Sitting in the "audio-visual" room at my school site, watching an animated short of penguins defeating a whale over and over (in the name of teamwork), I knew I was back: in-service 2013. The first day of the rest of my Colombian life as a TEL co-teacher/teacher trainer in Barranquilla. The students don't come until next week, but school has officially begun.
Some things are the same as last year, some things aren't.
A few things that were the same:
- Everyone was happy and dressed to impress, in 5-inch stilettos and sparkly eye shadow (well, I wasn't, surprise!), making jokes and wishing everyone well.
- I was told I must have eaten lots over Christmas, because I looked nice and fat.
- We had prayer sessions and reflection sessions and avowals that we would improve further on our school's current good standing in the city.
- The air conditioning STILL doesn't work, a product of the fire in our school last April
Things that were different
- We celebrated getting to use classrooms in a nearby church, which will house the primary school this year to help solve our major lack-of-space issue (we were holding classes on Saturdays last year to deal with that...no more!)
- The fan in the teacher's lounge has been completely removed. As in, it was a ceiling fan and we now have...a hole.
- The water fountain doesn't work
- Fans were installed in our school classrooms. Outlets in which to plug in the fans apparently do not come included.
Perhaps the biggest, most awesome-est difference between January in-service this year and last year was...I understood what was going on! This time last year, I'd been "speaking" Spanish for just about three months. I could barely understand people when they shot out a string of what seemed like impossibly rapid-fire words at me, usually simply asking me where I was from. This time around, not only could I understand, but I even did some translation for some of the English in the aforementioned teamwork-illustrating videos. I talked to my department, to other teachers, to students, and actually enjoyed myself! (All this a ridiculously huge improvement over last year, where my presence was much more similar to the wanderings of an anxious, though optimistic lost sheep who'd been shepherded into a herd of goats by mistake.)
So I say, yeehaw! (I get to use that because I headed home to Texas to visit family for Christmas...more on that shortly)
It's exciting to have finally reached this "second year" of service, and actually begin to feel the promised difference (it's a Peace Corps "truth" that the second year is loads better than the first). Work hasn't really begun, but it was plain to see how far I, at least, have come so far. The knowledge I gained last year-- from language skills to cultural information to plain old teaching experience, to relationships with my co-teachers and students was hard-won...and there's nothing like comparing the start of this year to the start of last year for me to see the difference.
I can't say that I made a huge difference in my "official" realm of work last year-- aka at my school site. To be totally honest, I'm not sure I will this year - at least as it relates to my conventional role as a co-teacher. In some ways, it often feels like co-teaching is the least effective thing I do here, in terms of making a sustainable/quantifiable change. I struggled a lot, last year, with coming to terms with this, probably focusing too much on the negative of that fact more than the potential positives.
What co-teaching for a year did for me, however, was to give me necessary experience so that I can now help develop, improve, and change the state of the English programs in Barranquilla with my other projects. In fact,
Jessica and I are teaching a workshop on methodology to teachers this coming Wednesday and Thursday, taking advantage of "in-service" time, with the support of the Secretary of Education. We didn't know if anyone would sign up (the first week of school is normally more about socializing than productivity); 30 out of the 40 available spots have already been spoken for.
Even while getting excited about my out-of-school project-related opportunities this year, I'm still allowing myself hope for my "actual" role. From arranging my schedule so it's livable (no more 6am, 2pm, and 6pm classes scattered throughout the day!) to narrowing my scope to so that my work with teachers is more continuous and in-depth, I am finding ways to improve what I do in school, staying sane within and away from it.
It would be ridiculous to think I could have gotten to this almost zen-like (for me) perspective, without the incredible happiness and refreshment that came from visiting the US over Christmas. That, for sure, was something I never thought I'd do. "Waste" time in the US, when I could be traveling the world? Well, living with a host family taught me how dear my own family is. One Christmas away was enough.
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| Family! |
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Dog and hot chocolate at Devil's Lake...
about as perfect a day as I've ever had. Actually. |
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My bro likes to tell me what to do.
Sometimes, on occasion,
some of what he says is helpful :D |
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If bloody marys existed in Colombia,
that'd be either the best or worst thing ever.
Either way, bacon swizzler sticks, smoked venison
and homemade tomato drink = best bloody mary EVER |
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Friend Nick took hiking at Devil's Lake
'cause he's the absolute best |
Home for the holidays was about the best decision I ever could have made. There are no words for the lovely times I had with my family, and the great life advice they keep on providing me. The too-few days I spent in Madison with friends and teachers...well...if the memories continue to make me smile only a fraction of how they did then and even now, I'll have happiness to last for years.
Looking towards the next 12 months, I finally am experiencing the reality of a second year, of the pressure of time to accomplish if not what I "set out" to accomplish, then what I want to accomplish now--as well as the rewards of a year's worth of experience to build upon. I am so happy to remember fully the wonderful parts of life I'll have closer at hand after service back in the US, but ready, at least, to take on this year!
