Two Weeks Off

Two Weeks Off

I returned to my site 2 days ago after two weeks away.  As always the homecoming was a relief.  It never fails that after time away a return to this little community only makes me appreciate it more.  But the two week break from school routines and my life here was welcome, too.  I spent one week teaching in a camp over a one week break from school.  The Access camp brings together 115 students from 6 cities in Nicaragua, even from Bluefields on the Atlantic coast. These kids have been studying English for one year, 5 days a week for 2 hours each day, with a Nicaraguan English teacher.  Those teachers, and 5 Peace Corps volunteers, staffed the camp. What an experience it was for everyone. The kids were amazing, many leaving home to travel in their country for the first time.  Access mixes them together in dorm rooms of 4 students and in “state” groups of 14 to 25 students organized by English ability level.  At first, predictably, the students were shy but after 2 days there were new best friends.  In Nicaragua it’s OK to show affection, to hold hands or embrace or lean against friends.  Even boys are touchy with each other.  That’s what was happening to kids from opposite coasts or from the north and south of Nicaragua.

Access camp couldn’t happen without Peace Corps. “Camp” isn’t an idea with which Nicaraguans are familiar, but Americans know how camp should be even if, like me, they never attended one.  PCVs brought half of the expertise and most of the fun to camp. We taught electives like sign language and yoga (my contribution and popular—about 80% of the camp elected it—big pressure on me to make it good).  We led the “field day” events like 3-legged races.  We made up chants for each state group, taught everyone the electric slide, provided lively lessons—all to a wildly appreciative audience.

The Nica teachers are an impressive bunch.  Their English is excellent and they are very professional. They have studied hard to be as good as they are and some have studied in the U.S. thanks to State Department programs. They lack American goofiness, but we supplied that in spades while they brought a seriousness of purpose.  Their students know how great is their opportunity to learn English and how important that skill will be to their futures.  I learned a lot co-teaching 3 classes every morning with Ricardo and I think he learned from me. From Victor, whose family has a coffee farm in Jinotega, I returned with a small sack of excellent coffee and fond memories of a most gentle man.  In fact I became friends with most of the counterparts, a darling group of people.

The highlight of camp was a field trip to Granada, Nicaragua’s colonial city.  Most students had never seen Granada’s restored and brightly painted architecture.  They explored the center of the city in their “State” group (ours was New York) on a “digital scavenger hunt”, finding sights in the city and taking a group photo or acting out a directive like taking an order from a tourist in a restaurant. That night there was a slide show and the next night a riotous talent show.  These students love to sing and dance and work hard to make a professional routine.  The Bluefields kids with their tululu (google and youtube it-you won’t be sorry) brought down the house but a group from another city did an amazing dance from Grease complete with combs in their hair, white t-shirts and swing skirts.  I could not imagine a group of teenagers in the states dancing like that outside of a stage production, but the Access kids love music and dance more than they fear ridicule.  They don’t mess with “cool” as that would get in the way of all the fun.  Would that I could bring back some of that attitude to the states.

As you can imagine, camp ended with tears and not a little relief from the volunteers and teachers who worked hard from 5:30 a.m. until 9:00 at night and THEN planned classes for the next day.  I was beat. I had a 1 ½ day break between the end of camp and the start of a week of in service training close to Managua, and so, instead of riding 3 ½ hours back to my site, stayed 2 nights in beautiful, if touristy, Granada where I treated myself to a hotel room and some quiet, although I ended up hanging out with Peace Corps volunteers who had the same idea.  They had volunteered at a different camp.  All of us deserved the break.

The Peace Corps meeting, 4 days long, took place at the beach near Managua. I will admit that I arrived at IST needing a boost.  The last month of teaching in my instituto had left me despondent.  What had hit at the end of the semester was a glimpse of the enormity of the challenge here, something I hadn’t really seen fully before because of all the excitement in getting started and trying out all the slick new techniques Peace Corps had taught me.  The schools are like all institutions in their intractability, but they suffer an enormous set of challenges as well.  Start with no resources, add on many teachers with insufficient training and skills, students who have inherited anti-educational attitudes, and a society that has insufficient jobs for people who finish school. After the initial grim realization, it dawned on me that, yes, this is what a third world country looks like and this is why we’re here.

I’m happy to say that I got the needed shot in the arm during training.  It helps a lot to trade experience with the others.  A few of the younger volunteers like and admire me and their good opinion fortifies. I came back here to the North with a bunch of ideas for the next semester.  Today I took the first steps to starting a new project and, guess what, I’m happy with an idea of somewhere to go and something new to do.  So here I am sitting on my porch watching the setting sun turning the sky apricot, the folks passing in the street.  It’s too dark now to continue typing, but I’m content, counting my blessings, which are considerable, again.  Thank God for that.  Despair sucks.