I finally made it to Mexico this week- after two days of traveling, flight delays, missed connections and crazy Mexican bus schedules! It was all a little overwhelming, but all in all I'm excited to finally be in Periban! My schedule was a little crazy- I was supposed to arrive on Monday evening but because of so many flight delays and missed connections I arrived in Guadalajara too late in the evening to catch the two buses I needed to in order to get to Periban so I stayed overnight in a hotel in Guadalajara and went to the bus station early in the morning. I arrived Tuesday afternoon and unpacked and met my new roommate- Angela, who is spectacular! We have a lot of things in common, are the same age and I think we will get along great! She is very fun and has had some bad experiences here so she is glad I am here as well! The last teacher lived here with her boyfriend and they left in the middle of the night a week and a half ago and stole her computer, camera and some other items. It was awful for Angela and I am the replacement! lucky her :). I had to start teaching on Wednesday because the kids came back from vacation and I am replacing the other teacher but I don't have any of her lesson plans or anything- so the first day I didn't know how well they spoke english, or what level they were, what they were studying or where they were in the books so it was slighty chaotic! I'm learning as I go as well! I have 6 classes a day, one in the morning and the rest in the evening and so far they are going pretty well. The first class is 3 adult women and they are intermediate level english speakers- very nice women and really eager to learn so I like teaching that class. I have two classes with younger kids- 6-8 and 8-11 and they are fun. The younger ones need to be yelled at a lot and reminded to listen but they have fun during the class and learn fast. The older kids are a blast because they love to learn english and practice it and its fun coming up with activities for them. Less discipline as well! I have one class with just 2 teens who speak advanced english and really only need practice with conversing so planning lessons is easy! the other class of teens is still warming up I think- a bit of a headache for now because they are so shy and are beginner level english speakers so they don't want to speak up in class in case they are wrong or they misunderstood me. The discomfort goes both ways though- I don't think my spanish is good enough to teach with so I don't like to use it!! The class yesterday (friday) went much better so I think once they warm up it will be a fun class. The last class of the day is 3 adult women and 1 man and they are also intermediate so I love that class as well.
A little about Periban- a VERY small Mexican town in the mountains. Beautiful views from our patios of the mountains and a little of the town. We live upstairs and the school is downstairs but its very spacious- just a little noisy if one of us is teaching and the other isn't. The town has about 11,000 people in it and it seems like everyone knows everyone else. We definitely stand out- me more with the blond hair. We get alot of attention walking around. Angela is good friends with a guy our age here- he lived in the US for a little while so he speaks english really well and he works at the Pizzaria a few blocks away so we go hang out there and have a few beers and some pizza when classes end at 9pm. The food is really good so far- I obviously can't find a lot of the comfort food from home at the store so I'm sure the chef in me will have lots of new creations when I return home! The weather is actually on the chilly side- I wear long sleeves a lot of the time- unless you are directly in the sun in the middle of the day its cool. The highs are the mid 70s every day but it drops down into the 40s at night. Mexico doesn't have air conditioning or heaters so its a big difference. I sleep in sweatshirts and sweatpants. THe house is very open- alot of the areas leading right to the outside- no windows or screens. Its defnitely different than the US. No bugs though- I think the chilly nights keep the mosquito population at a minimum so I am A-OK with that!
Well this blog is long enough for now- more to come!
Nikki, this is my first time on a blog and my first message got lost somewhere in cyberspace. I did not have any luck getting it to post. Maybe I should call Aunt Meg and ask her how to do this.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you arrived okay. Sounds like quite the experience. Your teaching assignment sound interesting. The variety of students will make for good days. When you have the same students all day those discipline problems only grow.
Good news that you and your roommate hit it off. Does she really know what she is in for?
This should be a fun way to keep up with what is happening in your life.
Love,
Aunt Sherry
HI Nikki,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is a great idea. Mom and I are proud of you and your adventurous spirit! I guess sleeping at our house these last couple weeks prepared you well for your chilly nights :-). Love ya!
Dad
Nikki, it is cool to hear what you are up to. Welcome to the life of a teacher. The students are not always anxious to learn. It is hard to believe that 6 and 7 year olds were too tired to sing. It will be nice to start out fresh at the semester with your own classes.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are going to see lots. The guys who have done all the travelling-wow. Don't get any ideas about being a world traveler.
It has really been cold here. We had off of school for two days in a row because it was sooooo cold. We will be going to school for 4 extra days now. Hope we do not have any more snow days.
Love,
Aunt Sherry
Nikki - I have read all of your blogs and enjoyed them. I have always found hispanic people to be very warm people. I love their food, culture, architecture and warm colors. The tag they get for being lazy is dead wrong, because I have always found them to be hard working people.
ReplyDeleteI used my Spanish skills when Bill and I were working construction in Florida in the mid 70's. Bill had come down to Ft. Lauderdale and had found construction work and I think I had just finished a semester of grad school. Anyway, I went down south and joined Bill. I had the heavy labor job as I was the new guy and I definitely wanted to get out out of that job any way I could. One day before work began, our boss asked the crew if anybody understood Spanish and I chimed up saying "I do" because I remembered some Spanish phrases from high school Spanish class. He asked me to come with him and we walked to an area where several male workers were seated and lying on the ground relaxing. My boss said "I can't get them to work". I then said buenos dias to the hispanics and they replied with the same. I looked at my boss and said "see" and he nodded in an encouraging manner. I was stalling because I was trying to remember a Spanish phrase that would communicate to the Spanish workers that I needed them to start the job. I then remembered the verb "to work", but I couldn't remember the correct tense. So I just said in a louder voice "senores trabajar porvavor". All of a sudden the Spanish workers got up grabbed their shovels and brooms and started working, smiling and looking at me very approvingly. I told my boss that I had this job covered and he walked away. That became my job for the short time I stayed in the construction field in Florida.
I also enjoyed the people I met in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I hope you continue to enjoy your experiences and always walk with another person and keep your personal safety formost in your mind.
Love
Uncle Joey