Monday August 6/12 update
If you will recall, in my blog of August 3, I mentioned that
Miguel Arias was wanting to set up an English class for the neighborhood
kids. Today was the “grand opening” and
I was so afraid I was going to miss it with my queasiness, but by noon it had
subsided so I thought I would take the chance.
I had to go by Coopera for some cash and their systems were
down so I waited over ½ an hour to make a small withdrawal. I honestly think the loans officer OK’d it
under his signature because the systems were not running but they gave me my
allowance anyway.
I caught the #16 to near Feria Libre and walked to Joe’s Secret Garden
So Chris and I wandered across the river to Miguel’s
parents’ place to see what progress was being made with the “classroom”. Initially there were only about 5 plastic
chairs but, as Miguel left to get Linda and Tom, other neighborhood fellows
began arriving with a whiteboard, more chairs, and a couple of tables. I kept the kids occupied by taking their
individual photos. Linda and Tom were
supplying hot dogs and treats for this inaugural class so we didn’t know what
to expect. The wieners were uncooked so
again the neighborhood brigade sprang into action, getting a small tabletop BBQ
and running to get some coal. It did not
take long to get that heated up. The
whiteboard was hung on the wall and we were ready for business! Miguel took Tom off to a dentist appointment
so he was missing the inaugural event.
We ended up with 20 kids attending, so everyone had a hotdog
or two, some pop and a treat. Linda did
a great job doing this for the kids, and with the help of the local ladies, it
really went off without a hitch.
We had decided earlier that our approach for the first class
would be just the simple introductory sentences. Chris took the initiative and started with
phrases like, Good morning, Hello, My name is, What is your name, How old are
you, I am __ years old, etc. We were
blown away with how quick these kids caught these and how well they pronounced
things. You have to understand that
their alphabet pronunciations are way different than English, like the H is
silent, and a G is pronounced like an H.
They also have no grounding for things like a TH sound either, so teaching
English is a challenge. Then we started
with the numbers 1 to 5, and the little buggers pulled a fast one and kept
counting to 10!! Gotta love the
Cuencanos! Even the adults, even as old as Miguel’s Dad,
were participating and learning.
I had tried to get my Spanish teacher to help but she was
leaving town, etc so Chris will try to contact his Spanish teacher for ideas,
or referrals. While we are all
well-meaning, and this is a new experience, none of us are teachers, nor do we
have any curriculum or any idea where to go with this. With a varied age group of about 3 to 11 so
far, it is like having the little red schoolhouse and trying to cope with
several grade levels. This made me think
of the “To Sir With Love” line about “taking us from crayons to perfume”. I just know we need some good direction to
follow up on our good first day.
Miguel has indicated he now wants to run it Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday. Chris and Linda
felt that a one hour class is long enough to keep their attention. I am going to defer to them on most issues
because I am uncertain how much time I am able to devote. As it is I have to miss Wednesday because of
my commitment to Joe’s Secret
Garden
One of the other pictures is a group washing clothes in the
Tomebamba. Note that the person in the
lower center, with the pink shirt and hat, is really Michael Jackson, alive and
well in Cuenca .
That was today’s excitement. Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com. Hugs to all.
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