions... and my last day I got a whole hour to myself. I did a mix of Brazilian dance--some samba, pagode, axe, afro-brazilian--and had a great response from everyone so I am looking forward to the possibility of giving regular class (... especially since no one has idea previous experience so I can pretty much do whatever I want and they will never know!)
As of now, I will be staying for the month of August in a room that I will be renting from a family that my father's friend got me in contact with. Not only is it a bargain find but i will also be a few blocks from the school which will make transportation really an issue.. I may eventually, however, want to find a place with little more room so i dont feel i'm impeding on their family dynamic.
So these are the basic details, just setting the ground work for what i'm going to get myself into..... more stories/updates soon to come!
Along with this, I will be working part-time with a non-profit that I was working with earlier this summer called APROQUEN (Association for Burn Children in Nicaragua). As of now all I know is that I will be one of the members on the Junior Board, which will consist of a small group of 20 and 30-year-olds working to plan social outreach through events...at least this is the understanding i have. This is all to be clarified once I get there. I will also hopefully be helping out with their annual fundraiser that I got to attend this June that is a large dance/theatrical production in the Teatro Municipal in the capital. This year they performed Peter Pan. Since I was only there two weeks before the show went up, there wasn't too much work I could do.. but this year I will have a more hands-on involvement with the choice of show, the choreography, etc.
Lastly, the woman who originally invited me down this summer, Vivian Pellas, who is the founder and president of APROQUEN, also began a dance studio where I spent all my afternoons. During last couple of days some of the instructors of this "Ritmo Latino" dance class they offer, let me teach some portions... and my last day I got a whole hour to myself. I did a mix of Brazilian dance--some samba, pagode, axe, afro-brazilian--and had a great response from everyone so I am looking forward to the possibility of giving regular class (... especially since no one has idea previous experience so I can pretty much do whatever I want and they will never know!)
As of now, I will be staying for the month of August in a room that I will be renting from a family that my father's friend got me in contact with. Not only is it a bargain find but i will also be a few blocks from the school which will make transportation really an issue.. I may eventually, however, want to find a place with little more room so i dont feel i'm impeding on their family dynamic.
So these are the basic details, just setting the ground work for what i'm going to get myself into..... more stories/updates soon to come!
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