One’s Peace Corps service is filled with important
milestones: staging, training, swear-in, 1st day at school/site,
etc. These milestones help to break up the daunting prospect of spending two
years in a foreign country, away from all that is normal and comfortable. One
of these such milestones was recently achieved a couple of weeks ago: being in
country for six months!
It’s hard to believe that six months have already flown by.
It feels like just yesterday I was meeting the rest of the C II-6 volunteers
for the first time in Miami. Since then, so much as happened, including a
massive upheaval of urban volunteers into rural sites. Those tumultuous few
months have finally subsided and given way to some sense of normalcy.
I have now been in Repelón for a little over a month and
life is finally settling down. I’m beginning to establish a routine and this
pueblo is starting to feel like home. Currently, I’m working with the 8th-11th
grade classes during the mornings and three adult classes at night. So far, the
night classes are my favorite. The students are divided up based on what grade
they were able to finish during their time in school and range in ages 16 to
55. Despite this large gap, I have been able to create a fun and engaging
environment to help teach them some basic English.
Another aspect of my
night classes that I’m enjoying is the fact that I am the sole English teacher
and have the ability to teach what I want. With this responsibility also comes
the task of creating a curriculum from scratch. While this seems like a bit of
a daunting job, it’s a skill that I will hopefully be able to utilize further
down the road.
I just recently acquired the help of a counterpart for my
night classes and this has honestly been a blessing in disguise. She has been a
huge help when I need something clarified in Spanish. Before, when I was
teaching these classes solo, I would struggle sometimes to answer student’s
questions or find the right way to explain a concept. Granted, my Spanish has
improved because of these classes. However, it’s still nice to have a native
speaker backing me up when needed.
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| Teaching vocabulary to my adults through the use of pictures |
Outside of the classroom, things are going well. I’m
starting to bond with the other teachers at my school. The coordinator at my
school (equivalent of a guidance counselor) is a talkative, spunky woman that
likes to give me a hard time whenever she can. Between her and the three
janitors, I’m constantly on my toes, warding off the latest zing and trying to
come up with a witty comeback in Spanish (which is honestly a tough thing to
do). The other teachers have accepted me at the school and treat me like one of
them, which is an awesome feeling. There has been talk about starting a
possible English class with some of the teachers, so hopefully that will help
me feel even more a part of the team.
If the first six months are any indication of what the rest
of my service here in Colombia will be like, I’m in for some great times and
adventures. I’m excited to get to know the people of this town better and
trying to get some other projects off the ground. I’m hoping to start a running
club at my school and possibly organize some town wide “health walks” at least
once a month in accordance with the running club. These projects, and others
that I’m sure will pop up, will hopefully make the next six months just as
adventurous and intriguing as the last.
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