The Ugly American is NOT Just a Myth

Missed my post yesterday asswe were driving seven hours to the coast of Peru to spend the weekend. Friday was a much better day emotionally for me. Both Eddie and Wyatt spent time at other placements which gave me the opportunity to concentrate fully on the students without having to help my boys defend themselves. Christin and I stayed up late Thursday night cutting out capital Ms, Ps, Rs, Ls, and Ss as those are the letters the kids are learning right now. I never realized how few capital Ps are used in magazines...I took the letters and a new bottle of paste to the class so the kids could glue the magazine pieces onto appropriate spots on the paper. I purposely made each child their own pile of letters, each with the same number of Ps, Rs, Ms, Ls, and Ss so as to reduce the amount of fighting. The kids did surprisingly well with the project. For the most part, they all sat and happily glued away for a good half hour or so. It frustrated me a bit that la profesora would occasionally come around and shame a child by yelling at them that I had brought this beautiful project to them and they needed to do better work. I really wanted to keep this a positive experience so I tried to get to everyone before she did. I think we ended on a good note so I was satisfied with that.

Besides that, I spent some time stumbling my way through the Wizard of Oz in Spanish, a book I had brought from home. I read the book twice to a small group of interested kids before struggling through my tongue-tiededness wore me out. We also did numbers in English and Spanish and as I brought my camera with me, quite a bit of time was spent taking pictures and then showing them to all the kids. Each student wanted a picture of themselves doing several activities: eating, swinging, gluing, climbing over the eight foot fence to escape from the play yard....stuff like that. La profesora was just as intrigued by the camera as everyone else. She asked to have her picture taken and to see the results several times. I promised that when I got back to the United States, I would send copies of the pictures to her via CCS's homebase.


La profesora asked me to bring some supplies for her next week which I can't do as it is against CCS policy. I know she is aware of the policy, but I really can't blame her for trying. It may seem rude and impolite by our standards, but I can only imagine that if my children did not have what they needed as far as basic necessities go, I most likely would not worry too much about manners either. The CCS policy, at first blush, seems rather harsh. However, the goal of the program is to assist these organizations in becoming self-sustaining and self-improving. If we come in as these sort of saviors that bestow supplies and money, we make them dependent on charity, a position that never improves anyone's self-image.


The first day I was in the kindergarten, one of the little girls had nothing to eat for lunch. When she saw my granola bar, she pitifully asked if she could have some. I couldn't say no, something that I was reprimanded for when I checked with CCS staff later. As our director said, if parents in this poorest of schools got wind of the fact that a gringa was giving out food there, many of them would stop sending lunch to school so that their children could be fed by the gringa too. And as I don't have enough granola bars to feed the whole class for an extended period of time, I instead now don't bring anything to eat. At least then we can both be hungry, though I am sure our hunger is very different from one another's. Disturbingly, Friday, la profesora was "sharing" the children's lunches, explaining when she caught me watching her, that she was "very hungry". Which might be the case, though I noticed she was only hungry for sweet cookies and cakes.


After our placement, we headed back to the house for our final lunch with the Insight group. CCS has several programs of varying lengths to choose from, one of which is a week long trip that gives sort of an overview of the volunteer opportunities by spending time at a different placement every day. The afternoons are packed with tours such as the one we took to the Wari ruins, and lessons in Spanish and salsa dancing among other things. I enjoyed several of the people we met in the Insight program, particularly a 13 year old girl from Alaska and several people from Canada (I now have an understanding of Canadian politics and a renewed sense of embarrassment about my ignorance of world events in general). Unfortunately, there were also some people that I didn't really understand why they were there as they seemed much more interested in vacationing than volunteering. As we were packing for our coast trip, two of them decided to do a very convincing production of the Ugly American. Our guide for this coast trip is also the person who arranges trips for any CCS houseguest if they so desire. He has worked with CCS for nine years and goes above and beyond to give fabulous service. These two women took it upon themselves to degrade and humiliate our guide very publicly over a trivial matter that could easily have been taken care of with a civilized conversation. Every person in the house, all 22 volunteers and six or seven employees, was privy to what was going on. I, as well as just about everyone else in the house, felt terrible about the incident. I just can't believe how incredibly entitled some people feel, so much so that it is nothing to be demeaning and disrespectful (yeah, I said it) to another human being. On the bright side, the Insight volunteers flew back to Lima this morning so though I am disappointed that these women and I will not get a chance to have a philosophical discussion on proper etiquette when visiting a country not your own, the house will be a bit quieter and more cohesive in the coming week.

Jenny

9000 ft. and Counting

Well I got altitude sickness , wrote a comic and got transfered to Christin's school and had a good time. Things in the school I went to were much better then the other school I was at. Way more orderly than the other one. In my comic, I brought back the Jet Cat and Helli-mice (Grandma). I also find ginger to have wonderful health benefits toward altitude sickness. See I had some coffee today and the caffeine just killed me. I wanted to throw up on the floor. But all in all I had fun.

Eddie

A Day to Give Thanks in So Many Ways

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home. I spent the day being thankful for the ability to have this experience and for the fact that we are so fortunate enjoys the lives we do. That sounds so cliché but today was intense. I want to go get my law degree and to work in the field of human rights so that I can make a significant impact in the lives of those who are not able to speak for themselves. Getting my degree and putting myself in a position to access those with the power to make changes is central to achieving my goal. But just as crucial is that I have a decent understanding of the issues facing those at the lowest rungs of society and that I know realistically, what is keeping them from changing their situation. My placement in this particular kindergarten is giving me that experience, something that I was not necessarily expecting when I booked my plane ticket. I had prepared myself for the language barrier, for the culture shock, for living with 20 strangers, for food that doesn´t sit well with your stomach, but naively, I had thought that a kindergarten would be a breeze. After all, I have worked with kids in classroom settings since I was 14. But this is different. I am in the midst of children who are not getting the attention that they so rightly deserve to reach even 1/10th of their potential, let alone any more than that. There are children with obvious learning disabilities which will never be addressed. Some of these kindergartners already hate, and I mean hate school. And who can blame them as screaming and slapping abound when answers are not correct. La profesora frustrates me and my urge is to be angry with her, but when I look at the lack of supplies, the lack of support, the obvious reality that many of these children have home lives which don´t allow them to come to school prepared to learn, I can understand her frustration and impatience. She is teaching what she knows, what she has been taught, what these children will teach others. She is the embodiment of the principal that the key to improving lives is education. Good education which teaches her to keep order in her class, how to address social issues that her students are having, how to work with dyslexic and autistic children. What an incredible difference in these kids lives a teacher like that would make.

Today I sat with a little girl who obviously has some fine motor issues as she is one of the older ones in the class and she is unable to even begin to form her letters. She was in tears within five minutes of beginning the lesson in which the students were supposed to right words that the teacher put on the board. La profesora came over and screamed at her, telling her not to be so lazy and other things that I didn´t fully understand but certainly got the drift of. This girl, such a sweet, tender soul, was just crushed. And to make matters worse, the other girls were making fun of her. I helped her to practice some letters, not really caring whether she actually formed the words but just desperately wanting her to know that she was a good child, that she was worth something and that her inability to write didn´t make her trash. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

At another point in the day, as the class had once again descended into chaos, I began to randomly write letters on the whiteboard and have children copy them for me. I know it was always a treat to get a chance to write on the chalkboard when I was in school and I think the same was true for these kids. I was able to regain some semblance of order with the threat that students who did not behave would not get a turn at the board. Two of the boys that present the greatest challenge in the class wrote their names on the board when there was not another activity that they had participated in all day. I gave them both a smile and a "muy bueno" and they just beamed....and came back to write their names over and over and over again. That was the first time I had seen one of them act like anything but an animal-literally.

When our driver picked us up at noon, one of the other volunteers that worked in a government sponsored daycare told us of something that happened that day that just chilled my blood. I won´t repeat it here because it is not my place to tell the tale, but it just sort of pushed me over the edge and I spent about ten minutes crying in the bathroom when we got back to the house. To say that is rare for me is an understatement. I guess that being faced with the things that I have long read about, heard about, known existed in the world but never experienced first-hand, was overwhelming. But I actually treasure being able to go through this process so that I can better know how to change these things. And absolutely, today of all days, I am so incredibly thankful for the life we are so blessed to lead, the life that means that though my children will face challenges, they will never be the kind which automatically destin (sp.?) them for a future filled with failure, the kind of life which gives opportunities and choices. Thanksgiving indeed.

After I composed myself from my little crying jag, we had lunch which in Peru as most other Latin cultures, is considered the main meal of the day. As a special treat, the cooks prepared the local delicacy cuy for us......also known as guinea pig. I made an exception to my no-meat rule to try a piece-a leg I think-and it was actually pretty good. Wyatt devoured his portion and then went around scavenging leftovers he liked it so much. The cooks also gave a nod to our Thanksgiving holiday by cooking turkey for dinner which I did not partake in. It looked nothing like our traditional turkey and it was accompanied by hot applesauce and iceberg salad, but the effort was appreciated.

Some of the volunteers that work with the jail held a sale of handicrafts after lunch which was a fantastic opportunity to get the "feel good while shopping" juices going. The jail here in Ayacucho holds about 1400 men and women though the buildings capacity is supposed to be closer to 700. A great majority of the women, probably around 80%, are jailed for drug trafficking. From what I have been told, rather than being hardened criminals, these are generally women who desperately needed money and accepted a load of cocaine for transport, then being not particularly practiced at what they do, were caught. Since these women obviously had no money to pay off the appropriate authorities, they were incarcerated with sentenced generally in the range of 12-20 years. The women are jailed with their children until the kids are three at which time they must be sent to live with relatives or barring that, to an orphanage. It is not uncommon for both a husband and wife to be jailed at the same time as they are often together when trying to transport the cocaine. This leaves a great many children with no one to care for them and the orphanage is another popular placement for CCS volunteers. Though they are behind bars, the women must still provide for themselves and their children out in the world, so they create beautiful handicrafts which they sell....well, basically anywhere that they can. They have been working overtime creating things which they think the volunteers will like and therefore buy. The detail in these creations is amazing and I did indeed spend quite a few soles on handicrafts. Next week I have been promised that I can go to the jail and meet some of these women for myself which is fantastic as I had been hoping to be placed there originally.

To everyone´s relief I am sure, the internet cafe is about to close so I will head back to the house. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and lets all count our blessings tonight....

Jenny

Fun-O-Lisious

Today we (minus Eddie) went to-you guessed it-the kindergarten. It was fun and we FINALLY found the grocery store. And the bank. By the way, Happy Thanksgiving! Did you eat turkey? I didn´t....instead, I ate guinea pig! Yes, I said guinea pig. It tasted GREAT. Yes it did.

Wyatt

Day Dos (Two) of Kindergarten

Today the kids were worse than yesterday. They found, and used, some brick chunks on me. It didn´t hurt and they were definitely holding back because they only hit my legs. I took the bricks from the kids and threw them in the corner outside. They then got a broom and hit me with it. The term "No le peges" came in handy today. But we did get a chance to teach them about our lives and they got a chance to learn where Peru was. At least I think they learned where Peru was because they colored it in...along with everything else on the paper. There´s not a lot for me to do there so I might jump around to some of the other spots with other volunteers.

After the school, we explored the Wari ruins and the site of the Battle of Ayacucho. The monument has a viewing platform of sorts so Wyatt and I went up-it cost one sole each. Wyatt and Mom went horseback riding while I stayed at the viewing platform. Going up the stairs there will seriously kill you because the altitude is over 10,000 feet up. That is 1,000 feet higher than Ayacucho, and of course, much higher than sea level where Florida is. Then it started pouring on us which made us all soaked and was not exactly fun. Well that´s all folks. Goodbye or as they say in Peru "¡Adios!"

Eddie
P.S. Please feel free to comment.

Wow, what a day, and man - am I wiped!!!!
Anyhow - what a difference a day can make - I had such an incredibly positive day in my class...
to start out, right when we arrivd at the school, my partner and I decided it would be a good idea and much more useful if we split up - I stayed with the same teacher - and what a differnce it made for sure.
Earlier this morning I had gone downstairs to make some notes and wrote some very simple things in English and Spanish that I could hang on the wall (window, bookshelf etc) and brought some paper to write more- I also thought it would be a good idea to redo the name tags on the desk...(thanks for the tape Jason!). Profesora Maria was delighted. She was happy to learn some English, I could learn some Spanish - AND we could teach the kids together!!! Iwas also able to help her with some of the activities today - cutting, glueing, dancing, singing - and then when the kids went to lunch I swept - plus wrote all the translations in her notebook so she could study!!! I felt really really good about our communication!!! Even as I was leaving for the day, Profesora Maria gave me a hug!!!! I can´t wait for tomorrow! Maybe I´ll go make a fruit poster too (Jenny just finished hers)
Anyhow, I´m sure the rest of our day is in Jenny´s post. This computer is making me very very tired.
Feliz Compleaños Jen! (I wore my shirt today in honor)
And Happy Turkey Day to all...we have much to be thankful for!
Off to the coast on Friday...
until then,
christin molly

Reality Sets In....And We Get to Ride a Horse

I stayed up late last night creating a mini-lesson plan to share with the kindergartners today. Basically, I assumed that they would find our lives interesting so I told them a bit about us and passed pictures around. I´m not sure that they were exactly riveted though the girls did seem to take to the picture of our cat Sami. There was quite a bit of yelling and hitting as the kids ripped the photos out of each other´s hands. However, I think that was more indicative of their usual mode of communication rather than a sign of their thirst to learn more.

For me, today was an interesting mix of emotions. I am very happy that I can be in the classroom and contribute anything positive for these children. However, today was very sobering in that the reality of what these children experience every day is setting in. La profesora is fairly impatient and her method of teaching is not one that I have come across in ten years of classroom participation. I would like to reserve judgement, however, my initial impression is that her style is extremely ineffective. I spent a good chunk of my day attempting to get to each child and help them with their assignment before la profesora came to them and screamed at them for getting it wrong. I soon realized that though the children have memorized many English words, the majority of them do not know their alphabet in Spanish.

Supplies in the classroom are pitiful so I purchased my own whiteboard pen and copied a map of South America for each of the students. After my fascinating discussion of our lives in Florida and showing where that is on a tiny world map, I passed out the South America map and had the kids color in the country of Peru. It was at that point that I realized that none of them know they live in Peru much less South America. Even more perplexing, I´m pretty sure la profesora was on about the same level as the kids though she could at least pinpoint Peru.

Even more disturbing for me is the fact that the children are very violent. They hit and kick and throw things on a regular basis. And when I say hit, I mean as hard as they can, repeatedly. La profesora ignores the activity until it gets in her way and then she comes down hard, sometimes hitting as well. I have decided that I cannot stand for the boys to hit the girls, it´s just not tolerable. In a culture where machismo is still alive and well, I won´t be witness to the sowing of the seeds of violence against women. I am not naive enough to believe that my stance will make much of a lasting impact on the children but even if it is only my own boys that see such behavior is not tolerated, that´s fine.

At several points in the morning, I did manage to communicate that we are not to hit, we share, we say please and thank you, and we use our words to solve problems-generally with encouraging results. I guess the most depressing thing is knowing that with no reinforcement, things will go back to more of the same as soon as I am gone. The reality is, I will be the one most touched by this "selfless" volunteer trip.

On a brighter note, this afternoon, we went to visit some ruins from the Wari period, a pre-Inca empire which lasted from 500-1100 A.D. I was so appreciative that we were able to do this as there is so much emphasis on the Incas yet they were only in existence for 100 years. The Waris were the ones that wore boards on their heads to mold the skull so that the forehead was like a ski slope. They were an advanced society that had aqueducts and even mastered (sort of) brain surgery. With our trip to the ruins, Wyatt and I also got a chance to go horseback riding while Christin and Eddie perused the traditional Wari-style ceramics in the town of Quinoa. Now we are back home and I am trying to scam some laundry soap off of one of the other housemates so I don´t have to head out to la tienda in the rain. So far no luck. I think I will try to teach the kids the Hokey Pokey in Spanish tomorrow even though I am well aware that it will descend into chaos in short order. But at least I will know the song in Spanish, something that I am sure will shine up the law school applications a bit.....

Jenny