Getting Schooled in Spanish

Today was a beast of a day, no other way to describe it. Yesterday and today there was no school at Fe y Alegria #17 (the school in Villa El Salvador that I teach at), since there were teacher seminars. I, being a pseudo-teacher, got to attend one of these privileged ceremonies that only true educators the world over attend. Basically, I got to listen to the teachers' plans to make the high school a safe, comfortable place for their students, instill in them a sense of motivation etc. ... and it was ALL in Spanish. Now, my 7+ years of Spanish have their benefits, so make no mistake, I could understand most of what all the teachers were saying, I just had to sit rigidly in my chair with my ears perked and ready to pick up each and every word they were saying. The sheer concentration that was needed in order for me to get the gist of what the profesores were talking about was SUPER tiring, but I survived. Turns out, it was crucial that I be there at the teachers' conference, since a large part of what they were discussing was how to incorporate me and my ideas into their class schedules. Picture this: me the foreigner, surrounded by about 40 peruvian teachers, each telling me (at the same time) that I could come in and talk to their class at this certain hour. I probably appeared stupid asking each of them about 20 times when they wanted me to come to their class, but I ended up getting a rough outline of the following schedule. On Mondays from 8:30 until 11:30, I'll be giving gender-specific talks to girls of different grade levels, each for about an hour. On Tuesdays, from 8:30-9:10 I'll tutor kids needing extra help in English, and then have some more gender-talks (with different classes). On Wednesdays I don't have anything planned of yet, while on Thursdays from 8:30-9:10 I'll tutor those same kids needing extra help in English, and then do some more gender-talks. On Friday, I don't have much planned either. Now we shall see how this works out..... I'm excited though to talk to the girls in different classes about female independence, and learn what they view their roles in life to be (as wives? mothers? professionals?). I'm planning on initiating group discussion, because I think that's the best mode for students to comprehend new concepts and ideas; that way, not only are they hearing ideas from their teacher, but they are hearing their peers' ideas as well.

Fun Fact: today... driving in Villa El Salvador, I saw a lady walking down the street..... completely nude...... and I was privileged to see both full frontal and full back view. I feel bad for her because there's no other explanation for this other than the fact that she probably has severe mental problems. She was smiling though, so I bet she's enjoying the liberation that comes with shedding one's clothing. More power to her!