Monday, August 24, 2009

August 24




PICTURE EXPLANATIONS
These pictures are out of order but the first one is what the three of us felt like after teaching all day and the second one is of me the morning before I left :-) Had to take a picture of my first day as a teacher!

ENTRY
Well today was my first day of teaching. It was a long exhausting day but overall I feel pretty good about it. I survived and that’s all I’m hoping for. Its going to take me awhile to get used to the chaos of elementary school classrooms but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. My first day included accidently reprimanding a kid named Julio by the name of Josue. The funny thing is Josue is a really sweet kid in the class who does everything perfectly. He came up to me and said Miss Hannah (I wish I could record their sweet accent and way of saying my name) I Josue, he Julio. I felt so bad. I apologized and he seemed to not be too traumatized.
Here is another story that shows how in over my head I feel. All the students gather in the chapel in the morning to say our school prayer and sing sanctuary (really out of tune and so slow you forget the next word before it comes) (( and yes the sanctuary we all sang at church camp at one time or another you know it… ) Anyway at this gathering I walked into the middle of the chapel and sat with some of the kids I knew were in third grade. The director Diana started talking and I realized I was the only teacher not standing on the edge. I decided after a minute or two of debating that I should probably stand up and not do anything that could make students question my authority on the first day. So I waited for the appropriate moment and stood up. TADA, I’m a big kid now  I decided not to feel embarrassed about it because I like what it says about how I like to do things and that I wanted to be an equal with the students but I also think its good that I stood up in the end.
I had a great talk with my family tonight. I left my headset at home (probably the thing I need most to feel comfortable) to talk on skype but Emily my housemate let me borrow her amazingly wonderful mac in order to talk to my whole family. They had lots of good ideas and helped me laugh about my stressful day. I feel much happier about tomorrow than I thought I would. I am consistently amazed at how good I feel during this whole process. I wonder when the really hard culture shock will set in, I know it will and I will be ready 
Today after school I stopped at the pulperia (a little shop) for a 2 liter of coke and three eggs. I love that I can just go buy eggs there whenever. Hopefully I get up in time tomorrow morning to make myself an egg… it is kinda late already so maybe they will have to wait till Wednesday. Do eggs always have to be in the fridge? The eggs from the pulperia were definitely not in anything cold… I bet they are already hard boiled just from sitting out in the heat and humidity of Honduras 
My ants are keeping me company now. Does it say something about solitude when you are saying goodnight to your ants?
I started reading The Color Purple. I hate to admit that I haven’t read it before. I’m really enjoying it and I think reading here is going to give me a much needed break from school stuff. TV can also but it gets exhausting watching Spanish television, one because I have to think harder and two because they have wild crazy lots of color and craziness going on. There are several good books here that other volunteers have left so that’s good news. I’m also reading Don Quijote in Spanish again so that I can keep studying it.
My sister Xan reminded me tonight to not make any overarching claims about my ability to teach or how much I like it after just one day. I think she is right. It may grow on me, and you can never judge something on one day anyway right? Good thing I have 32 weeks and 4 days to go 
Tonight I leave you with a bit of mother tongue that is on a bag my aunt, uncle, and cousins gave me as a parting gift. I have been feeling how true this is in my supportive family and friends back home as well as the wonderful community I have already made with the teachers at the school and my housemates…

Ubuntu
I am what I am because of who we are

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