Now in our third month of operation, we are very grateful that everything is running very smoothly. We have steady enrollment and visible progress in our classes. We have successfully added evening English classes for adults and, while I teach the beginning basic English class, Haley teaches an advanced class busy with detailed English grammar. Both kids and adults are having fun and enjoying classes obviously realizing that it is still "class" and that learning English doesn't happen over night! Working in such a small community has proven to be as challenging as it is fulfilling. We have learned quickly that what starts as a 5-minute run to the store may turn into a parent-teacher conference or a teacher-student encounter. Apparently our office hours exist not only all day long but also in a great variety of settings. I just keep forgetting to bring my notebook and planner with me when I surf! Ha, ha.
May has brought us several small quakes that have given us a little scare and a little shake. After the first couple of earthquakes everyone was talking about them with excitement and nervousness but since we have had so many, the novelty has surely worn off. We know this because the kids no longer take it as an opportunity to jump under the table and crouch there for an inappropriate amount of time while passionately declaring that their young lives are in grave danger. May also managed to dump endless amounts of rain which made for a challenging month as far as my sanity. Luckily, we managed to charge (a bit of a dramatic verb but I truly think it is fitting) through to the light at the end of the tunnel and the glorious sun has returned to us.
Being stuck inside the house did however give us some time to make up some more creative activities for our classes and spice up the learning process. My 5th grade home school class and I attempted to make rock candy in order to learn a little about writing a science report. After weeks and weeks of waiting for three sticky red and blue jars of saturated sugar water to evaporate and crystallize in an intensely humid environment, we had success! Well success in a sort of non-marketable and non-FDA approved way. Do you know anyone interested in buying sticky blue rock candy with naturally added vitamins such as ants, no-see-ums and other flying friends? Ha, ha oh and please don't tell anyone but my students ate it anyway! Yes, you can picture all four of us sitting on our kitchen floor cracking at their rock candy with spoons, butter knives and sticky fingers. We have also been making decorative turkey hands as a tribute to Pavones' English translation "Turkey Town" The kids have written characteristics about themselves on each finger and have come up with some hilarious adjectives such as "obedient", "wonderful", and my personal favorite, "hungry". Some of the best projects take place in my ESL Kindergarten class where a little invention called High Five Phonics has made learning letter sounds and word families a "hands-on" activity. Overall, all the classes are entertaining and manage to crack me up on a regular basis. For example, when I asked 5 year old Trendon what sound the letter B makes, he quickly and very confidently threw his head back and said, "Awooooooooooo".
We look forward to June as a busy month as we are planning a visit/community service trip for a high school group from Kalapuya High School in Eugene, Oregon. Six students and two teachers will be coming to Pavones for two weeks to have an integrated cultural experience. They will be spending time at the Guaymi Indian Reservation as well as painting and putting up bilingual signs around town such as "Swerve for Iguanas", "Don't feed the monkeys", and "Please don't use the beach as a trash can". It should be a rewarding experience for everyone involved (even the iguanas).
- Raphel and Haley