Hello my peeps, I'm sorry if you feel neglected this week but I couldn't figure out what to tell you. I still don't really have anything particularly profound but you've probably have come accustomed to that. First of all, I wasn't to remind you that you can always look at my archived blogs if this one is lame and you want to remember why you read these faithfully week in and week out. Because trust me, some of them are fairly entertaining.
Now onto recent news in my life. September 14th and 15th are Nicaragua's independence days. Yesterday and today I only went to school for a few hours and next Monday and Tuesday I don't have to go at all. This morning my school had presentations, a few students from each grade had prepared something patriotic. It was the usual, preschoolers holding up their letters in the wrong order spelling AIRTAP, and girls dancing in their fluffy white skirts to burned CD's bought off the street. I was planning on taking pictures but wasn't able to take many because my camera is having some issues. Yay for technology.
As for weekend plans my options were paying to go to the beach for 3 days or staying home alone. I opted for not going which says a few things. One, I'm not a huge fan in the first place (the whole sand thing) and you would need to make it amazingly appealing to get me to pay $140. The people that were going are the same people that I do everything with, which recently has become another thing that make trips with them worth less than $140. So now I am at home by myself with no plans and am fine with that fact.
There is a new coffee shop open in my neck of the woods. A family that has a coffee plantation and exporting business decided to continue with vertical integration. I went there last night and this morning, both times for free. The story about the company is really cool. I think it is important for nationals to use their resources to promote economic growth among the lower classes. Hopefully these companies will stay open in spite of the opposition to free market presented by the government. For more details on the lameness of the Nicaraguan government you can research the dispute that was resolved yesterday between the Nicaraguan government and ExxonMobile. Or explain to me why we never have electricity.
You may remember, but probably not, that on February 20th, I sent an posted asking for opinions on the combination of chili and cinnamon rolls. On Sunday the topic got brought up again and it was decided that last night we could try out the combo for ourselves. Basically the final vote was that cinnamon rolls are really good so if it takes a bowl of chili to get cinnamon roles, I for one, am not going to complain.
I learned the card came Eucher this week. It takes me a while to catch onto card games usually but some how my partner and I still dominated two nights in a row. It was quite a relief because I don't know if I was up for being a failure.
Well, peace out, feel free to write out your life story for me since I'll have more than enough free time coming up the next 72 hours.
Love, Joy
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
back in full force
I am back in Nicaragua and have so much to say. The length of this will make up for the one I skipped while in the States.
"The Flight of the Conchords"
My flights last Tuesday were interesting. I flew from San Diego so I left the house at 9:50 for a 11:15 flight and everything was smooth as silk. When I got on the flight I, being the lovely person I am, offered to switch seats with this lady so she could sit by her son. This seat change sat me strategically in front of a yippy dog. I was wishing I had allergies so I would have an excuse to move but instead I fell asleep. My layover was short in Houston and I knew people on my flight so that was enjoyable. A small mishap occurred when the lady sitting next to me spilled her apple juice. Based on the amount that landed on me I think it missed her completely.
"Reading Rainbow"
Wednesday I had off and was able to re-acclimate to Nicaraguan life. It is slow here and hot. Pitaya is in season so there was amazing juice in the fridge. The electricity is out from 2pm to 7pm which isn't bad because that is only one hour of darkness and it gave me plenty of time to reorganize my bookshelf. In honor of this organizational process, I am now reading The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski. It is one of those books that doesn't have a description on the back cover because if it did, no one would ever read it. I guess it's about the history of the bookshelf. I am on page 43of 231. There is also a 20 page appendix that covers different methods of organizing books. I personally first divide by theme and then size. Maybe I will change them up some day and organize by price, publisher, or provenance. I mentioned that life is a little slow here, right?
"Schoolhouse Rock!"
Thursday I went back to school. It was a good day to ease in by helping in pre-school. Thi s one kid Hazzel/Gyser peed in the trash can. Friday was my first day back with regular classes. I was supposed to get picked up at 7:15 but Matthew called at 7:45 to tell me that he was running late. There was a robbery at the feeding program. I asked if they just took money or if the guy was injured. He was fine, the just took his money, shirt, and shoes. This is Nicaragua. The delay made it so I missed my entire first class but I went to the other 3 and they went smooth enough. After school as I was waiting to leave I wrote down my lesson, I think I was supposed to be doing that the whole time here. In the office one of the girls was reading the classified job ads. Although, I don't know why she would want to work anywhere else. One of the ads wanted a female, friendly, good-looking, thin, between ages of 18-23.
Real Women Have Curves
When I got home I ran some errands with my roommate and then took a nap. When I woke up I decided to go get things accomplished. I joined Curves. They let Cristina leave her membership to me so I don't have to pay the start up fee. I did not get any Curves dollars for tossing the keys on the Twister mat, and I think that shocked the girl that worked there. But whatever, those mats are slippery. Maybe next time.
"Friends"
So I've realized here that I need to be more purposeful in my socializing. Like actually call people and do things. It has already paid off, Saturday I went to Sambajuice for the first time. Their smoothies are good, just orange juice, ice, and your choice of 2 fruits. I went for the Strawberry, Raspberry combo. In the parking lot outside there was a man training a dog. It was the first well behaved dog I have seen in the country. Also in the parking lot this lady was walking around passing of fliers for cheesy bacon hot dogs at the gas station. Just looking at the picture made me gag. At night I went out with my Nicaraguan friend for dinner. In the States that usually means at 6 or 7 but here it was at 8:30. So I went to pre-dinner first with the Americans at someones house and then went out for buffalo wings. We ate Nica dinner outside and every time the giant Nica folk woman walked past us the car alarm went off.
"Full House"
On Saturday I also rearranged my bedroom. My new roommate moved in Sunday so I figured it was time to find places for all my valuables. How is it possible for me to accumulate so much stuff? I have a nightstand now so once again I got to organize books and find a place to store the extra buttons that come when you buy new clothes. All four of my roommates are back in Nicaragua now.
Revenge of the Nerds
Sunday I went to American church, It is quite a different experience than the Nicaraguan church that I normally go to. The American one starts a little after 8 and ends way before 10. That leaves the whole day free. I went on an hour long power walk with some girls here, which was totally an old lady thing to do but quite the work out. Then I went with my roommate to go pick up Kate, who I'll now be sharing a room with, from the airport. The late afternoon was filled with the normal procrastinating that comes when I should be thinking of lesson plans. At night my roommate said she would donate her big bookshelf for our house, so once again I got to organize books. I know if you made it this far in my e-mail you now know how much of a nerd I am. But also by this time I figured you will love me regardless.
"So You Think You Can Dance?"
Along with Mondays comes change in power schedules. This week 5pm to 10pm. But today was actually 5:15-9:45 so I guess they were in a good mood down at the power plant. I would love to complain about this but when it is on a schedule that you know it really isn't that bad. So tonight at 6:40 when it was pretty much dark we went to the mall. Most people were going to go to the movies but three of us girls brought books and laptops and hung out at a cafe chatting. On the way back as soon as I got in the car it smelled really bad so we were driving with the windows down and then finally realized it was my shoe. I had stepped in something not too pretty smelling. So I was content holding my shoe out the window for the rest of the drive but my roommate was laughing so hard she couldn't drive and pulled over in the video store parking lot for me to get cleaned up. It was quite the adventure. But at least I didn't have to watch Transformers.
"The Flight of the Conchords"
My flights last Tuesday were interesting. I flew from San Diego so I left the house at 9:50 for a 11:15 flight and everything was smooth as silk. When I got on the flight I, being the lovely person I am, offered to switch seats with this lady so she could sit by her son. This seat change sat me strategically in front of a yippy dog. I was wishing I had allergies so I would have an excuse to move but instead I fell asleep. My layover was short in Houston and I knew people on my flight so that was enjoyable. A small mishap occurred when the lady sitting next to me spilled her apple juice. Based on the amount that landed on me I think it missed her completely.
"Reading Rainbow"
Wednesday I had off and was able to re-acclimate to Nicaraguan life. It is slow here and hot. Pitaya is in season so there was amazing juice in the fridge. The electricity is out from 2pm to 7pm which isn't bad because that is only one hour of darkness and it gave me plenty of time to reorganize my bookshelf. In honor of this organizational process, I am now reading The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski. It is one of those books that doesn't have a description on the back cover because if it did, no one would ever read it. I guess it's about the history of the bookshelf. I am on page 43of 231. There is also a 20 page appendix that covers different methods of organizing books. I personally first divide by theme and then size. Maybe I will change them up some day and organize by price, publisher, or provenance. I mentioned that life is a little slow here, right?
"Schoolhouse Rock!"
Thursday I went back to school. It was a good day to ease in by helping in pre-school. Thi s one kid Hazzel/Gyser peed in the trash can. Friday was my first day back with regular classes. I was supposed to get picked up at 7:15 but Matthew called at 7:45 to tell me that he was running late. There was a robbery at the feeding program. I asked if they just took money or if the guy was injured. He was fine, the just took his money, shirt, and shoes. This is Nicaragua. The delay made it so I missed my entire first class but I went to the other 3 and they went smooth enough. After school as I was waiting to leave I wrote down my lesson, I think I was supposed to be doing that the whole time here. In the office one of the girls was reading the classified job ads. Although, I don't know why she would want to work anywhere else. One of the ads wanted a female, friendly, good-looking, thin, between ages of 18-23.
Real Women Have Curves
When I got home I ran some errands with my roommate and then took a nap. When I woke up I decided to go get things accomplished. I joined Curves. They let Cristina leave her membership to me so I don't have to pay the start up fee. I did not get any Curves dollars for tossing the keys on the Twister mat, and I think that shocked the girl that worked there. But whatever, those mats are slippery. Maybe next time.
"Friends"
So I've realized here that I need to be more purposeful in my socializing. Like actually call people and do things. It has already paid off, Saturday I went to Sambajuice for the first time. Their smoothies are good, just orange juice, ice, and your choice of 2 fruits. I went for the Strawberry, Raspberry combo. In the parking lot outside there was a man training a dog. It was the first well behaved dog I have seen in the country. Also in the parking lot this lady was walking around passing of fliers for cheesy bacon hot dogs at the gas station. Just looking at the picture made me gag. At night I went out with my Nicaraguan friend for dinner. In the States that usually means at 6 or 7 but here it was at 8:30. So I went to pre-dinner first with the Americans at someones house and then went out for buffalo wings. We ate Nica dinner outside and every time the giant Nica folk woman walked past us the car alarm went off.
"Full House"
On Saturday I also rearranged my bedroom. My new roommate moved in Sunday so I figured it was time to find places for all my valuables. How is it possible for me to accumulate so much stuff? I have a nightstand now so once again I got to organize books and find a place to store the extra buttons that come when you buy new clothes. All four of my roommates are back in Nicaragua now.
Revenge of the Nerds
Sunday I went to American church, It is quite a different experience than the Nicaraguan church that I normally go to. The American one starts a little after 8 and ends way before 10. That leaves the whole day free. I went on an hour long power walk with some girls here, which was totally an old lady thing to do but quite the work out. Then I went with my roommate to go pick up Kate, who I'll now be sharing a room with, from the airport. The late afternoon was filled with the normal procrastinating that comes when I should be thinking of lesson plans. At night my roommate said she would donate her big bookshelf for our house, so once again I got to organize books. I know if you made it this far in my e-mail you now know how much of a nerd I am. But also by this time I figured you will love me regardless.
"So You Think You Can Dance?"
Along with Mondays comes change in power schedules. This week 5pm to 10pm. But today was actually 5:15-9:45 so I guess they were in a good mood down at the power plant. I would love to complain about this but when it is on a schedule that you know it really isn't that bad. So tonight at 6:40 when it was pretty much dark we went to the mall. Most people were going to go to the movies but three of us girls brought books and laptops and hung out at a cafe chatting. On the way back as soon as I got in the car it smelled really bad so we were driving with the windows down and then finally realized it was my shoe. I had stepped in something not too pretty smelling. So I was content holding my shoe out the window for the rest of the drive but my roommate was laughing so hard she couldn't drive and pulled over in the video store parking lot for me to get cleaned up. It was quite the adventure. But at least I didn't have to watch Transformers.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Pobrecito Nicaragua
This morning my roommates painted one of our upstairs walls blue. It looks like the ocean.
There is a new restaurant (or something) in town called Hotter. If you change which letters are doubled you can guess what it is a knock-off of. If you can't figure it out wait until Cristina and I publish our book and you can see the picture.
The electricity has been off a lot lately. Today, eight hours. But in Bible Study we just finished reading the book How to Respond When You Feel Mistreated and we learned that the suffering the government makes us endure is an opportunity in itself to serve God.
Yesterday I went running and took the "Back Off" dog repellent that Kristen left me. I didn't have to use it. But it never ceases to amaze me how loudly the men here can make the kissing noises. Like it is easily heard over the sound of their motorcycles.
Katharine has been here visiting for a week now. When people come visit me Matthew gets super attentive. He's taken me to lunch twice this week and one day brought us bottled water to school. Plus he thinks Katharine and I should go see things so tomorrow he is sending us to Ometepe for the weekend with one of the Nicaraguan teachers. Ometepe is the highest lake island in the world and is formed by two volcanoes, I just looked on Wikipedia to get that info so I really don't have much to share. I told Matthew now that Jeremy and Cristina are gone he is responsible for me. He said I can't ride the bus anymore.
Katharine brought stuff to do crafts in my school. Last week we took pictures and made popsicle stick frames. We just got the pictures back this morning and they are so funny I don't know how I could ever be mad at my classes.
Speaking of school, I'm always a little about what is going on. But I think Monday is my last day and I have to turn in grades and then I'm on break (self imposed) until July 24th.
I wrote most of this out last night while lying on my bed watching mini-ants attack some other insect on my bedroom floor. Pretty intriguing.
It just started raining. Well "raining" is an understatement.
Te amo, Joy
There is a new restaurant (or something) in town called Hotter. If you change which letters are doubled you can guess what it is a knock-off of. If you can't figure it out wait until Cristina and I publish our book and you can see the picture.
The electricity has been off a lot lately. Today, eight hours. But in Bible Study we just finished reading the book How to Respond When You Feel Mistreated and we learned that the suffering the government makes us endure is an opportunity in itself to serve God.
Yesterday I went running and took the "Back Off" dog repellent that Kristen left me. I didn't have to use it. But it never ceases to amaze me how loudly the men here can make the kissing noises. Like it is easily heard over the sound of their motorcycles.
Katharine has been here visiting for a week now. When people come visit me Matthew gets super attentive. He's taken me to lunch twice this week and one day brought us bottled water to school. Plus he thinks Katharine and I should go see things so tomorrow he is sending us to Ometepe for the weekend with one of the Nicaraguan teachers. Ometepe is the highest lake island in the world and is formed by two volcanoes, I just looked on Wikipedia to get that info so I really don't have much to share. I told Matthew now that Jeremy and Cristina are gone he is responsible for me. He said I can't ride the bus anymore.
Katharine brought stuff to do crafts in my school. Last week we took pictures and made popsicle stick frames. We just got the pictures back this morning and they are so funny I don't know how I could ever be mad at my classes.
Speaking of school, I'm always a little about what is going on. But I think Monday is my last day and I have to turn in grades and then I'm on break (self imposed) until July 24th.
I wrote most of this out last night while lying on my bed watching mini-ants attack some other insect on my bedroom floor. Pretty intriguing.
It just started raining. Well "raining" is an understatement.
Te amo, Joy
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
17 days til I'm back in the states
To whom it may concern:
Kid's Day was a success last Friday. My group played musical chairs but we didn't have music so I brought a pot and a spoon. Thanks to their lives of deprivation no one thought it was a terrible idea or anything and the kids were eager to be the ones making the noise. It didn't rain so that made things nice. However, the combination of the sudden sunshine and my polo shirt left me with a red V on my neck.
Friday night Kristen and I wanted to go out to dinner but didn't have private transportation so opted for public. First we took the bus and then got a taxi, on the way home we stuck with all taxi. The buses here are really cool, ours had one of those flashing orange traffic lights hanging up inside so we had quite the disco atmosphere. We were no worse for the wear except we did both smell pretty bad by the time we got home.
Last week they sprayed our apartment complex for bugs. When we heard the truck coming we had run to shut all the windows since they spray a mix of ddt and diesel. I've still been ending up with bites and right now I have a fat left hand.
Tonight my roommate from college, Katharine, is coming to visit for two weeks. I am very excited especially since my roommate here, Kristen, is leaving me on Thursday to marry my brother.
Sincerely, Joy Christina Eklund
Kid's Day was a success last Friday. My group played musical chairs but we didn't have music so I brought a pot and a spoon. Thanks to their lives of deprivation no one thought it was a terrible idea or anything and the kids were eager to be the ones making the noise. It didn't rain so that made things nice. However, the combination of the sudden sunshine and my polo shirt left me with a red V on my neck.
Friday night Kristen and I wanted to go out to dinner but didn't have private transportation so opted for public. First we took the bus and then got a taxi, on the way home we stuck with all taxi. The buses here are really cool, ours had one of those flashing orange traffic lights hanging up inside so we had quite the disco atmosphere. We were no worse for the wear except we did both smell pretty bad by the time we got home.
Last week they sprayed our apartment complex for bugs. When we heard the truck coming we had run to shut all the windows since they spray a mix of ddt and diesel. I've still been ending up with bites and right now I have a fat left hand.
Tonight my roommate from college, Katharine, is coming to visit for two weeks. I am very excited especially since my roommate here, Kristen, is leaving me on Thursday to marry my brother.
Sincerely, Joy Christina Eklund
Thursday, May 31, 2007
rabbit (say if first thing tomorrow morning)
It is rainy season. The streets are now rivers and water is plentiful. The air is fresh and I get to wear pants. The only problem (because there must be one) is that now those cold showers are back to being miserable. Oh and I'm supposed to be tutoring right now but can't because it is raining too hard to walk and I am, as always, out of minutes on my phone. Has having flaky friends finally rubbed off on me?
Yesterday was Nicaraguan Mother's day. It is a way bigger deal here than in the States. On Tuesday my school was only half day because there was some sort of Mother's day presentation. And then Wednesday there was no school at all. Hallelujah, I love moms. Another thing here is that Mother's day colors are red and white and pretty much every where is decorated to look like tacky Valentine's day.
Tomorrow is Kid's day or something so we have another half day and I was informed this afternoon that I am supposed to have some sort of game and prizes prepared. What games are appreciated by kids ranging in ages from 4 to 16?
I often mention that my kids are out of control but maybe I don't go into enough detail. I have to admit that sometimes I question myself about whether or not it is really as bad as I think, but things happen and I am comforted that I do teach at a crazy school. Now for one of the primest examples (yes, even beyond eating toothpaste for lunch): On Monday I walked into my 1st grade class and one of my students asked if he could go to the bathroom and I said no because he asks every single day as soon as I walk in. I ushered him back to his seat, along with the rest of the class, and then started to talk about the book we were going to read. Then I look up to the back of the classroom and there he is peeing on the wall. I was like “oh my, please don't be doing what I think you're doing,” but the other students made sure I knew exactly what was going on. So I told them not to worry about it and go back to their seats but one of them when out side and told their regular teacher who then came in and yelled at him in front of the class. At this point all of the students started chanting something and banging on their desks and Sacarias started crying. Yeah and just if you were wondering no emergency cleaning team came.
OK and maybe I've talked about my student's home lives being messed up too and now have a great example of that. I was talking to the pre-school teacher today, she's a good one to explain every one's history in the school. So I was commenting on what an attentive grandpa Lucy has and the teacher told me that it isn't Lucy's grandfather but dad. Which is crazy because he is old (no offense to my elderly readers, but you don't have a 4 year-old). Then the teacher started telling me about her own family. Her parents divorced when she was twelve because her father wanted a new woman. Through some process, that I would know more about if my Spanish had less issues, her father ended up marrying her brother's girlfriend. That is strange and I'm sure Deuteronomy has something to say about it.
Yesterday Cristina and I went around town taking pictures. We are hoping to eventually put them into a book along with some fabulous commentary that may be available for purchase one day. So be excited for that day.
I hope your life is going splendidly...let me know.
love, joy
Yesterday was Nicaraguan Mother's day. It is a way bigger deal here than in the States. On Tuesday my school was only half day because there was some sort of Mother's day presentation. And then Wednesday there was no school at all. Hallelujah, I love moms. Another thing here is that Mother's day colors are red and white and pretty much every where is decorated to look like tacky Valentine's day.
Tomorrow is Kid's day or something so we have another half day and I was informed this afternoon that I am supposed to have some sort of game and prizes prepared. What games are appreciated by kids ranging in ages from 4 to 16?
I often mention that my kids are out of control but maybe I don't go into enough detail. I have to admit that sometimes I question myself about whether or not it is really as bad as I think, but things happen and I am comforted that I do teach at a crazy school. Now for one of the primest examples (yes, even beyond eating toothpaste for lunch): On Monday I walked into my 1st grade class and one of my students asked if he could go to the bathroom and I said no because he asks every single day as soon as I walk in. I ushered him back to his seat, along with the rest of the class, and then started to talk about the book we were going to read. Then I look up to the back of the classroom and there he is peeing on the wall. I was like “oh my, please don't be doing what I think you're doing,” but the other students made sure I knew exactly what was going on. So I told them not to worry about it and go back to their seats but one of them when out side and told their regular teacher who then came in and yelled at him in front of the class. At this point all of the students started chanting something and banging on their desks and Sacarias started crying. Yeah and just if you were wondering no emergency cleaning team came.
OK and maybe I've talked about my student's home lives being messed up too and now have a great example of that. I was talking to the pre-school teacher today, she's a good one to explain every one's history in the school. So I was commenting on what an attentive grandpa Lucy has and the teacher told me that it isn't Lucy's grandfather but dad. Which is crazy because he is old (no offense to my elderly readers, but you don't have a 4 year-old). Then the teacher started telling me about her own family. Her parents divorced when she was twelve because her father wanted a new woman. Through some process, that I would know more about if my Spanish had less issues, her father ended up marrying her brother's girlfriend. That is strange and I'm sure Deuteronomy has something to say about it.
Yesterday Cristina and I went around town taking pictures. We are hoping to eventually put them into a book along with some fabulous commentary that may be available for purchase one day. So be excited for that day.
I hope your life is going splendidly...let me know.
love, joy
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
i love lamp, and some other things
i love lamp
i went to the states for the weekend. i love usa. i love target. i love vanilla lattes. i love changes in temperature. i love hot water heaters. i love friends. i love english. i love weddings. i love unlimited cell phone use. i love 2nd birthday parties. i love cereal. i love english muffins. i love crepes-a-go-go. i love frozen yogurt. i love cherries. i love family. i love dry heat. i love poetry. i love shoes. i love coffee shops. i love walking in peace. i love garbage cans (as opposed to trash on the side of the road). i love you.
So I had a good time this weekend and this morning at 12:30 I got back to Nicaragua. The rainy season has officially started. That means it the humidity has kicked in. Today was pretty good, I actually woke up on time to get to school which surprised everyone (myself included).
back in time to may 15th, 2007
Last week I didn't update because things were a little crazy getting ready to come back. So here is a little on that. Last Tuesday my students grade 6 and up got to go on a field trip. I think it was the first one they had been on because they were really excited and parents came to wave us off, I felt like I was being sent of to war. Fist we crammed three to a seat on a yellow rented school bus then we made a few stops and were on our way to Volcan Masaya. I'd been there a few times already but none of the students had. We saw the volcano and bat caves and had lunch and went to a museum and the students filled out a worksheet on what they learned, it was like a real field trip. Matthew had gone to the States and raised support for everything so it was a very cool opportunity, and we are hoping to be able to go on more. The whole idea of raising support for this trip is odd because besides the cost of the bus it cost 10 cordobas ($.55) a student. It is strange to think that this wouldn't be in everyone's budget. Now for some pictures I'll try to not pick too many.
i went to the states for the weekend. i love usa. i love target. i love vanilla lattes. i love changes in temperature. i love hot water heaters. i love friends. i love english. i love weddings. i love unlimited cell phone use. i love 2nd birthday parties. i love cereal. i love english muffins. i love crepes-a-go-go. i love frozen yogurt. i love cherries. i love family. i love dry heat. i love poetry. i love shoes. i love coffee shops. i love walking in peace. i love garbage cans (as opposed to trash on the side of the road). i love you.
So I had a good time this weekend and this morning at 12:30 I got back to Nicaragua. The rainy season has officially started. That means it the humidity has kicked in. Today was pretty good, I actually woke up on time to get to school which surprised everyone (myself included).
back in time to may 15th, 2007
Last week I didn't update because things were a little crazy getting ready to come back. So here is a little on that. Last Tuesday my students grade 6 and up got to go on a field trip. I think it was the first one they had been on because they were really excited and parents came to wave us off, I felt like I was being sent of to war. Fist we crammed three to a seat on a yellow rented school bus then we made a few stops and were on our way to Volcan Masaya. I'd been there a few times already but none of the students had. We saw the volcano and bat caves and had lunch and went to a museum and the students filled out a worksheet on what they learned, it was like a real field trip. Matthew had gone to the States and raised support for everything so it was a very cool opportunity, and we are hoping to be able to go on more. The whole idea of raising support for this trip is odd because besides the cost of the bus it cost 10 cordobas ($.55) a student. It is strange to think that this wouldn't be in everyone's budget. Now for some pictures I'll try to not pick too many.
Some students in front of the volcano
mi colegio walking down to the caves
mi colegio walking up from the caves
the lunch provided for the teachers
our trusty bus "Christ's Blood"
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Re: I love you
If you're bored I have a suggestion. You should write me an e-mail. You don't even have to respond to anything you have (or haven't) read in my posts it can be completely one sided about your life. Because maybe sometimes you think about it and then don't, this time you should. I'll even make it more exciting, for every 100 responses I'll do something really cool (I don't know what, I'm open for suggestions).
Last weekend I went to a woman's retreat for Christians in Nicaragua that speak English. It was at at a swanky hotel on the beach with the biggest swimming pool in Central America. It was a little pricey but we had high-pressured hot showers . I think it got rid of all the grime that had been building on me for the past three months. Maybe that was too much information. I'm really glad I went for other more spiritual reasons too.
My mom is here for a week.
A few weeks ago at this teacher meeting 100% attendance awards were given. I didn't get one. I didn't go to school on Thursday last week, Monday,Tuesday or Thursday this week. But now I'm not planning on missing any at least until the middle of May. Matthew just sent me an e-mail thanking me for my commitment.
There is a shirt being sold at a department store here. It is very cute but $25. They only have one left and it has been in the store by itself for at least a month but they still haven't put it on sale. Injustices like that don't happen in the states.
I don't like it when my knees are exposed and I am sitting in the back seat of a car and they rub against the seat in front of me. I thought that was a fairly standard annoyance but I said it the other day and nobody understood. Things/people touching me in general I just don't know how to deal with.
On Tuesday we went to this town Granada and to it's famous "Kathy's Waffle House," it was super good. I had the pecan waffle, oh man.
I got a new job tutoring, already. I could start today but since la mama esta aqui I decided to wait until next Tuesday. I'll be tutoring in math again. Good thing I retook Calculus, oh maybe that was to get off of academic probation.
Yesterday at school I was working with my second graders on the phrase "How are you?" and the various responses. So we had gone over them and I had drawn some really high quality pictures on the board and was going around the room asking my students what the words meant in Spanish. I asked this kid Dominic what Hungry was in Spanish and he answered "comida(food)," so I said, "what about food?" and he said, "pescado(fish)?...um...arroz con pollo(chicken and rice)?..." and he kept going and I was just standing in front of the class laughing because he was so confused.
Another interesting thing happened yesterday at my school. At 1:30 in the afternoon, about 2 hours after i left, 20 armed gunmen came to rob us. The went into the office and took our 2 laptop computers, $600 cash, and the cell phones of the people that were working. But today attendance wasn't down at all and everyone seemed fine, I wouldn't have been fine if I was there. Nicaraguans aren't considered a violent people, they didn't hurt anyone and and everyone knows who did it because the school is in such a small barrio. It is sad that people think they should go rob the poor school that most likely one of their relatives goes to. And it is lame that the police don't actively work at stopping things like this when last week I got pulled over for turning left.
My mom took us grocery shopping today and I got pickles and Gatorade and lots of other exciting treats.
I learned at school that May 13th is Saint Fatima Day or something like that so the rainy season is supposed to start, but on the other hand my roommate said her leg was hurting and she thought that was a sign of rain. I think I'll place my bets with Rachel's leg.
OK brief recap, fill me in on your life or just tell me something and if I get enough responses there will be a big surprise.
Last weekend I went to a woman's retreat for Christians in Nicaragua that speak English. It was at at a swanky hotel on the beach with the biggest swimming pool in Central America. It was a little pricey but we had high-pressured hot showers . I think it got rid of all the grime that had been building on me for the past three months. Maybe that was too much information. I'm really glad I went for other more spiritual reasons too.
My mom is here for a week.
A few weeks ago at this teacher meeting 100% attendance awards were given. I didn't get one. I didn't go to school on Thursday last week, Monday,Tuesday or Thursday this week. But now I'm not planning on missing any at least until the middle of May. Matthew just sent me an e-mail thanking me for my commitment.
There is a shirt being sold at a department store here. It is very cute but $25. They only have one left and it has been in the store by itself for at least a month but they still haven't put it on sale. Injustices like that don't happen in the states.
I don't like it when my knees are exposed and I am sitting in the back seat of a car and they rub against the seat in front of me. I thought that was a fairly standard annoyance but I said it the other day and nobody understood. Things/people touching me in general I just don't know how to deal with.
On Tuesday we went to this town Granada and to it's famous "Kathy's Waffle House," it was super good. I had the pecan waffle, oh man.
I got a new job tutoring, already. I could start today but since la mama esta aqui I decided to wait until next Tuesday. I'll be tutoring in math again. Good thing I retook Calculus, oh maybe that was to get off of academic probation.
Yesterday at school I was working with my second graders on the phrase "How are you?" and the various responses. So we had gone over them and I had drawn some really high quality pictures on the board and was going around the room asking my students what the words meant in Spanish. I asked this kid Dominic what Hungry was in Spanish and he answered "comida(food)," so I said, "what about food?" and he said, "pescado(fish)?...um...arroz con pollo(chicken and rice)?..." and he kept going and I was just standing in front of the class laughing because he was so confused.
Another interesting thing happened yesterday at my school. At 1:30 in the afternoon, about 2 hours after i left, 20 armed gunmen came to rob us. The went into the office and took our 2 laptop computers, $600 cash, and the cell phones of the people that were working. But today attendance wasn't down at all and everyone seemed fine, I wouldn't have been fine if I was there. Nicaraguans aren't considered a violent people, they didn't hurt anyone and and everyone knows who did it because the school is in such a small barrio. It is sad that people think they should go rob the poor school that most likely one of their relatives goes to. And it is lame that the police don't actively work at stopping things like this when last week I got pulled over for turning left.
My mom took us grocery shopping today and I got pickles and Gatorade and lots of other exciting treats.
I learned at school that May 13th is Saint Fatima Day or something like that so the rainy season is supposed to start, but on the other hand my roommate said her leg was hurting and she thought that was a sign of rain. I think I'll place my bets with Rachel's leg.
OK brief recap, fill me in on your life or just tell me something and if I get enough responses there will be a big surprise.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Cosas buenas
Hello again. I guess last week some people found my post depressing so I figured I'd try to make this one more up-beat because let's face it, I'm a happy person.
1) It is mango season, and fortunately my mom didn't pass on her severe mango allergies to me. Our apartment complex is full of huge mango trees and the gardeners like us so they'll bring them to our house if we ask.
2) On Sunday we were in and out of church in under 3.5 hours. I think that's a record.
3) This guy that works at my school (I'm not sure what he does, gardens maybe?) wears overalls with the top half down, a red wwf t-shirt, and a white pinstripe New York hat quite regularly. It makes me laugh every time, because he's definitely got the gangster look down just ten years late.
4) My least controllable class is 1st grade B. On Monday their teacher didn't come so they all were sent home and I didn't have to "teach" them.
5) As soon as I finished my bowl of cereal yesterday morning Leo came and took it from the table to wash it. Talk about quality service.
6) Within the last week both the boy I tutored in math and my Korean students told me that they can't come any more. I am definitely over having that responsibility but now I'll have to come up with some other way to keep myself occupied other than my four hours of teaching four days a week.
7) Today one of my friends came help me at school. She whistled "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made" with her hands.
8) A few weeks ago my brother came he down and brought us a wireless router (paid for by my niece), so now when the electricity is on we have wireless internet. Supposedly we are going to start having electricity rations again but no more than two hours a day, thank you Daniel Ortega.
9) On Saturday I went to this thrift store "MegaBotique," I bought two pairs of shorts for 25 cordobas ($1.50).
10) Then I went to this bookstore that has new and used books in Spanish and English. The lady said the magazines were free and I figured I would take a few for my school but the lady told me to take them all and to leave my e-mail address so she could let my know when she has more. I was already able to use some for a project with my Monday afternoon classes.
Well 10 seems like a popular number to stop at. Even though things can be frustrating life is good.
Love, Joy
1) It is mango season, and fortunately my mom didn't pass on her severe mango allergies to me. Our apartment complex is full of huge mango trees and the gardeners like us so they'll bring them to our house if we ask.
2) On Sunday we were in and out of church in under 3.5 hours. I think that's a record.
3) This guy that works at my school (I'm not sure what he does, gardens maybe?) wears overalls with the top half down, a red wwf t-shirt, and a white pinstripe New York hat quite regularly. It makes me laugh every time, because he's definitely got the gangster look down just ten years late.
4) My least controllable class is 1st grade B. On Monday their teacher didn't come so they all were sent home and I didn't have to "teach" them.
5) As soon as I finished my bowl of cereal yesterday morning Leo came and took it from the table to wash it. Talk about quality service.
6) Within the last week both the boy I tutored in math and my Korean students told me that they can't come any more. I am definitely over having that responsibility but now I'll have to come up with some other way to keep myself occupied other than my four hours of teaching four days a week.
7) Today one of my friends came help me at school. She whistled "This is the Day that the Lord Has Made" with her hands.
8) A few weeks ago my brother came he down and brought us a wireless router (paid for by my niece), so now when the electricity is on we have wireless internet. Supposedly we are going to start having electricity rations again but no more than two hours a day, thank you Daniel Ortega.
9) On Saturday I went to this thrift store "MegaBotique," I bought two pairs of shorts for 25 cordobas ($1.50).
10) Then I went to this bookstore that has new and used books in Spanish and English. The lady said the magazines were free and I figured I would take a few for my school but the lady told me to take them all and to leave my e-mail address so she could let my know when she has more. I was already able to use some for a project with my Monday afternoon classes.
Well 10 seems like a popular number to stop at. Even though things can be frustrating life is good.
Love, Joy
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Chaos
I think if I needed to pick one word to describe my teaching situation it would be (as the title suggests) chaos.
How can I start? I'm sorry if this comes across as ranting,
Yesterday morning I got to school pretty close to on-time, I was excited because Friday I hung up a note on the classroom door telling my parents that the 1st graders need to bring in an empty notebook to use only for English. So I was all scheduled to have my students copy a few numbers off the board and then a few more the next day and so-on. That way the students that can't write as well won't feel so overwhelmed. For my first class the majority actually brought them and only a few had to use the paper that I brought for back up. The problem at my school is that I'll have one thing going for me and 100 against me. For example during 1st grade A, Julio, our maintenance man/driver was standing on a table in the middle of the room installing a ceiling fan. Why would anyone think that is an OK thing to do? So there is poor Joy trying to figure out how to teach with this stupidity going on. So I decided to try go outside. But it is really hard to keep 30 first graders under control (regardless of the location) but especially outside when there are other kids from the neighborhood wandering around playing marbles and such. And this is all before 8:30.
It is difficult to describe the behavior in my 1st grade B class. I guess if you take take the worst child you have ever met and imagine 19 of them in a room together and then pick the 3rd worst child you know and add 8 of them, then maybe mix in 2 that are fairly well behaved. There you have a rough estimate. I think maybe 40% of these students brought their books and probably 5 students didn't copy anything off of the whiteboard. Sometimes I keep them after during recess but usually I am about at my tolerance level of being in the same room with them after the first 15 minutes of class, so that's really more of a punishment for me than them. That brings me to 9:15.
9:15 is recess it was fine. Usually I chat with the other teachers or students. Yesterday was more or less the same but the students get so touchy and they're all sweaty and sticky and it as been so hot lately I just can't reciprocate their affections, so I spend a lot of the time swatting them away.
After recreo I teach 2nd grade. Two of them brought in their homework. The page we covered in our book was "where are you from? I'm from________." It's pretty funny since they are all from the same country, city, and barrio and thus pretty pointless to have them ask their classmates where they are from.
Third grade is definitely my best behaved class but I still question whether or not they are actually learning anything, and some of them just won't stop talking and whining. I wanted them to color this picture and had to explain to them that if they don't bring crayons it is their problem not mine, obviously by this point in time I was full of sympathy.
On Monday's I have afternoon classes at school too so usually Cristina comes sometime during my 2 hour break and brings me lunch or we run to a coffee shop, but until she gets there I get to hang out on campus. Today there was a missions team there. Possibly you missed previous e-mails where I shared my opinions on people coming to "help" so I'll give you a brief re-cap. Chaos. This time was a little better since they showed up an hour late which made them not be there until after school was out, I think this defeated their purpose of coming to pass out gifts to select children who then can play with their toys in class while the rest of the students watch. The group was from Texas but one of the girls graduated from Davis so that was exciting.
The second half of my break I spent drinking a caramel macchiato and telling Cristina how stupid my school is.
After break I have 8th, 9th, and 7th grades, in that order. These classes are not only smaller but usually I don't have to stop students from hiding under their desks.
Jeremy's school gave me some old lower elementary class readers so I brought those to class. I passed them out and we went through the stories "Pop!" and "See the Cat?" with little difficulty. Then Julio decided to pick this time to install another ceiling fan. He asked me if he could, I said no, he said he needed to. I don't know why he couldn't do it during the past 2 hours that the classroom was empty. So first he came, then their normal Nicaraguan English teacher came in to say that they needed to take their exams. This took a chunk of time and then I didn't know what to do because there was only five minutes left before the bell was supposed to ring. I really shouldn't have worried because it rang 10 minutes late.
In 9th grade there are a whole six students. When I got there they were still finishing their English exams, when they finished I passed out the readers and had them move to sit under the newly installed fan. On a side note, fans are all fine and dandy but do absolutely nothing when the power is out, which has been happening a lot lately. Anyways I gave them their readers then the director came to ask if I could take a five minute break because this lady needed to come in and take their measurements for new PE uniforms. Even with only six students there is no way that can only take five minutes. When she finally left we continued our reading until the bell rang late, again.
My 7th graders have the best English skills but very low attention spans and it is hard because the range in age from 13 to 18. They also were continually going in and out of the classroom because of fittings. But the lady was going to do it in front of the classroom until I asked her if it was possible to work in the hallway, so that was better I guess. One thing different about the classes here is that the students think once they finish their work they are able to leave, they aren't, right?
That about completes my school day, I got home at four.
Now on to the chaos that is Nicaragua. I will give you my top three stories from the week.
1. Last Monday night the windows got stolen out of my friend's car. Nothing from inside, just the windows.
2. On Friday at around noon, while my neighbors were at a stop light someone started to steal their back lights. Fortunately, the light turned green before they were able to cut the wires. They did however get the Toyota emblem.
3. Saturday morning probably takes the cake. As my roommate was in her car about to have the guards open the gate to let her out, suddenly Nicaraguan special police jumped the fence wearing masks and carrying guns. When they got in, they opened the gate to let in a truck with more police. They ran past her car and spread out to a few apartments to break into. We later found out they were looking for some Mexican drug-lords that were part of a group consisting of Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans that was busted in another town earlier in the week. Two people were arrested. I'm honestly not a big fan of drugs and wish they could have worked on sneaking in Mexican food.
Now on peppier note.
This past week has been pretty social. People came over for dinner a few nights and one night I actually hung out with non-roommates or family. Friday night I saw Letra y Musica and I really liked it. One of the previews before it was for She's the Man which came out in over a year ago and another for The Prince and Me which came out in 2004. On Saturday night I saw The Pursuit of Happyness, on DVD because it still isn't in the theaters here, I liked it but was pretty stressed out by his life being so terrible for so long. I also went to a baby shower and to a different church than normal and to one of the maid's houses in this really cool town about 30 minutes away by car. We went to pay her because she just reupholstered our couch and it looks really good. Plus she took the cushions back and fourth on the hour and a half bus ride she takes every morning to get here.
I had big plans of sending this out first thing this morning to prevent it from being any longer. But once again my idealistic plans got thrown out the window because the electricity was off from 8 to 2:30. But that is all I am going to write about my day.
How are you?
How can I start? I'm sorry if this comes across as ranting,
Yesterday morning I got to school pretty close to on-time, I was excited because Friday I hung up a note on the classroom door telling my parents that the 1st graders need to bring in an empty notebook to use only for English. So I was all scheduled to have my students copy a few numbers off the board and then a few more the next day and so-on. That way the students that can't write as well won't feel so overwhelmed. For my first class the majority actually brought them and only a few had to use the paper that I brought for back up. The problem at my school is that I'll have one thing going for me and 100 against me. For example during 1st grade A, Julio, our maintenance man/driver was standing on a table in the middle of the room installing a ceiling fan. Why would anyone think that is an OK thing to do? So there is poor Joy trying to figure out how to teach with this stupidity going on. So I decided to try go outside. But it is really hard to keep 30 first graders under control (regardless of the location) but especially outside when there are other kids from the neighborhood wandering around playing marbles and such. And this is all before 8:30.
It is difficult to describe the behavior in my 1st grade B class. I guess if you take take the worst child you have ever met and imagine 19 of them in a room together and then pick the 3rd worst child you know and add 8 of them, then maybe mix in 2 that are fairly well behaved. There you have a rough estimate. I think maybe 40% of these students brought their books and probably 5 students didn't copy anything off of the whiteboard. Sometimes I keep them after during recess but usually I am about at my tolerance level of being in the same room with them after the first 15 minutes of class, so that's really more of a punishment for me than them. That brings me to 9:15.
9:15 is recess it was fine. Usually I chat with the other teachers or students. Yesterday was more or less the same but the students get so touchy and they're all sweaty and sticky and it as been so hot lately I just can't reciprocate their affections, so I spend a lot of the time swatting them away.
After recreo I teach 2nd grade. Two of them brought in their homework. The page we covered in our book was "where are you from? I'm from________." It's pretty funny since they are all from the same country, city, and barrio and thus pretty pointless to have them ask their classmates where they are from.
Third grade is definitely my best behaved class but I still question whether or not they are actually learning anything, and some of them just won't stop talking and whining. I wanted them to color this picture and had to explain to them that if they don't bring crayons it is their problem not mine, obviously by this point in time I was full of sympathy.
On Monday's I have afternoon classes at school too so usually Cristina comes sometime during my 2 hour break and brings me lunch or we run to a coffee shop, but until she gets there I get to hang out on campus. Today there was a missions team there. Possibly you missed previous e-mails where I shared my opinions on people coming to "help" so I'll give you a brief re-cap. Chaos. This time was a little better since they showed up an hour late which made them not be there until after school was out, I think this defeated their purpose of coming to pass out gifts to select children who then can play with their toys in class while the rest of the students watch. The group was from Texas but one of the girls graduated from Davis so that was exciting.
The second half of my break I spent drinking a caramel macchiato and telling Cristina how stupid my school is.
After break I have 8th, 9th, and 7th grades, in that order. These classes are not only smaller but usually I don't have to stop students from hiding under their desks.
Jeremy's school gave me some old lower elementary class readers so I brought those to class. I passed them out and we went through the stories "Pop!" and "See the Cat?" with little difficulty. Then Julio decided to pick this time to install another ceiling fan. He asked me if he could, I said no, he said he needed to. I don't know why he couldn't do it during the past 2 hours that the classroom was empty. So first he came, then their normal Nicaraguan English teacher came in to say that they needed to take their exams. This took a chunk of time and then I didn't know what to do because there was only five minutes left before the bell was supposed to ring. I really shouldn't have worried because it rang 10 minutes late.
In 9th grade there are a whole six students. When I got there they were still finishing their English exams, when they finished I passed out the readers and had them move to sit under the newly installed fan. On a side note, fans are all fine and dandy but do absolutely nothing when the power is out, which has been happening a lot lately. Anyways I gave them their readers then the director came to ask if I could take a five minute break because this lady needed to come in and take their measurements for new PE uniforms. Even with only six students there is no way that can only take five minutes. When she finally left we continued our reading until the bell rang late, again.
My 7th graders have the best English skills but very low attention spans and it is hard because the range in age from 13 to 18. They also were continually going in and out of the classroom because of fittings. But the lady was going to do it in front of the classroom until I asked her if it was possible to work in the hallway, so that was better I guess. One thing different about the classes here is that the students think once they finish their work they are able to leave, they aren't, right?
That about completes my school day, I got home at four.
Now on to the chaos that is Nicaragua. I will give you my top three stories from the week.
1. Last Monday night the windows got stolen out of my friend's car. Nothing from inside, just the windows.
2. On Friday at around noon, while my neighbors were at a stop light someone started to steal their back lights. Fortunately, the light turned green before they were able to cut the wires. They did however get the Toyota emblem.
3. Saturday morning probably takes the cake. As my roommate was in her car about to have the guards open the gate to let her out, suddenly Nicaraguan special police jumped the fence wearing masks and carrying guns. When they got in, they opened the gate to let in a truck with more police. They ran past her car and spread out to a few apartments to break into. We later found out they were looking for some Mexican drug-lords that were part of a group consisting of Mexicans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans that was busted in another town earlier in the week. Two people were arrested. I'm honestly not a big fan of drugs and wish they could have worked on sneaking in Mexican food.
Now on peppier note.
This past week has been pretty social. People came over for dinner a few nights and one night I actually hung out with non-roommates or family. Friday night I saw Letra y Musica and I really liked it. One of the previews before it was for She's the Man which came out in over a year ago and another for The Prince and Me which came out in 2004. On Saturday night I saw The Pursuit of Happyness, on DVD because it still isn't in the theaters here, I liked it but was pretty stressed out by his life being so terrible for so long. I also went to a baby shower and to a different church than normal and to one of the maid's houses in this really cool town about 30 minutes away by car. We went to pay her because she just reupholstered our couch and it looks really good. Plus she took the cushions back and fourth on the hour and a half bus ride she takes every morning to get here.
I had big plans of sending this out first thing this morning to prevent it from being any longer. But once again my idealistic plans got thrown out the window because the electricity was off from 8 to 2:30. But that is all I am going to write about my day.
How are you?
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