First off thanks to everyone who responded to my Flat Stanley project. I was not expecting such a resounding response of compliments. I thought it would be something cute for Marley and her class and was under prepared for the following responses. I felt like I was the creator of the next viral video to gain ground. I was surprised how it resonated with so many of you. I will try to make another one in the future about either my youth group or some other facet of my life. Please feel free to send it off to whoever you like and I will see if it is possible to post it on my blog as well.
Now that you have a general idea about my life here, I hope that you see that it is not all the negative bickering that I often use this outlet for. I do love my life here in San Dionisio and I would not trade my position for anything in the United States. I am living well, I have no concerns about money, I am working outdoors, I teach in the mornings, and I get to play soccer everyday with my sports team. I count myself as very fortunate and somehow in all this I get to help a community. I have to find a way to do this as a living and I can die happy. Let me know if you have any ideas how this can be transferred to the United States preferably in the Connecticut / Massachusetts region.
I pretty much already discussed my big events in my site in the previous entries, but I can let you in on a couple more mundane happenings. I had been growing my hair out since the middle of November and I finally reached the breaking point. I figured what the hell and wanted to see how long I could stand it, but the last straw was when I went to a friend’s house for a party and saw the pictures the following day. Damn, was I ugly. I went to the barber the next day and told him to do what he pleased and I am back to my standard high and tight moda. I guess there isn’t too much you can do with this dome of mine, the only difference with my Nica haircut is that he finished it off with about a liter of gel. I’ll be honest I did look pretty Nica, or I looked like I just walked into a door and my hair took the brute of the impact. He plastered my hair flat against my head but flipped the front of the hair by my forehead straight up so it was perpendicular with the crown of my head. I wish I had a picture to show you because no more gel will be touching these follicles.
The only other big news is that classes are in full swing. I am visiting four schools throughout the week, Monday through Thursday. I am supposed to just be observing and that is what I do for the most part or try to do. It is surprisingly hard to observe, it is difficult in the fact that you can’t concentrate that long and I can’t help but zone out. I sometimes blank out and realize that I have doodled over an entire page or that I spend the time writing letters to some of you guys. It doesn’t help that the teaching style here is fairly archaic and most lessons consist of students copying verbatim from a book or writing the numbers 1 to 1000 in their notebooks. I am not kidding, it is simply copying like in the medieval ages when monks would huddle in their little monasteries and transcribe books. Worst part is if you then go up to a student and ask what they just wrote they won’t have a clue. It isn’t all that bad, but I do make some effort to make myself known in the class. In most I am trying to be a TA and I often pull groups aside for some more individual attention. It is hard for them to break their routine and they do not like me asking thought provoking questions that break the script of the book, but I think it is good for them. In one of my schools I have actually already started teaching and I did a two hour lesson today with a class of 5th and 6th graders. It was a lot of fun, it was an introduction into garden and compost theory. Nothing too complex, just why we would waste our timing growing plants, the cost benefits, and why composts are needed. The professor is very eager and next week we are going to start digging our compost pits and start collecting kitchen scraps. I also took them outside to play a few games and think I made a few new friends in the process.
All in all, I am assimilating very quickly to my community. It has nearly been three months and there isn’t a street I can walk down without knowing someone. It is an amazing feeling to be so known and to always have someone you can approach and start a conversation with. I have also begun to master the art of getting free meals. I know the right time to show up at people’s houses to either get a dish of rice or beans. I also know who to visit if I want something a little more exotic like cheese or chicken. I wouldn’t call it mooching because I don’t just take the meal in run, but maybe it isn’t exactly moral. I see it as a cultural exchange because we always end up taking for an hour or more and I see that as my end of the bargain.
As always let me know what is happening in your part of the world. I don’t care how boring or mundane you think it is, I guarantee it is different than what I am going through. Also, post on this site already, I want comments. I want to know if any of you are even reading this and if so what you think about it.
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