Our afternoon classes got rained out today…
Every morning I pay 3 Quetzales (40 cents) for a Prensa Libre (Free Press), Guatemala’s most reputable newspaper, as far as I can tell. I love trying to absorb the news of a place completely different from my own country. It’s healthy to immerse oneself in another’s problems for a while. It’s also a great exercise in reading Spanish. And, I like to think that it gives me a bit of credibility (“Hey, look at they guy reading the Prensa Libre, he likes his news in Spanish!”).
On Thursday, I read about this international literacy conference going on in Guatemala City. It looked excellent, with tons of booths and activities for children. I teach children’s literature, so this kind of thing interests me.
I got up yesterday morning, got on a chicken bus, headed for capital and checked it out. I was like a kid in a candy store. I really enjoy places where there are lots books to explore. There were tons of booths from various Latin American book companies and educational organizations, folk music, author talks, storytellers, etc. I had a great time.
This whole experience was sort of a litmus test for my Spanish. I was curious how much I would be able to understand. When I chatted with people, I noticed that many of them didn’t slow down. They didn’t slow down and talk louder the way that we tend to do when we know someone either knows little English or is hard of hearing. I could follow most of what they said, but I couldn’t tell you word for word what was said. I also got my first compliments: 1) the taxi driver asked if I was European. I asked if that was good or bad. He said it was good, because Europeans tend to pronounce Spanish words better. 2) One of the guys at the conference said that I “speak good Spanish.” I’ll take it.
Honestly, I think my Spanish is at Borat-level right now. And that is not so bad. Great success!!
It’s not all about teaching around here. On the weekends, we tend to get out and explore this country, which has a lot to offer.
In my second weekend here, a bunch of us volunteers went to Lake Atitlan. It’s basically a lake created by a super volcano that erupted a long time ago. It’s huge and surrounded by 3 volcanoes. The water is crystal clear and surrounded with tropical plants. On the first day, we biked from the top of a mountain, 29 miles to the water. This was tremendously fun (particularly after I changed my seat for a wider one!). You just have to watch out for the trucks…
Later that night, we got settled into our hotel, The Volcano Lodge. I hate calling it a “hotel” because it’s much more like some paradise lodge. Really secluded and peaceful. The guy who runs it is pretty young. I noticed he had a familiar accent and kind of mumbled his words like I do. After dinner we were chatted. He was telling us that he was from NC and that he really loves Appalachian folk music. I asked him if he had any instruments. He said he had a guitar and a mandolin. I said, “Get ‘em.”
He came back a few minutes later, handed me the mandolin, told me the key, and started playing a song. I knew it (Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”), strummed the mandolin and sang back-up. He sang a couple, then we traded instruments and I sang a couple. We did that for a few hours as people came and went. After setting the instruments down, I said, “Hey, I’m Lee, BTW.” It was one of those typical musician moments–names and introductions are secondary.
Last weekend, my roomate, Carrie (pictured above right) and I, hiked up Pacaya Volcano. We saw lava.
Yesterday, I flew to Tikal to visit the massive Mayan city. A fellow volunteer saw Ashton Kucher & Demi Moore there last weekend. It’s a basically a huge archaeological site. They’ve only been seriously digging around here for about 50 years or so. 80% of the city is still underground. Lot’s of jungle, and spider monkeys:
The main city…
Check out the GVI link on the right (or here) to see updates about the school and actual pictures of the other volunteers and myself in action…
7:30 – Leave Antigua for Itzapa (where the school is). Approx. travel time 40 minutes
I have two 4th grade classes, with 20+ students each. Their age range is between 10-12; with two outliers at 15 and 18 respectfully). The first class is in the morning 9-12:00 and the afternoon class is 2-4:00.
I cover 2 subjects each day, usually Spanish (think “Language Arts”) & Math. One day a week, I’ll cover Science or Geography, and handwriting. On Fridays, I give a test, play a few educational games and then, as a school we do Arts activities.
The kids who come to our school in the morning, generally go to public school in the afternoon. So, the exposure they get with us really helps them out in their other school, which seem to use, as their primary instructional strategy, copying text from the board and answering questions.
We usually arrive back in Antigua around 5:00. Most nights I will either have an hour long Spanish lesson, Salsa lesson, or both before dinner at 7:00. Antigua is such a charming place that it’s hard to resist not meeting up with people for drinks and such after dinner. After all, this is a vacation, isn’t it?
At the Houston airport on my way to Guatemala, I picked up a couple of children’s books in Spanish: Curious George & Charlotte’s Web. I read Charlotte’s Web as a kid and read it to my 3rd graders a few years ago. It’s a flawless piece of literature. Not one bad note in the whole narrative. I wondered how Guatemalan kids would relate (or not) to a story about a pig, talking spider, and a girl on a New England farm.
Before sharing it with the students, I spent a lot of time with my Spanish-English dictionary translating the first couple of chapters. It was amazing how my process of deciphering the Spanish text mirrored the process we teach our students to implement: using context clues within the sentence/paragraph, looking at the pictures, etc. It was slow-going and my perfectionist side made it doubly so. I wanted to be sure I knew what every word meant.
Last week, we started reading Charlotte’s Web to my first class. At the end of class, we push our desks to the walls, put our seats in a circle, and pass around the book. I begin by reading a paragraph or two (I need practice too!) and then pass it to them. They read it much better than me, by the way.
Ever since our first day with the book, I always get at least one student saying, “Leeremos Carlota?” (Are we going to read Charlotte’s Web?). I don’t know what they like most about it: the story, the act of reading in aloud, or the novelty of sitting together in a circle and enjoying a book.
These kids really get into reading. Anytime they finish an assignment, they ask me if they can read. We have a basket full of books to choose from, and they never get tired of exploring them. The picture above is of three of my students sharing a book during recess (and eating mangoes). This happens a lot, particularly with the girls. The boys are pretty content playing soccer, tag, marbles, etc.
I’m in my second week of teaching & 3rd week in Guatemala. I have 3 weeks left after this. I’m at that part of the trip where, you simulteously feel at home, and then realize how swiftly your trip is passing, and have an added urgency of making the most of it.
I’m really working hard on my Spanish, but I’m still quite clumsy. I will feel triumphant if I can emerge from these 6 weeks able to speak Spanish with someone while maintaining eye contact. Instead, I look up, deep into my brain, trying to find the right conjugations and phrases, as I stall with drawn out “uhhhs” and Spanish conjunctions. It’s not always a pretty site. But, to really learn the language, you need to speak it. So, whenever I find any Spanish speaker to humor me, I hablar their ear off. I don’t care how scrunched up my face gets.
It’s pretty ironic actually, the process I am involved in. I am learning Spanish. I have elementary skills, but am trying hard to advance to the next level. I’m like a 2nd grade student who can barely read “Curious George” books, but wants to read “Harry Potter.” When I taught 2nd grade, I had students just like this. We set reading goals together, so that they could improve in a realistic fashion. I’m doing the same thing with myself.
I also sort of feel like an elementary student. I’m working hard at my studies and a part of me always wants the approval and pat-on-the-back from my teacher (tutor). I do my best to “impress” her with my immaculately completed homework and usage of recently taught conjugations. I make her laugh quite a bit, so that’s a good sign.
All of this allows me to empathize with my elementary students in a way that is fresh and recent. I share in the frustration and celebration of learning.
So, I just finished my first full week of teaching 4th grade students in the town of Itzapa, Guatemala. I was typically nervous all day Sunday, knowing that I would be receiving a new class the following day. What would they be like? Is my Spanish good enough to teach them? Am I truly prepared?
my morning class
Knowing what I learned from my first day, I made some plans for Tuesday and went to bed early–eager to leave Monday behind. The next day, we worked on fractions in math. I pre-prepared my Spanish for the lesson and found that, after diagnosing where the students were the day before, I was able to provide a lesson that met their needs. It wasn’t a grand slam, but it felt like a home run–one run scored. It did a great deal for my own self-efficacy.