Tuesday was my first day actually getting to play teacher. Clara (the teacher I work with) asked me to step up and lead a lesson. Unfortunately, the lesson was sex-ed with sixth graders. Because those are the words you reeeeeeallllly want to teach a bunch of giggly elementary kids. (Not!) I think I was far more uncomfortable than any of them. I pulled together as much non-awkward confidence as I could muster and went for it. Fortunately for me, this English unit corresponded with their health lessons in science so I didn’t have to introduce the whole topic. Disaster averted. Still not my favorite way to start teaching English.
Thursday and Friday, the albino gorilla made a comeback. We had a school assembly for some sort of patriotic day and another for Farmer’s Day. They started and finished with about a million songs and pledges and flags and hands-on-hearts. And then there’s me. Hands clasped, not singing, and not pledging allegiance to another country’s flag. The kids, of course, thought I was weird. I know there’re plenty of internationals in the US who don’t sing the Star-Spangled Banner or say the pledge, but those instances are infrequent enough that it’s not something I think about. And it’s certainly not a position in which I’ve ever found myself. But now at least I can understand a bit more of what they go through any time we honor our own flag and country.
I’m beginning to be thoroughly convinced that these kids are never actually in class and am stunned that they manage to learn anything. Today was “political propaganda day.” No, really- that’s what it’s called. The students who are running for “student body president” of the elementary school are all affiliated with national student parties. The idea is to teach the kids about civic duty, the voting process, etc. But today was basically just an insane chaotic party under the guise of campaign propaganda. I was completely confused when our forty-minute class ended twenty minutes early because the humongous speaker stacks outside of our classroom starting blaring Spanish pop music. Outside, the kids were running around, having a dance party, painting their faces, eating candy, and sticking flag pins into anything stick-able. I got over the chaos enough to go to another courtyard where another political party was “campaigning.” This one consisted of a couple scantily-clad twenty-somethings dancing around in neon green and pink to the beat of their accompanying drumline. Piled on top of the two conflicting beats were the screams of the sugar-saturated children running around like always. Add to this random teenage boys in hairy old men masks and serial-killer jumpsuits chasing the smaller children around with belts in hand pretending [or not] to hit them. As if there weren’t enough chaos already, the music teacher opened up the drum closet so the kids could run around beating drums in a million different rhythms [or lack thereof].
The best part, I ended up finally getting a meeting with the principal…during all of this noise. I missed 30% of everything she said because of the drums 10 feet outside the open door. I’ve decided to take some initiative and start some smaller groups with students who need remedial English help. My teacher, Clara, is willing to help me find space, time, and students, but I had to meet with the director today to pitch the idea and get approval. She’s behind it and I’ll be able to start next week (There’s a couple more conflicting festivals and assemblies and teacher in-services.) I finally have some responsibility and independence to try teaching on my own with my own preparation and I’m really excited about the opportunity.
I’m at a point where I’m really frustrated with the seeming lack of order and class time. I still don’t really get the class schedules or the “system” of how Costa Rican schools work. Comparing notes with other volunteers, it seems that my confusion is shared by volunteers working at schools all around the area. The difference is that I care. It bothers me that I have sooo much time off each day (or random days each week) when I came here to work. I’m working with Projects Abroad and Clara to see how I can be working more. It’s not the people who are holding me back, but simply the way “things are done.” Hopefully I can get plugged in before it’s too late. And while there’re some things I can be laid back about, not working isn’t one of them. But I’m not just going to sit here and watch the summer pass me by.