First days of school

Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Teacher becomes student.

Monday was the first day of class. The School Director, Rebecca, picked me up at my guest house and drove to school, showing me the fastest way to get there on foot. The walk is about 15 minutes and it is good to some exercise each day going to and from classes. School starts promptly at 9:00 am and goes for two hours straight, we break at 11:00 for Spanish conversation in the break room, then back to class for another hour. We break for lunch / siesta at 1:00 (at which time I walk back to the house) and return at 4:00 for two and half hours of continued instruction. Monday I got out about 6:45 pm. Oh, and did I mention speaking English is not allowed as a general rule in the school. The other students in the school at this time are some young women from the Dallas area who are about 18 -21 years of age and were interested in Bobby. They have been there for about 3 – 4 weeks.

The school is a very nice facility. I will take some pictures so you can see for yourself. I have also been impressed with the teachers; all very proficient, approachable and taskmasters. As I mentioned to Linda, this is a Spanish boot camp. First impressions are this Christian language school is very well run.
Last night I brushed up on parts of speech and the various tenses and mood – Present Indicative, Present Progressive, Past, Conditional, Future and Imperative and subjunctive. I am not learning all of those at the same time. But the instructors do use the terms, so I have to be able to know what the differences are in English, when referred to in Spanish. Right now we are working on the Present Indicative and Progressive (I go and I am going) and the verb “to be”. The blessing of Spanish is that most verbs and articles follow standard rules. The flip side is that they tend to use more cases, moods and tenses then English does.

The humbling part for me in this experience is thinking through the Spanish and forming the sentences being mindful of person, tense and verb conjugation rules. The old grey cells ain’t what they used to be. The instructors tell me to do what I tell my kids to do—practice, practice, practice.

Being a student, learning a language has, even with this short exposure, given me some keen insights as to what my ESL students must be experiencing in my class. Certainly the value of daily objectives, a slower pace of spoken language and “think time” are all necessary for someone learning a new language.
And while I did provide these things in the classroom this past school year, I know I can do better in these areas next school year.

One of my teachers, Sophia, also teaches English at some of the US run factories down here in Chihuahua. There are some 2700 of these factories called maquiladoras, along the US/Mexican border states. They account for some 71% all such factories in Mexico and are a substantial part of Mexico’s export. (Sourcehttp://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=407). The companies here in Chihuahua are Cessna, Bell Helicopter and Wrangler clothing company. There may be others but I haven’t heard of those yet. Cessna and Bell Helicopter are making parts, Wrangler clothing. An interesting fact in local news is that Mexico is losing some of these factories to countries who offer lower wages to workers. The American corporation sees the bottom line as the most important factor.

Last Sunday, I took a walk around the neighborhood found a big mall, Los Gallerias, about a 10 minute walk from here. It is right next to a grocery store that rivals Kroger or Alberston’s in appearance, layout and goods offered. The mall looked the equal of a small Sunrise mall with an upscale furniture store and department store in addition to a very large food court offering – Cinnabon, DQ, BK, Frozen yogurt, ….you get the idea.

The place was packed. I think, given the predominance of low income housing and lack of A/C, it is a place to hang with friends on a hot Sunday afternoon. Yes, there is a contrast between the haves and have not’s and a certain neighborhood milieu of being dog eared and worn, still serviceable, but needing some TLC. I will include some pictures next time.

A big election is coming up on July 4 for all of the Mexican states. It is the party of the current president Corazon (PRI) and several other national parties. Their election signs are unique with each candidate having had a really good photo taken wearing business casual and then posting their pictures along the roadways. The theme appears to be “unity”. I will include some pictures in my next post.

Reuben out did himself with breakfast Monday morning = eggs on tortillas, a mango, toast, some pastries, milk, jalapeno peppers and, oh yeah, beans. All washed down with milk. I wasn’t sure if the jalapenos and milk would mix but there were no after effects. Lunch was different foods but same variety and quantities. When he cooks he wears this bandana around his head. Sort of looks like a Mexican samari.

I am really happy to be here and consider this time to be special. I especially appreciate my beautiful wife’s understanding about my need to be here. I am looking forward to my time at the orphanage this Friday.

Till next time.

Doug