Soaking it all in

This week, I've been both soaking in the rest of my Paysandu experience as well as mentally gearing up for the next leg of the journey. We are still teaching the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, since they have not found a substitute English teacher to fill the spot, so we've been progressing with that, as well as fitting in as much time as we can with the little kids. At the teacher's college, we've been presenting on various topics and helping out with lessons as well as hosting a weekly 'Conversation Club.' We've also continued to meet weekly with a college student from the primary-school teaching program at the IFD who wanted to improve his English pronunciation, along with a few more visits to other schools aside from our own (including a private school humorously called 'Mafalda', after the Argentinian comic strip). One of my favorite moments at the primary school this week was when a fifth grade boy, with whom I was working on some assignment or other, looks up at me and says, "Que olor rico que tienes." Directly translated: "what a rich smell you have." Me: "Oh, gracias"... moving right along...

We've been spending some time with the friends we have made here-- and their friends, of course-- and I already feel the twang of missing having this nice community! As excited as I am to move on to the capital city, I know what I will miss the most is the ease of which we were able to integrate into the community, and the friends we have made here. I hope I will be able to express to them when I leave how much their welcoming into this country and their support, help, and friendship has meant to me. Without them this experience would not have been nearly so enjoyable or meaningful for me.

As for soaking in Paysandu, last Saturday night we were invited by a friend to attend a youth group at her church. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a song session rather than the youth group discussion, but we stayed for the songs and then were able to hang out with the young people in the congregation afterwards. It was refreshing just to have some wholesome fun, playing charades and other games that are pretty much the same no matter where you go in the world, it seems.

Then last Sunday we went to see a play put on by a local theater troupe (the same troupe, in fact, that animated the tour we took of Paysandu several weeks ago). It was in a black box theater this time, not in the grand historic Florencio Sanchez theater, and had a much more abstract, experimental flair, with two young female actors. I really enjoyed it... it reminded me so much of all the abstract black box theater I've been involved with over the years, the show both made me miss that theater world as well as made me feel at home in their venue.

Then tonight, we went to see a tango show in the Florencio Sanchez theater being put on in honor of the bicentennial celebration in Argentina this past week (which we learned more about at a talk we went to earlier in the week given by one of our hosts). The show was wonderful, just a pair of dancers doing various different types of tango to various songs, interspersed with images and old footage of famous performers, artists, and writers. It was very well done, and I think it may even have inspired me to take a tango class when I'm in Montevideo. I am painfully ignorant about dance, including tango, so this may be overly ambitious, but I can dream, right?

These next two weeks we will spend preparing a final project with all our kids at the primary school; songs for the younger kids, art projects for the 4th and 5th graders, and perhaps even a pop song and dance with the 6th graders, if that actually comes to fruition! Then we will head to Buenos Aires for our week-long conference with all of the other Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in South America, then we have one last week in Paysandu, then we will be moving to Montevideo. Where did all the time go???

"What? A Jonas brother is coming?!?!"

My apologies for neglecting my blog over this last week... there is a lot to catch up on! The main excuse for my neglect was that my brother came to visit this week. He flew into Montevideo and braved his way on his own through getting to Paysandu. After the 4.5 hour bus ride he arrived safely on Wednesday night. We went out to eat at Romi, a local restaurant which just moved to snazzy new location, and was able to try 'Chivito' his very first night (the flank-steak sandwich piled high with pretty much everything under the sun). Then on Thursday, he came with us to a presentation we gave on the American Revolution at a public high school, grabbed a quick bite then hailed the first cab we saw to hurry over to the elementary school. This week we worked on 'family trees' and had the classes come up with questions for our 'surprise visitor' ("Is it Hannah Montana???" .... "What? Brother is coming? A JONAS brother is coming???" --Sorry kids, my life does not revolve around the Disney channel...) So they were able to ask him questions, and come up with an 'Interview' for our guest.

Thursday evening we had some friends over for tea-time, then later that night we had tickets for a play benefiting a Down-syndrome society. The play was about Juana de Ibarbourou, also known as 'Juana de America', a famous Uruguayan poet whose somewhat tragic life paralleled the political turmoil during the dictatorship in Spain and later in Uruguay itself. In my opinion, the play was a bit over-dramatized at times, but the story of her life was very interesting, and the drama made it all the easier to understand. Plus the beautiful Florencio Sanchez historical theater is always worth a visit. I did think the play had some very creative staging techniques, which I enjoyed from a more technical viewpoint.

Then on Friday we went back to the elementary school, where Andrew got to play an intense soccer game with some serious fanatics, see the 4th graders perform some traditional dancing (this particular one is known as El Pericon), and see some very fine singing of the 2nd grade rendition of 'Five Little Ducks' and 'If All the Raindrops.' It was a pretty adorable day all-around, and of course the kids were very well behaved with him there. Oh, I also don't think I mentioned that we are back to being the principal teachers of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders, since the substitute could no longer stay at the school, and they have yet to find someone else. So now we are back to creating our own agenda and lesson plans, which I think we feel more confident with now.

That night we had a conversation group with one of the students at the IFD (the teacher's college), and then Andrew and I went out for a drink while Elizabeth finished up with one last class. Then we all went out to eat at PanZ (pronounced, 'Pan-Zeta,' since the Z in spanish is pronounced 'zeta'... so, as in, 'panceta'... took me a really long time to figure that one out... not too quick on the uptake...), where he got to try some Uruguayan-style pizza, faina (a chickpea-flour flat-bread), and some flan with dulce de leche.

Then Saturday morning we (Andrew, Elizabeth and I) got up early to catch our bus to Colon, Argentina. Luckily, this time it didn't take quite as long to get over the border. On the walk to the hotel we made a reservation for a tour of the Parque Nacional el Palmar, the national palm-tree park a bit outside Colon, and then went to check up on a safari-tour reservation we had made. Sadly, we learned that the English-speaking tour guide who was supposed to run our terrestrial safari was not going to be around all day (despite the fact that I had made the reservation for Saturday with him earlier that week...) so instead of going in a Jeep and searching for semi-precious agates and stones, we booked a boat tour instead.

Then we went to the hotel, the Hosteria del Puerto, which was this adorable historic hotel down by the river. Our room was a bungalow-style room with a loft where Elizabeth and I slept, and I have to admit, it was a treat to have t.v. again. Unfortunately, Andrew got bitten up by mosquitos in the main room below, but up in the loft we were fine. We went out for lunch then headed to our boat tour, which was quite the adventure.... the weather was pretty ominous the whole time, we had some shifty moments where I didn't completely trust our captain or our little inflatable motor-boat, but we got to learn about the local islands, the flora and fauna, and some interesting ecological facts about the area... like the fact that the level of the water changes so drastically so frequently that no one could possibly inhabit the islands, which is what keeps them a valuable ecological preserve. The other people on our tour were a very young couple on their honeymoon from Buenos Aires, who brought along their very tiny and very good-tempered baby... so I think in the end, the baby faired a bit better on the boat than we did!

Unfortunately, after that adventure Elizabeth came down with a bug of some sort, so Andrew and I walked around while she rested and we eventually got a really tasty dinner at a recommended restaurant right by our hotel. Then on Sunday, we were met at our hotel for our tour of the national park. It was about an hour drive out, and then at the park the guide told us a bit about the fauna, like the fact that they just have no idea how all the palm trees that make up the huge nature preserve got there in the first place, and walked us through one of the trails. Then he drove us to another spot and let us walk around ourselves for a while, where we got the chance to see some Jesuit ruins. Unfortunately, we did not see a single animal... no one told us ahead of time that you need to book an afternoon tour to see any :( Then we headed back to Colon, had some lunch, and then found ourselves a little frustrated with a lack of anything to do, since everything shuts down in the middle of the day for the 'siesta,' and we really had nowhere to go. So, we read in a coffee shop for a while, then in an ice-cream shop, until things started opening up again and we could walk around a bit. Eventually we just headed back to the bus station and made our way home, where we were very grateful to be back in the apartment.

Monday was a holiday, so we had a rather boring day. I also came down with a bad cold. Our friend Yosanna came over for a bit and Andrew was able to try mate, the bitter green tea that is drunk out of a gourd with a bombillo, or a straw which filters the herbs. Yosanna drinks hers sweet, which is not traditionally Uruguayan, but which I prefer. Elizabeth baked her cookies, and we made some empanadas. On Tuesday, Andrew came back with us to the elementary school, and then that evening he left for Montevideo to get to know the 'big city' for a few days before he flies back out on Thursday. One funny anecdote about the week was that the whole time Andrew was here, from the very first night until when he left from the bus station, this same stray dog kept following us around! It was so quirky and cute, he was so surprisingly friendly and people-focused for a stray.

Now Elizabeth and I are back to our old routine, lesson planning for our little kiddies, running our new 'Conversation Club' on Wednesday nights at the teacher's college, and presenting on various topics at the teacher's college and elsewhere. Since I am sick I'm hoping to have a restful weekend... we had a busy and exciting week and a half, but it's nice to get back to my normal schedule. The next project is to buy a small space heater for our apartment though... it is starting to get chilly here! I see winter coming, which means in about 3 weeks we head to our conference in Buenos Aires, then one week later we moved back to Montevideo already!

"Portate bien. Te amo."

This week I received a love note :) Ok, it was from a 7-year-old, but it all the more made my week. During the chaos of a first-grade lesson, one of the boys shoved a crumpled note into my hand then ran back to his seat. I glanced at the note but wasn't sure if it was something intercepted and stealthily being turned in to the teacher, or what, so I didn't think much of it and put it in my pocket. Then at the end of class, Matias came up to me and excitedly asked, "Did you get my note???" I pulled it out and read, "Portate bien. Te amo." Translation: You behave well. I love you. Um, could anything be any cuter??? He went on to explain that the little drawing next to the heart was me. This is why I love working with the little ones... from the spontaneous bear-hug I received in the middle of a third-grade class to love notes, their affection is just always on their sleeve.

It was, however, significantly less cute when a tall 6th grade boy would not stop hugging me on Friday, and then insisted on wrapping his arms around my legs and lifting me off the ground several times. Really... not so cute or appropriate anymore at 12...

Let's see, what else. Last Sunday we had a little bit of a fail when we missed the one mid-day bus to the termas (thermal baths) to meet up with the Salto (Fulbright) kids. We ended up going just for a few hours at the end of the day, which was better than nothing. It was nice to see them and swap stories about our experiences thus far... I was disappointed that none of them will be going to Colon with us next weekend when my brother comes, but hopefully we will plan another trip with them soon. Then we had our usual schedule at the elementary school... still trying to figure out what will happen with the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade English classes, since apparently the substitute is not coming back next week (legal reasons having to do with a system I don't really understand)... so we may be back in the saddle again, in a manner of speaking.

On Thursday night, we had an interesting, positive experience going to the night school (mostly adults returning to school) offered at a high school here and giving a presentation on ourselves and, sort of oddly enough, Edgar Allan Poe. I do find it a little comical sometimes the topics we are asked to present on or comment on... I haven't studied Poe since high school at best, maybe even middle school (I think we saw a play version of the Tell-Tale Heart...?), so the best that I can offer is my own analytical skills and what I can find on the Internet!

Yesterday I also had a GREAT meeting with the best contact I have made so far to really get to the heart of doing women's studies work here, specifically domestic violence. She is a representative who sits on the round-table assembly for domestic violence in Paysandu, with representatives from all types of organizations- the police, children's rights groups, etc. Apparently the group she was part of lost funding so now she does the work on a volunteer basis, but she is very involved in the DV community, knows all the ins and outs, and is connected to all the other people involved, so in the coming weeks we will be visiting with various people so I can get a sense of how things work, as well as share a bit about my understanding of how things work in the U.S. On Tuesday, I will be going to the actual round-table assembly with her, which meets about once a month, so I feel really lucky that I have such conscientious mentors and such helpful people to help me really get me to the heart of things here! She also had a lot of suggestions about how to get involved in Montevideo, so that will be a huge head-start there. And of course, like so many people we have met here, she is also a teacher (a private English teacher, in fact, although we of course spoke in Spanish).

We also saw a car smash into a woman on a motorbike last night (she was ok, just shook up, understandably). The crazy driving here is just UNbelievable... I kind of consider every day that I don't get run over here a success.

Last night we also made our way to a nightclub for the first time. Of course there were some people our age, but at times we also just felt old... we even bumped into one of the high-school students we had spoken to at length after a presentation we gave at her school one day. Can you say, awkward? No, it was really fine, just funny. We kind of just kept waiting for one of our 6th graders to pop out and greet us...

Time flies!

We started off this week well by going to an asado on Sunday with one of our mentors, Silvana, who works at the school I was originally supposed to go to, and also attends the teacher's college where we work. We went to her parent's house, where she of course grew up, and she now lives down the street, so they are always very close. The food was delicious, and they were kind enough to cook up some chicken for me instead of the red meat, and we enjoyed spending some time with her parents, boyfriend, brothers, and variety of pets. She is also going to be attending Susquehanna University next year on a Fulbright teacher exchange herself, so we tried to assuage some of her worries about coming to the U.S.

This week at the teacher's college we continued planning lessons and talking points around their course units, including one really interesting discussion about health, where we learned that the best way to buy produce here is at the local open-air market, which we had only been to once before. So, after going for what will hopefully be the LAST time (for a while anyway) to our government internet provider to clear up some things, we went over to the market and bought lots of fresh produce, including fish! I tried to include some pictures of our culinary adventures, but my computer doesn't seem to want to let me, but all my up to date photos are on flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/allisonbloom ... including a meal of lemon/garlic merluzza with garlic spinach and sweet potatoes, as well as some home-made empanadas with tomato, basil, and mozzarella and then some tuna and parmesan ones. Quite tasty, if I do say so myself!

Then at the elementary school we spent the whole week with the younger students, splitting the time with their regular teacher, Carolina. We both assisted with her lessons and then taught a few of our own. My favorite was the one we did using the 'Five Little Ducks' song with the second graders, where we started off doing some animal noises/animal recognition with photos, then worked with some of the concepts of the song (near/far, etc.), acted it out, then taught the song so we could all sing it together. Pretty fun/adorable.

Then unfortunately at the end of this week Elizabeth got sick, probably strep throat, so one of our mentors took her to the doctor, and she's been taking antibiotics and resting and will hopefully be back in top shape soon.

In other news... I rode a 'moto' for the first time! Yes, I wore a helmet, and it was pretty fun. I've also started getting into 'Glee,' though it takes a lifetime for my modem to download anything. I was supposed to also go shadow a social worker this week, the one I met last weekend, but that fell through. Hopefully it'll happen next week. Next week, one of our mentors also set up a meeting for me with a woman who volunteers on a local task force surrounding the movement to fight domestic violence, so that should be really interesting. Today is a holiday, the Uruguayan Labor Day, so most things are closed, but tomorrow, we are going to try to meet up at some thermal baths about an hour away with the other Fulbright kids in Salto, and then we will get a chance to catch up on everything, and to make some plans for the coming weeks, including for when my brother comes in about a week and a half! Hard to believe how time is flying!