Escaped torros, and new families

My first week in living at my new site went surprisingly well.  I’ve been really lucky with host families, and I think because this new family is just as welcoming as the last it’s made the transition smoother.  They’ve really welcomed me as part of the family, “otra hija” otra vez.

                My community is a rural farming community. Most people either work in the fields or in tourism, as we live literally 10 minutes from one of only 2 international airports in the country. However, this region has some of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.  I’ve already seen that reflected in my town. My host family is very kind and they seem like the type who likes to help people out and almost every day their neighbor who is out of work comes over for dinner.

                A lot the houses in the community are “casas de bono” or government housing.  The house where I live was paid for by the government.  They’re pretty basic houses with tin roofs so they’re basically like little toaster ovens during the day.  Because of that I spend most of my time outside with my host family.  That seems like the theme of life here, during the middle of the day, if you can swing it, you just want to sit in a hammock, sweat, and make as few movements as possible.

                This weekend is “las fiestas de Guardia”, in English terms it’s pretty much the rodeo. There’s a lot of bull riding, but it’s not like the US where spectators sit on bleachers to watch. Rather you sit on top of the fence enclosure where the bull is and when the bull comes around people kick the bull. I can’t help feeling sorry for the bull, but then I remind myself that what the Spaniards do is much worse. Really the main ones who are going to get hurt here are the people, the bull is mostly just scared shitless.

                The other crazy part is basically anyone who wants to can enter the rink.  Technically minors and drunks aren’t allowed but I saw plenty of my high school students and people toting beers in the rink.  Also a man with a mild mental disability was in the rink and he got his leg gored and had to be taken to the hospital. 

                Basically bull riding is some of the most exciting stuff that happens here, and I get it.  One of the bulls escaped from the rink yesterday, and pandemonium broke out. People were screaming and running around.  My host sister grabbed the 4 month old and hauled him up the fence.  All the while my 84 year old great grandmother was sitting, seemingly oblivious to everything, but I think she’s really just a tough old broad.  There’s actually a picture of her riding a bull in her house, gotta love her.

                My first week at the high school went well.  Here high school goes from 7^th to 11^th grade, and I’m going to be working with all levels. For a high school of almost 400 students there are a lot of English Teachers, 5 total. So I will be working with a different teacher each day. I still have to meet one of them, but all the others seem receptive to having me in their classrooms.  Two of them are really confident speaking with me in English. The other two are hesitant to speak in English but hopefully this will change with time.  Besides working in the high school, I will be teaching community English classes, hopefully I will start an art class in the elementary school, and try to figure out other projects such as library or learning centers the community might be interested in working on. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.