Well here I am, finally at my Fulbright Teaching Assistant conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Last week was pretty insane... knowing that we only have one week left in Paysandu after we get back from BA, Elizabeth and I spent the week gearing ourselves up for leaving. We assisted in several classes in the teacher's college as well as prepared our kids in the primary school for their final 'performance.' The show went great; on Thursday, the weather was in our favor as all the kids set up outside along with a good showing of parents. The first graders sang "Alice the Camel," the second graders sang "Five Little Ducks," the third graders sang "Make New Friends," the fourth graders presented on scenes from the school day as well as danced 'El Pericon,' a traditional Uruguayan folk dance that all primary students must learn, the fifth graders presented on topics comparing the U.S. to Uruguay (food, dance, sports, tourism, and important information), and the sixth graders prepared an elaborate dance with English banners to the World Cup National Anthem. It was a very proud afternoon to watch our kids feeling good about what they had done in English class with us, and getting the chance to show it off to the other students and their families. All of the pics are on my flickr site, so check them out!
I also was able to reconnect with one of my contacts for the domestic violence services scene in Paysandu, and she took me on several visits, which was interesting. Now for Montevideo, I have a much more developed sense of what I hope to get done; mainly, working on a specific initiative with a group in a more concrete way.
Speaking of the World Cup, we have also been witness to the madness surrounding the phenomenon... Uruguay qualified this year, which means for every match Uruguay basically shuts down. Kids leave school, stores are not open, you cannot think about doing anything in that time span. We didn't get to see much of the first game, but at least they tied 0-0, so they get to continue.
On Saturday night we were treated to a lovely tea at a tea room with our two mentors from the teacher's college, then at 12:40 in the morning we met our bus that would take us straight from Paysandu to Buenos Aires overnight. Beth and Wes, two of the ETAs in Salto, were also on the same bus, so we all hung out in the BA bus terminal for several hours until the sun came up after a pretty horrendous ride on which we all got very little sleep. Then we made our way to the hotel and dropped off our stuff, and had the rest of the day to kill. We walked around for a while, got some over-priced coffee and scones at a famous coffee shop, checked out some of the shopping areas (I treated myself to a gorgeous leather purse), and I was totally satisfied when we were able to get some middle eastern food for lunch (falafel with HUMMUS!!!! oh hummus it has been far too long...)
At 3pm we were finally able to get into our hotel rooms... we had some time to get settled and started meeting some of the other ETAs. We all checked in with the Fulbright Argentinian Commission at 7pm, and did our best to try to meet people. Everyone is from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, or Peru. We learned right away that each program has its own flavor and each set of ETAs a certain personality; I think we realized that we were perhaps the most cohesive group since we have spent so much time together, a more serious group, the ones who probably worry a bit more about things... some groups were more flexible, go with the flo, go-getter types, some more of the party types... quite the range to suit each country's program. It was pretty eye-opening for us. That first night a group of us we went for some amazing Mexican food.
The next day we had some introduction stuff and some presentations from the Argentinian Fulbright Commission. In the afternoon there was a huge storm, so instead of our city tour we listened to the first set of presentations about what some of the ETAs have been doing. Then I walked around with the ETAs from Salto and we had some wine and cheese, met up with Elizabeth, then got some tasty Moroccan food. (Sorry for the focus on food... after eating the same menu in all Uruguayan restaurants for 3 months, it is really, really exciting to get any other kind of international food!).
Today we had another series of presentations, including mine, which they began running out of time for so I really had to rush. Then we went on our city tour, for which I just ended up in hysterics a few times between my very funny seat-mate from Brazil and our ridiculous guide, who basically accused the Peruvian immigrants for causing all crime and drugs in BA, kept talking about 'colored' people, and had a very interesting, and basically just ridiculous set of opinions on the missing people phenomenon that the families are still protesting today. Then I walked around the city some more with Beth, and then a big group of us went out for Indian food with a friend of Elizabeth's who has been living in BA for the past few years. Tomorrow we are going to an estancia, or ranch, which should be lots of fun.
I'll be sad when the week is over, but I can't wait to come back! It has been fascinating to learn so much from the other ETAs, about the challenges they have faced, the things they have done, and just to get to know them as people... it has left me super-psyched for Montevideo, where I think we will have a lot more intellectual and social stimulation too.
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