Low-maintenance week. Not much to show...Living in a pueblo has brought a sense of unassured anxiety. There is all this free time, and what am I to do with it? I may try a painting class...and then, a flamenco class...I give some English classes on the side during the day, but, it's very difficult to go see things outside, if not on the weekends. Since I don't have a car, and the trains leave and come infrequently, and at very inopportune times, I am sentenced to the interior heartbeat in a skin coat of oranges.
I am patiently waiting/actively seeking (as much as I can) companions of the sort. I know good companions are hard to find and I remain positive. My embrace is all-encompassing and ready to be received, but, I don't think finding friends is one of those things you can wish for...just like finding a mate, or the right shampoo...with so many choices, do you just buy every single one until you find the one that smells the best?
However, you can understand that despite my personal longings--things many people, such as I, take for granted--I am content. I have been given a position to learn a foreign language in a place that was much different than the place I grew up...
I go from teaching English food bingo, to describing the nervous system to 9 year-olds, to playing monstruo durante recreo con los chiquititos. On my English classes on the side, I have two sisters, 7 & 10 years old, that are taking English classes in school, yet don't know the alphabet. Then, I have a pair of sisters who are 14 & 15, who read "Where the Sidewalk Ends" with me. Then, we interpreted the poem through creating our own drawings about the poem...Within that same family, I also give English classes to the father, and, afterwards, we have an intercambio for two hours. Un intercambio is when we trade our languages--I speak for an hour in Spanish, and he repsonds in his native tongue, and then, he speaks for an hour in English, and I respond in mine. It's very helpful to my language development to speak with people who aren't afraid to tell you what is correct, what is slang, and what doesn't make any sense at all...
I think I have a bout of the clouds, because it has been pouring for three days without end... Watching ceaseless rain makes me tired... a fit of the gods...or a fight among them...
My favorite moment this week was in one of my second grade classes. Jose Garcia raises his hand to answer EVERY question. When I look for other hands, there are none to be found...Jose is the only one who truly a) listens and b) can understand English...or can deduce what it is that I am saying. One of the rowdy boys who sits by the teacher's desk was complaining in Spanish about how he didn't understand... Jose piped up and said, "Tú estás aqui para aprender ingles. Si tú hablas en español, tú no aprendes ingles." After, Jose threw his hands into the air and maintained this stern look of condescension plastered upon his face. I couldn't help but laugh...actually, roar. This 7-year old not only understands English, but told off his classmate that was acting like a dufus, that he should listen if he wants to understand...and since he doesn't listen, obviously he isn't going to understand...It's moments like that when young minds can sense so little, yet, understand so much.
What a gift this is.
No comments:
Post a Comment