Turning Over New Leaves and Whatnot

31/July/2010

We’ve just begun a new semester. And things have really turned around. They were never really THAT bad, but I’m much happier and satisfied with my work and my life as of late. I used to go out and treat myself when I had a bad day. But now I treat myself when I’ve had a really good one. It’s a win win. I guess that means either way I’ll end up treating myself. Hmm…

New things this semester: I’ve officially dropped my less-than-stellar counterpart, my relationship with my other counterpart has really strengthened, I’ve started giving adult “advanced” English classes 3x a week, and I’ve started giving a nutrition class in Leon 1x a week. I’ve also talked with the vice-mayor about getting money to paint some world maps at the schools. My goal is to have a giant painted on world map at every (4) school. There is already a map at one school from a volunteer a few years back, so that leaves 3, 2 of which I’ll also need to buy cement because there is no smooth wall space to paint on. The vice-mayor said they may only be able to support me with 50% of the money, but that’s where people from home can come in to play! On the right side of your screen, there’s a brief list of upcoming projects that I need funding for. I could go through PC, but since these projects are pretty cheap, I don’t want to go through the rigorous and lengthy process of getting them approved. Also, once you have a project being funded by PC, you can’t apply for another one with them until the 1st one is completed, and you can’t have more than one in the works at a time. Basically, I don’t want to pigeonhole myself.

The main reason why my strong counterpart’s and my relationship has blossomed is the PC training we received last weekend in Granada. It was 3 days, and really quite miserable. We were served majorily (Word says that’s not a word but I swear it is) bread and rice, it was a really hot location with no fans, and we had no free time. BUT afterwards I found my counterpart really utilizing the teaching techniques we were taught. For us PCV’s it was basically a refresher from our 1st 3 months of training. I’ve found this headstrong counterpart of mine can be really resistant to using my ideas in the classroom. But when we do, the kids seem to really like them, and they seem effective (ok the majority aren’t MY ideas, they’re what I learned in training). But now that she was taught these teaching techniques and activities by PC, suddenly they’re all great ideas! It’s a little frustrating, but I’ll take it. Since returning, we are now using 80% English in the classroom, and doing much more interactive activities. I think using English in the classroom last semester was such a struggle, because there’s a lot of classroom language that she doesn’t know how to use properly, and understandably, she didn’t want to be teaching them the wrong things. But now I’m working more hours with her (since dropping my other counterpart) and I’m there more often to help her along with how to run the classroom in English. We really had FUN this week. Not just the both of us, but the kids too. It really was an awesome week.

My adult “advanced” English class only has 4 people, but it gives us a chance to talk in depth a lot more, and allow for one on one attention. And there’s WAY more activities that I can utilize, unlike my school classes of 50 kids where only certain activities work.

My nutrition class has started off really well, with 18 women attending! It’s sort of difficult to teach though, because here they’re not as well versed at checking the labels etc. or really even knowing what a carbohydrate is. I knew I’d have to start at the basics..but….I was a little surprised. My first taller (workshop) was about the 2 types of carbohydrates. Man we could have gone on that topic for hours! I challenged everyone to change one aspect of their diet for one week to see how they feel. Such as not frying their rice, using only whole grain rice, or eating American oatmeal for breakfast instead of practically a whole loaf of white bread. They had a lot of great questions, and I’m sure we won’t run out of material. But like all women, they want a quick fix, and aren’t too happy that I’m referring this as a ‘lifestyle change’ instead of a diet. Sorry ladies, these changes should be for good.