Making the necessary adjustments

The last month has been a real whirlwind. I'm actually shocked to see that I haven't written for almost a full four weeks. I guess that shows how involved my mind has been in other thoughts.

Being in Port has required a significant adjustment. Before I left, I anticipated some time of transition and change, but the level to which I have experienced these thus far has been a surprise.

I had come to Port with the expectation of working at the schools as a planner of extra-curricular activities, with some phy ed teaching on the side. It is obvious, though, that the need is greater in other areas.

I have been working with a number of students on an individual level, working mainly with reading. Well, not so much reading as identifying letters and syllables. I have one boy, Carlos, who simply cannot grasp the alphabet for the life of him. Today, I asked him to find the letter "i" in the alphabet. After looking for a while, he pointed to the letter "g." I explained what letter it was, reviewed vowels with him in hopes that it might jog his memory since he seems to identify vowels quicker, and then asked him again to find the letter "i." After searching for another minute or so, he pointed to the letter "g"....again. So where do you go from there?

For all you teachers out there, I have gained a new level of respect for what you do. I've also been teaching--or trying to teach--a number of English classes between the two schools (Maureen Courtney and Niño Jesús). Some classes are better than others, but the overall lack of discipline at the schools has been a real challenge. Kids are constantly asking to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water. They wander over to their friends' desks to talk about who knows what. Not everyone always has a pencil, so there are constant requests to share writing utensils, which just means it takes longer for them to get everything copied down. Additionally, the kids are all at such different levels that trying to move on once a topic has been covered means deciding to leave about 75% of the kids in the dark, because they a) only came to class once this week, b) didn't bring their notebook and couldn't take down the notes or c) simply didn't pay attention or write anything down. To make things more challenging, the regular teachers usually wander off when I go into to teach the class, so if the class goes nuts, there's not much I can do. I could offer a punishment, but what? There's no test for English class, no grade, no passing or failing depending on how much you learned in English. Essentially, I just have to hope the kids behave. Oy!

The greatest challenge, though, is language. Oh, my Spanish is coming along fine and I continue to associate with Spanish-speakers, but the indigenous language of Miskitu is so prevalent that some of the students need directions given to them in Miskitu (which of course means they're definitely not learning anything in English class). Additionally, many of the teachers talk amongst themselves in Miskitu, and there have been times where they've intentionally switched to Miskitu so I don't know what's going on. (No, I'm not just being paranoid. If someone says Háblame en Miskitu para que... which means Talk to me in Miskitu so that... and then points at me, that's not just paranoia.) I knew Miskitu was spoken in Port, but I didn't realize it was so widespread.

I went through a good week or two of significant frustration with the language barrier, the cultural challenges (where 1pm actually means 4:30pm, if they actually come at all), the being so far away from family and friends and everything else I'm used to having at my disposal. But I've been able to encounter a certain peacefulness in the last couple weeks. I've gotten ahold of some resources for learning Miskitu and have started learning the language. I plan to tackle that full out in December when school's out. I've gotten used to the idea of just how long I'm going to be here and how much I'll learn, despite the fact that I haven't learned everything in the first couple of months (if you know me, you know I think I should be able to learn everything in two weeks :)). And I'm learning in general to take things as they come, to try not to be on my own schedule all the time and to look for ways I can do what needs to be done and not just what I want to do. It's a lot of adjusting, but I think I'm making progress.