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 7th to 11th 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.
Tara,
ReplyDeleteDo you need art supplies?