I (most likely) will co-teach my
first class on Thursday, but instead of planning out that lesson right now like
I should be doing, I’ll work on this lesson instead! Basically the objective of this is to teach
a lesson in patience based on my experiences of the past week or so. So first comes story time (please read past
the first paragraph, I swear it’s not just me complaining the whole time).
Alright, so I started off my week by
having my 4th grade co-teacher tell me she didn’t have time to work
with me. Later that day the director our
school ordered us to plow over our garden and start again, despite the fact
that we had spent several hours planting days before and the seeds were already
germinating. That night I came down with…
I’ll just say I did not get much sleep.
The next morning (Tuesday) I woke up feeling pretty lousy and
crabby. After taking my temperature I
went to the doctor in my pueblo and figured out I had a bacterial infection and
parasites. During the week I’ve also
been developing some kind of allergic reaction (maybe flea bites) similar to a
poison ivy rash on a leg and arm, plus a bit more in other areas (for the
second time). On Saturday I figured out
there were more issues with my class, and my cell phone was stolen.
Okay,
so yeah, this last week sounds pretty miserable right? Wrong!
I actually had a pretty good week!
Shortly after getting frustrated with the one teacher I switched to a
super friendly 3rd grade teacher to work with. With the garden, we all came to realize that
while frustrating, this is his school that we are working at, and we have to
work together (we also now will have two different gardens, but now ours just
has a really good barbed wire fence). As
for getting sick, it’s pretty unrealistic not to expect getting sick when
moving to a new country. I’m not a huge
fan of the rash/maybe flea bites, that I will admit. The new issues with my class schedule worked
themselves out (with the help of Environmental Sector PC staff) by the end of
the afternoon. I can also live without a
phone for a few days. Not thrilled to
have to buy a new one, but at least I had my iPhone (acting as my iPod and
camera) and bus money was locked up in a different part of my backpack. There were also many other times during the
week when I was allowed to spend time with other volunteers and have a good
time!
 |
| Enjoying the litting things! For those that ever try and eat ice cream in Nicaragua, eat it fast! |
It’s all about perspective. I’m not trying to sound all preachy and say
that I’m perfect at this. There were definitely times when I was ticked this
week, but getting worked up about things will not make the situation any better
and only make a bad situation worse.
Obviously most people reading this aren’t living in the same situation I
am, but I think it’s a valid lesson to be learned. Back home I definitely had issues with
patience sometimes, and I really think my past three weeks here have helped me
out a lot! It’s a work in progress, but
I’m glad I’m getting this all in during training before I’m sent off to be on
my own for two years!
Yes, there’s more!!
What lesson would be complete without a quiz?
A couple of the answers can be found in the above (novel of a) blog
post, but most are not. All answers can
be found at the bottom.
Quiz:
1. Finish the
sentence: Watch out for that ________ !:
a. Pig
b. Horse
c. Rooster/chicken
d. Cow
e. Goat
f. Stray dog
g. Duck
h. Drunkard
i. All of the above
2. When running in
short shorts you will:
a. Actually feel
strange wearing a glorified loincloth
b. Get catcalls and
weird looks
c. Have your host mom laugh at you
d. All of the above
3. How do you say “I don’t understand, can you slow down
please” in Spanish:
a. Hola!
b. Yo no entiendo, mas dispacio por favor!
c. Yo quiero Taco Bell
d. Why are you asking me?!
4. Circle all of the
things that make noise at night (past a bedtime of 8:30-9pm):
a. Roosters
b. Dogs
c. Night club
d. Evangelical Church
e. Kids
f. Rain on the tin
roof
g. I’m just crazy,
it’s all in my head!!
h. Adorable, but
unhappy 9 month old host niece
i. All of the above
5. Fill in the blank:
Nighty night, don’t let the __________ bite!
a. Fleas
b. Bed bugs
c. Monster under my
bed
d. Anyone’s best guess
between a and b
6. If a kid in your
garden starts swearing at you in English, what do you do?
a. Tell him that he is being inappropriate and
politely ask him to stop
b. Realize that nothing you say will stop him
(especially don’t know how to say much)
c. Kick him out
d. Ignore him until he stops
e. d because of b
7. Your training staff just told you that you
need to start integrating into your community more by starting to talk to
people as you walk down the streets. On
your first attempt to start a conversation unaided by friends or your host
family, who do you approach first?
a. The friendly old couple sitting on their
porch
b. Your neighbor who just helped teach you how
to wash your underwear and socks
c. The woman who you only realize may or may
not have been a drug dealer or prostitute several minutes after saying you
don’t have any money but it was a pleasure to meet you
d. The friendly woman you buy bread from at the
Pulpería
8. What name brand
clothing do you see most in Carazo, Nicaragua?
a. Hollister
b. Hollister
c. Hollister
d. Hollister
e. All of the above
9. If you are supposed
to co-teach a class with a teacher that never smiles and says she doesn’t have enough time to co-plan with you,
you should:
a. Do whatever she
says, she has a wooden machete on her desk she uses as a pointing stick
b. Eventually switch
to the super friendly third grade teacher in the afternoon before talking it
over with the first teacher.
c. While observing the
class just sit silently next to the kid pretending to shoot the toy gun and
try not to make eye contact with the teacher.
Maybe then she’ll respect you.
d. All of the above
10. Despite the few negatives, you will:
a. Grow to look forward to seeing horse or
cattle draw carts in the street during class
b. Figure out that the majority of the
population is very nice and hospitable
c. Learn to sleep through the nightly chorus of
strange sounds (either that or buy earplugs)
d. Love it in Nicaragua!
e. ALL OF THE ABOVE
(hint, it’s this one!)
Answer Key:
1. h
2. d
3. b
4. i
5. d
6. e
7. c
8. a
9. d
10. e
JOE I loved your quiz. Spent most of it laughing.. especially thinking of what one would do when these circumstances first happen and it's not normal yet. :D
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