Take note this might bore you if you aren´t that interested in the questions posed below....it´s kind of long...But possibly more interesting are the random tid bits posted in the blog just before this one (-:
Well, the first week of August did fly….Happy Birthday Mom! And grandmother, Sister, aunt, and multiple friends—popular Birthday month (-:
This little tidbit is for all those considering the Peace Corps that scour the internet blog stalking these entries, especially when they find out their assignment…and are looking for information on subjects such as Teaching in Nicaragua, Being a TEFL Volunteer in Nicaragua, typical day of a volunteer in Nicaragua, being a married couple in the Peace Corps, etc. Ummm because maybe I did this? And am inspired to write this because the new group of volunteers is arriving in less than 2 weeks….which means in less than 2 weeks, we will have been in Nicaragua for a year! (future perfect continuous! Check that out!)
So in that order,
Teaching in Nicaragua….I’m not gonna lie, in my opinion, it’s hard! It depends on many factors though, such as your counterpart, your particular school’s atmosphere, location of the school and class size etc. Considering the students don’t have books, supplies can be limited, and sometimes there aren’t enough chairs for students, being creative and dedicated really pays off. You also shouldn’t be surprised to find 16 or 17 year olds in seventh grade---I have a 26 year old in 10th grade….For me, personally, discipline is a pretty tough area. Especially because Spanish isn’t my first language and when several kids are screaming stuff at the same time, I often cannot understand them---I am not sure if they are just trying to participate in the class, or if they are yelling obscenities…..ahhh I could get into the school system at large, but you future volunteers will find out about that soon enough (-: Let’s just say that classes are cancelled and cancelled often for a variety of reasons….and that school started 2 weeks late this year….Students are not accustomed to many communicative activities either…their main form of learning has been copying and memorizing over and over and over…..so they are excited to do new things---but sometimes they don’t view it seriously and get out of control easily because we aren’t copying….
TEFL volunteer in Nicaragua—I guess the above covers many of the same themes. Again, so much just depends on where you end up and who you end up working with…and course, it depends on you! Many volunteers like being part of TEFL because we have an automatic sense of identity in our communities—ie. professors, and a set schedule in the schools. On the other hand, some folks don’t like having such a set, routine schedule…
Typical Day of a TEFL volunteer-- who knows exactly?? Let’s just say that during training, you will be BUSY every second of every day…exhausted, and soaking up soooo much you may feel like your head will explode….then everything changes when you swear in. In my case, now, I don’t really have any typical day….I only teach 16 classroom hours a week…have one community class…play basketball with little kids, and read story time to first graders at my elementary school. The biggest part of my week is co-planning with 2 different counterparts. Co-planning takes HOURS and I am pretty sure any TEFL volunteer will tell you it is the most exhausting part of our jobs, and maybe the most important….So my typical week: Monday, teach from 7-9:30am at my main high school, hop on a bus to my other high school out in a community at 10:15, teach 1230-500, get back to my house at 5:30-6. Yes, Mondays are looonnnnggg. Tuesday: 9:30-10:30 meet with counterpart1, practice English in her free hour or she practices using the computer. Teach 12:30-2. Maybe meet with counterpart2 to plan extra. Wednesday: Teach 10:30-1:15, Offer extra tutoring to English students from 1:15-2:15, Maybe plan with Matt for our adult community class. Thursday: 8-8:45 meet with counterpart1, teach 840-10:30. Friday: 9:20-10:30 story time at elementary school with first graders to encourage reading for fun. Co-plan with counterpart1 12-4pm. Saturday: 10-12 basketball with kids in nearby barrio, or neighborhood. Generally a good day for the market and/or laundry Sunday: Coplan with counterpart2,1-4 or 5-9pm. Or help with community class that just switched to Sunday 6-8 pm.
Sometimes it doesn’t sound/look like much, but throw in functioning every day in a foreign language, buying all your food from the market, finding time to visit Nicaraguan friends/host family, washing all your clothes by hand etc….and your week can fill up pretty fast!
Being a married couple serving in the Peace Corps, is, for the most part, WONDERFUL, and I highly recommend it. Though not as strong as in other countries, gender stereotypes DEFINITELY exist here and do get on my nerves from time to time….I think maybe in the bigger cities it is different, but in our medium sized agricultural town up in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, it is somewhat shocking that my husband cooks and cleans. I think we are so lucky to be going through all this together, even though it can be challenging at times…especially when one of you is going through a rough time and the other is pretty happy.
I could go on and on and on….but this probably isn’t that interesting for those of you that read this that aren’t coming to Nicaragua any time soon….for anyone blog stalking that wants more information, feel free to email me at jcwesterman@yahoo.com
PEACE.
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