Problemas en la escuelita

As I mentioned in my last blog, tomorrow grades 2-7 (the entire escuela) will be going on a day long “caminata” (long walk/hike) to visit another school high up in the mountains. This school is in an indigenous community and half of the classes are given in the native language, Quechua. I would say a million times over the supervision of students is much less important to school staff in Latin America, but yesterday when during the middle of fourth hour every single teacher left their classroom alone to chat/argue for thirty minutes about what the teachers should eat for lunch the day of the caminata: “Chicken…no trout….Doña Myra does the best chicken…No, it is Doña Anita that does it best….” As the conversation drowned on students would stick their heads in the office window, “Profe, so and so están peleando” (Teacher, so and so are fighting) and the teacher, barely looking at the student would reply rather uninterested and without worry “Vengo ahora” (I’m coming now…which really translated in this case to “I’ll come when I am finished here).”

Another issue in República de Suiza (the school in which I am volunteering) and other Latin American public schools is the lack of creativity of which the students are allowed. For instance, the other day in an English class four and five year olds were asked to color in their hand that they had just traced on paper. When a handful of them began to color their hand in colors such as hot pink, green, blue, etc. the teachers flipped out. “NO NO NO…look at the color of your hand, you have to use a tan color.” They actually made the kids start over. I was thinking, and actually told one of the kids “I LOVE your hot pink hand, it is my favorite of all.” Because who cares what color kids color in their hands…I was imaging myself doing the same type of project when I was in pre-school and coloring my hand rainbow and then having the teacher “ooo” and “aah” about how pretty it was (now, the extent to which some teachers and parents praise kids in the U.S. is a another issue), but still, you get the point.

Of course there are loads of other issues and downfalls of the school system here and I wish even one of them were easy to do away with or alter, but I have to remind myself that I am just one person and just being here to offer my opinion in classes and on education in general and to be a positive influence for the students. Speaking of the students, they are fabulous (well, minus the handful that like to give me a hard time) and generally love to hang on me all day long. I often have one kid holding on to each of my fingers. In gym class, which I teach on Wednesdays and Thursdays they will actually fight over who gets to hold my hand when we are playing games. I am looking forward to moving to the village at the end of next week and having more interaction with the students: getting to know their families, reading to/with them after-school hours, and just being available to help with homework, be a friend, etc.

Ecuador is a special and beautiful country. Only the size of Colorado it is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world. This Saturday I am going on a day hike in the jungle (about an hours bus ride away) and this Sunday I am going on a bird-watching hike in the national park that borders El Triunfo. This past-weeks highlights include stopping at a house in El Triunfo after school that had a “SE VENDE TRUCHA” sign (selling trout) on the front door and Chris, I and the other three volunteers on the farm made delicious, fresh, trout for dinner. Another highlight was going up to the “Kinder” (pre-k and kindergarten) school up the hill to teach English and Physical Education…the thirty, always energized, little niños love to all give me a hug and the same time and then fall to the floor and it is so cute…they are absolutely adorable (and thank gosh, because they are crazy)!

That’s all for now…I will try to blog again later this week!

PS- If any readers exist…(Mom? John?...) please leave a comment for once. I feel like a goon.