Sixth Installment: Week #2
The volunteers and participating teachers really worked last week! We had our groups acting out puppet plays, taking opinion polls and graphing the results, writing scripts and presenting fairy tales. These activities all reinforce grammar skills and practice pronunciation. To fill in a few minutes here and there we taught them games to introduce and review English vocabulary words. For most of the teachers, their conversation is becoming more fluent. We’re also getting better at figuring out what they are trying to say and can help them put the thoughts into words. Because of our struggles in trying to learn Spanish, we understand what they’re going through.
A photographer from the local La Prensa paper surprised us one afternoon by dropping in for candid shots of our workshop. We also posed for a group shot – so far we haven’t seen it in the paper, so perhaps they didn’t use it after all.
One of the teachers, Sonia, with her husband and 2 boys took us after class on a tour of San Miguel. We visited the National University, saw the plaza and cathedral, and ended up at a pupuseria for supper. What a nice family! Sonia is trying to improve her listening and speaking skills so she got in some extra practice on us that night.
We have 3 little restaurants close by so we are eating very well. My “restaurant Spanish” is improving. We go to Biggest, a Salvadoran food fast food chain, for breakfast. My favorite items are tamal elote, huevos rancheros, and tocino (corn tamales, scrambled eggs, and bacon.) My phrase for the week was “para llevar” = “to go.”
Our hotel is only a few blocks from the University so we walk to and from. Our route is along and across the main highway, Roosevelt Avenue. We about had group heart failure the morning we learned about the “express lane,” which is where traffic in a designated lane is allowed to zoom through the red lights. Luckily we got back on the curb in the knick of time. What a system! One day on my own I tried to find a break in the traffic to cross with the crutches and a newspaper vendor came over to escort me through the stalled traffic. People really have been helpful and considerate here.
We usually hit the copy window to get the day’s materials duplicated upon arriving at the university mid morning and then go to the computer lab to check email (hint: send messages!) We have a quick review meeting at noon and then go the classroom about 12:45 to get ready for the afternoon session. We’re done at 4:00 but we organize for the next day, visit with the teachers, etc. so we usually head back for the hotel around 5:00. We unwind, go in the pool, etc. before supper and then have our daily debriefing and go through the activities and materials for the next day. We haven’t been going out at night at all – too tired, and not eager to brave the streets in the dark. My job includes a lot of computer work and taking care of administrative tasks so I usually burn the midnight oil. Time goes so fast and there is so much we want to do!
Next Installment: Another Fun Weekend!
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