The Mothers of Pueblo Nuevo de Bullaque

Today I write from the smaller of the two schools that I work out throughout the week, named Pueblo Nuevo de Bullaque after the small pueblito in which it is located. There are only about 25 kids, ages 3 to 12, four professors, and thus the three classes that meet are smaller, more intimate, and mixed in terms of the grade levels.

I only go in on Wednesdays and work with each of the three classes, pre-k and 1st grade, 2nd and 3rd, 4th through 6th, and then, after the little recreo (recess) period, I meet with a handful of the parents and hold an English 101 session with them.

At first, that last bit was the most daunting and vergüenza-inducing bit of my week (vergüenza literally means "shame" but here, "hestitation" or fear"). The first day I arrived at the school, I was informed that I would meet the parents that same day. Immediately my mind went racing to figure out how to gague their prior-understanding, what topics to cover, and at what pace to move through the material. It obviously wasn't the most well-structured agenda and we bounced around quite a bit, but at the end of it I had come away with some important notes for the next class.

1) When they told me that they wanted to learn the most basic English, "o sea, lo más básico de lo básico," they meant it word for word --or perhaps even letter for letter.

2) I should plan it by topics that relate to topics that they would most likely need to use.

3) I should plan more than we will be able to cover in that one hour session.

It's only been three sessions, but I feel that the more recent two have been great improvements to the first. Today we reviewed salutations and good-byes and began to work on vocabulary and simple questions about the family (who's who, where do they live, how many ________ do you have, y ya está -- that's all), and I really came away from that lesson feeling that I had really done well and that a comfortable atmosphere had begun to develop within our little study group.

It's a very rewarding feeling to feel like you've helped someone, but I think there's more to it than that: I think they're helping me too. In "lo más básico" of terms and ways, after all these years of having it the other way, they're now helping me to understand how difficult it is to understand English and what it really means for one to speak too fast in his native tongue. Additionally, I'm learning how to properly form certain Spanish phrases, acquiring some new ones, and dropping some bad habits I've formed in my own acquisition of the language. There's a third and final part here that I haven't yet been able to articulate... I'll post it when it surfaces. Suffice to say, at the risk of sounding repetitive, it's a very good feeling and a rewarding experience.

On the whole, it's been a good week. Some teaching, some running in the park near the apartment, some football watching, and some good cooking. It's good to feel at one with the universe, even if you can't always say what's on your mind in the local language.

chau for now,

-Nick