There are a lot of noteworthy moments down here, and a lot that make me stop and think. Sometimes these small tidbits leave me pondering something deep and profound and sometimes I just have a chuckle or smile about the differences in culture that exist in this world.
I am still not sure where yesterday´s little moment falls, but it makes an interesting little story to relate. To begin, the center of town here is filled with casinos, but these casinos only have slot machines (alas, no craps tables - which might be a good thing most of the time, but definitely is an impediment to my attempts to lure my college friends down here). Apparently it is mostly Chileans who come up to use these when they come to town to shop and eat the good Peruvian food.
Anyway, yesterday I was walking home after a pretty successful day and a good extra English class that I offer afterschool on Monday and Friday afternoons. I saw two fourth year students huddled around this little machine that is outside one of the internet places out in Vinañi. I came over to them to say hi and saw that they were intently focused on this machine, which had some weird Pokemon drawings on it. I asked them what they were doing and apparently it is some sort of kid´s slot machine (with real money pay outs and all). As I was starting to think about how weird I thought it was in the middle of this deserty area, with houses made of estera and tons of poverty and what not, to have a slot machine just out on the sidewalk (well, there is no sidewalk - out on the side of the dusty dirt road with garbage all over it), the kids were trying to convince me that it was not a scam and you really win money.
When they actually did win one sol and began - goodheartedly - to shout for joy and bicker over the 5 twenty centimo coins that came shooting out, I had to go.
Take out of it what you will, but it definitely left a mark in my memory.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Community Time
I realized while thinking about something to post today that I haven´t talked too much about my community or the type of things that we do all together. It is an important part of why I chose to do JVI and is such a prominent (both for better and for worse - well, not worse, but at times a struggle) part of life down here, that I feel like I should share a bit.
Every Sunday night we have community night, and that can range and include from playing a game like Spinners (a really fun form of dominoes), to going over house issues, to talking about some interesting issue with some informational prompt (like when we watched a documentary on immigration and discussed it), to simply checking in with each other on how we are feeling and doing.
Every Wednesday night - though with the business as the school year has reved up, this often changes around - we have a Spirituality night. Last night, our in country coordinator - a Jesuit named Father Dolan - came over and we celebrated mass with just our community. I really enjoy those little celebrations because we get a chance to share our own petitions, ask him questions about different parts of the mass (I had not realized before last night that the symbolism of the mixing of wine and water was that they can never be separated once they are mixed). We also sometimes do guided reflections or discuss some issue of spirituality. It usually is just a nice time to relax and reflect a bit - and again, to share in community some feelings and thoughts.
One of the nice things about stressing these times and community dinners (we have three a week in which all five of us committ to being there to eat) is that when the conflicts or little issues arise, we have enough of a foundational relationship of trust and understanding that usually we can discuss the problem from a positive place. For instance, if there is an issue with dishes being left in the drying rack and not being put away or not being cleaned all the way, it is brought up and discussed and usually resolved (though maybe not perfectly). Obviously there are other times when the issue might be harder to discuss or it might brim beneath the surace, but our desires to support each other and the bonding that we have shared definitely helps it all out.
On a different note, I had my second adult English class in Habitat this past Tuesday. Adults are definitely a different challenge to work with (and I am finding that a lot of the interesting resources like worksheets and fun activities out there, that I can find at least, are for children). I am still sort of nervous about the classes - mostly I think because I try to think how I will fill two hours of time - but I am starting to feel like I at least know what my group of students will be like (a little consistency) and what their levels and interests are, which definitely helps.
Another little tid bit - I went on retreat this past weekend with Cristo Rey, which is the wealthy school with which I did Mes de Mision. In the middle of the retreat, as a little exercise, the priest in charge (who happened to be Fr. Dolan) asked the kids if they wanted to continue with the retreat. No one responded and after some awkwardness and a lot of silence, eventually half of the kids did end up leaving. Whoops. I guess it shows that there are spoiled kids and kids who don´t want to be involved in school communities/personal formation everywhere.
Every Sunday night we have community night, and that can range and include from playing a game like Spinners (a really fun form of dominoes), to going over house issues, to talking about some interesting issue with some informational prompt (like when we watched a documentary on immigration and discussed it), to simply checking in with each other on how we are feeling and doing.
Every Wednesday night - though with the business as the school year has reved up, this often changes around - we have a Spirituality night. Last night, our in country coordinator - a Jesuit named Father Dolan - came over and we celebrated mass with just our community. I really enjoy those little celebrations because we get a chance to share our own petitions, ask him questions about different parts of the mass (I had not realized before last night that the symbolism of the mixing of wine and water was that they can never be separated once they are mixed). We also sometimes do guided reflections or discuss some issue of spirituality. It usually is just a nice time to relax and reflect a bit - and again, to share in community some feelings and thoughts.
One of the nice things about stressing these times and community dinners (we have three a week in which all five of us committ to being there to eat) is that when the conflicts or little issues arise, we have enough of a foundational relationship of trust and understanding that usually we can discuss the problem from a positive place. For instance, if there is an issue with dishes being left in the drying rack and not being put away or not being cleaned all the way, it is brought up and discussed and usually resolved (though maybe not perfectly). Obviously there are other times when the issue might be harder to discuss or it might brim beneath the surace, but our desires to support each other and the bonding that we have shared definitely helps it all out.
On a different note, I had my second adult English class in Habitat this past Tuesday. Adults are definitely a different challenge to work with (and I am finding that a lot of the interesting resources like worksheets and fun activities out there, that I can find at least, are for children). I am still sort of nervous about the classes - mostly I think because I try to think how I will fill two hours of time - but I am starting to feel like I at least know what my group of students will be like (a little consistency) and what their levels and interests are, which definitely helps.
Another little tid bit - I went on retreat this past weekend with Cristo Rey, which is the wealthy school with which I did Mes de Mision. In the middle of the retreat, as a little exercise, the priest in charge (who happened to be Fr. Dolan) asked the kids if they wanted to continue with the retreat. No one responded and after some awkwardness and a lot of silence, eventually half of the kids did end up leaving. Whoops. I guess it shows that there are spoiled kids and kids who don´t want to be involved in school communities/personal formation everywhere.
Friday, April 17, 2009
A Little Story
I found this little story funny the other day. I was in the library at Santa Cruz (which means I was in the room with two book shelves of books that also serves as the director´s office, the storage room, my and a number of teacher´s lunch room, and at times the movie viewing room since the tv´s stand does not have four function wheels) and decided it would be a good idea to pick up the Mario Vargas Llosa book they have to get in a little Peruvian reading.
Little did I know that this book, called ¨Eulogia de la madastra,¨ was his foray into erotic fiction. The story was about a mother-in-law who ends up having sexual relations with her husband´s pre-teen son. Additionally, random chapters go into the fantasies of this husband and wife pair - covering everything from ancient royalty (a particularly wierd chapter in which the king bets his right hand man that his wife´s but is better than any of the man´s slaves) to abstract art on the wall. So, anyway, it was a quite bizarre read and I felt a little awkward walking around in public and reading from it (it didn´t help that the cover has a picture of a naked women kissing a little cherub angel - which should have been a forewarning I guess).
Well, so here I am, self-conciously reading this book and walking along the side of one the long roads without a sidewalk (and probably the inevitable likelihood that I will be hit by a car or maybe just a motortaxi) and with tons of trash and dust along its edges, when a fellow walker passes by me. All he says to me as he passes is, ¨Hey, Gringo, leyendo la biblia, eh?¨ The man must have thought I was a mormon - which I feel like I get.
This erotic Mario Vargas Llosa book is about the farest thing from the bible that I can imagine, so I had to have a good laugh. Maybe you had to be there though....
Little did I know that this book, called ¨Eulogia de la madastra,¨ was his foray into erotic fiction. The story was about a mother-in-law who ends up having sexual relations with her husband´s pre-teen son. Additionally, random chapters go into the fantasies of this husband and wife pair - covering everything from ancient royalty (a particularly wierd chapter in which the king bets his right hand man that his wife´s but is better than any of the man´s slaves) to abstract art on the wall. So, anyway, it was a quite bizarre read and I felt a little awkward walking around in public and reading from it (it didn´t help that the cover has a picture of a naked women kissing a little cherub angel - which should have been a forewarning I guess).
Well, so here I am, self-conciously reading this book and walking along the side of one the long roads without a sidewalk (and probably the inevitable likelihood that I will be hit by a car or maybe just a motortaxi) and with tons of trash and dust along its edges, when a fellow walker passes by me. All he says to me as he passes is, ¨Hey, Gringo, leyendo la biblia, eh?¨ The man must have thought I was a mormon - which I feel like I get.
This erotic Mario Vargas Llosa book is about the farest thing from the bible that I can imagine, so I had to have a good laugh. Maybe you had to be there though....
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Photos - Yay!
The overnight caminata (hike) that we went on. We climbed this big sand dune and the sun was just rising and this was the amazing view (check the post below for more info).
This is what I did for five hours in the sun and dust on Friday. I pushed the megaphone cart (which was loaded down with stuff) as we did the Stations of the Cross across the whole neighborhood. You can see some of the youth group members dressed up as they were doing the acting at each station.
Yes, they actually put the kid playing Jesus up on the cross. But he did a really good job - very focused and very somber - especially for a five hour walk. He is a great kid who I have seen really come into his own since I got here. And his name is Jesús.
One of the stations at an altar set up by the local community association. It was really unique to me how these were done and some were quite pretty and especially noteworthy amid the estera, polvo and poverty of Viñani.
Not the best lighting (nor the best picture of me), but from left to right this is Andres (who played Pilate and is in my first year of secondary class), Juan (who is a good friend and the librarian of the school - though he kind of does a little bit of everything. He and I and a sister lead the youth group), and Eduardo (a fourth-year student who is Jesús´brother and another real cool kid. Their family is also extremely, extremely poor).
Friday, April 10, 2009
Holy Week
This week has been a real whirlwind affair and even though yesterday and today are feriados (holidays here), it certainly does not feel like it.
I will begin with last weekend, when I found myself sleeping in the Miguel Pro science lab in order to wake up at 3 am and walk with the entire school above fourth grade on a five hour hike/Stations of the Cross. It was actually a great experience as I was able to know some more of the kids, spend some time hanging out with Martin (who is the father of a student and just generally an awesome, McGwiver - spelling? - like figure who knows a ton about different crops, Peruvian politics, how to fish with nothing but some string, etc.), and witness a great view of our part of Tacna from the top of a big sand dune that we climbed at the end of the walk. I promise I will put pictures up since it was so neat. After we did the second to last station at the bottom of the hill, the woman running the show just told the kids to basically go wild and run up the sand dune. It created a massive, chaotic, and very cool free-for-all as some ran, some walked, many complained, and all made it up to the top, where we did the last station.
Today I have a big Stations of the Cross walk in the community where my school is. Basically the youth group that I co-lead was put in charge of doing this and each little neighborhood community takes charge of one station and we walk from one to the other and at each station our group is doing a little acting out of the scene. It should be a very unique and community-building experience, though it does mean three hours of walking out in the sun and dust of Viñani. Don´t worry though, I will put on massive amounts of sun block and will wear a hat.
We actually did a similar - though much shorter - Stations of the Cross at school on Wednesday. In typical Peruvian fashion, it was bizzarely organized (each class did a station, but they only came out to do their station and then when it was lunch time and we were still going, all the little kids were released anyway and so you had little tykes running up to Jesus as he was on the cross or playing tag through the entire procession that we teachers were trying to keep somber and focused). I did not find the whole experience so religious, but it was nonetheless fascinating for all its little cultural and community aspects.
Also, of big note down here has been Fujimori´s conviction recently, which I will go into further detail at some point since it is fascinating, but is a little too much for right now. So, I will just leave you now with this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/americas/08fujimori.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=peru%20fujimori&st=cse
I will begin with last weekend, when I found myself sleeping in the Miguel Pro science lab in order to wake up at 3 am and walk with the entire school above fourth grade on a five hour hike/Stations of the Cross. It was actually a great experience as I was able to know some more of the kids, spend some time hanging out with Martin (who is the father of a student and just generally an awesome, McGwiver - spelling? - like figure who knows a ton about different crops, Peruvian politics, how to fish with nothing but some string, etc.), and witness a great view of our part of Tacna from the top of a big sand dune that we climbed at the end of the walk. I promise I will put pictures up since it was so neat. After we did the second to last station at the bottom of the hill, the woman running the show just told the kids to basically go wild and run up the sand dune. It created a massive, chaotic, and very cool free-for-all as some ran, some walked, many complained, and all made it up to the top, where we did the last station.
Today I have a big Stations of the Cross walk in the community where my school is. Basically the youth group that I co-lead was put in charge of doing this and each little neighborhood community takes charge of one station and we walk from one to the other and at each station our group is doing a little acting out of the scene. It should be a very unique and community-building experience, though it does mean three hours of walking out in the sun and dust of Viñani. Don´t worry though, I will put on massive amounts of sun block and will wear a hat.
We actually did a similar - though much shorter - Stations of the Cross at school on Wednesday. In typical Peruvian fashion, it was bizzarely organized (each class did a station, but they only came out to do their station and then when it was lunch time and we were still going, all the little kids were released anyway and so you had little tykes running up to Jesus as he was on the cross or playing tag through the entire procession that we teachers were trying to keep somber and focused). I did not find the whole experience so religious, but it was nonetheless fascinating for all its little cultural and community aspects.
Also, of big note down here has been Fujimori´s conviction recently, which I will go into further detail at some point since it is fascinating, but is a little too much for right now. So, I will just leave you now with this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/americas/08fujimori.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=peru%20fujimori&st=cse
Friday, April 3, 2009
Good Days and Bad Days
So, I played a big ole April Fool´s joke on myself Wednesday (even though I didn´t even realize what day it was until the afternoon). I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and with a mindset that it was just going to be a tough day.
Needless to say, it was a self'fulfilling prophecy as it ended up being one of the roughest teaching days I have had so far. I guess what really bothered me is that I feel like I have done a really good job so far with being patient, dealing with issues with students after class, and generally recognizing when a class is going array and steering it back on course.
On Wednesday, though, I just felt like I snapped a couple of times and could really feel the frustration bubbling to the surface. I know those type of days are bound to happen, but I am definitely going to try in the future to be aware of my own moods from the outset of the day and realize that it will take extra work and focus to handle what might be a long day to push through. And after having these issues on Wednesday, I do think I did a bit better on Thursday, when I woke up also a little out of sorts, but really tried to have patience both with myself and the students. My classes did not go perfectly, but I didn´t give out any snap punishments and at least turned those curve balls that came my way into singles if not home runs (by the way, I cannot believe that the baseball season starts this weekend - in some ways it feels like it has been super short and in others super long since the last season ended. And it blows my mind to think the yankees and mets will be opening it up in different stadiums. Someone please go and send me some pictures - though I will be super jealous).
Oh, on a sports-related note, this past Sunday Peru, who cannoty make the World Cup, played Chile and lost 3 - 1. The defeat definitely hurt national pride and there was even a movement to boycott the national team´s next game because they had played so badly. Ouch.
Needless to say, it was a self'fulfilling prophecy as it ended up being one of the roughest teaching days I have had so far. I guess what really bothered me is that I feel like I have done a really good job so far with being patient, dealing with issues with students after class, and generally recognizing when a class is going array and steering it back on course.
On Wednesday, though, I just felt like I snapped a couple of times and could really feel the frustration bubbling to the surface. I know those type of days are bound to happen, but I am definitely going to try in the future to be aware of my own moods from the outset of the day and realize that it will take extra work and focus to handle what might be a long day to push through. And after having these issues on Wednesday, I do think I did a bit better on Thursday, when I woke up also a little out of sorts, but really tried to have patience both with myself and the students. My classes did not go perfectly, but I didn´t give out any snap punishments and at least turned those curve balls that came my way into singles if not home runs (by the way, I cannot believe that the baseball season starts this weekend - in some ways it feels like it has been super short and in others super long since the last season ended. And it blows my mind to think the yankees and mets will be opening it up in different stadiums. Someone please go and send me some pictures - though I will be super jealous).
Oh, on a sports-related note, this past Sunday Peru, who cannoty make the World Cup, played Chile and lost 3 - 1. The defeat definitely hurt national pride and there was even a movement to boycott the national team´s next game because they had played so badly. Ouch.
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