Some days, I honestly feel like just pulling a sickie and not going in. Today and yesterday I felt like going home after 5b, but more about that later.
Luckily, Monday was a Bank Holiday in Posadas. Well, luckily if you have wads of cash. C & I had 27 pesos still. John kindly lent us some money though, so we joined the chicas in our regular shopping mall (the only place that´s open at lunchtime) for our favourite bruschetta (the only place in Posadas where I´ve found fresh mushrooms, Aida doesn´t buy them as she says they are really really expensive here - well, they are about the same price as back home, but that´s comparatively astronical compared to everything else...I do miss my mushrooms!).
As C & I were on a budget till we could get to a bank (his card has stopped working since the weekend, we are now both card-less), we shared a bruschetta plate between us.
Didn´t do much else really, siesta´d a bit (I have no idea how I´m going to get through a British working day again without these GENIUS 4-5 hour sleepy-time breaks, although I suspect getting PAID might help lessen the blow) and still budget-wary, we went round to Oz Kirsten & Ali´s for a scheduled screening (on her laptop) of Parts 1-4 of Summer Heights High, an Oz spoof documentary set in a school, with the 3 main characters - a Polynesian Hip-Hop-crazy trouble-maker called Jonah; a pretentious female exchange student from the poshest school in town "Ja´mie, that´s J A apostrophe M I E"; and a gay Drama Teacher, supposedly ex-pro (i.e. failed) singer/dancer/actor, "Mr G" - all played by the same guy. It´s apparently won awards and is one of the most popular shows in Oz. www.abc.net.au/tv/summerheightshigh
You´d think I´d want a break from schools of an evening, eh?!
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Tuesday: back to school: FREEZING. Again. I knew the kids would be a handful after 4 days no school, and I was right. We did Partes del Cuerpo with 5a & 6a...as for how the lessons went, it´s Thursday now and I think my memory has kinda blanked them out already.
Touchingly, Facundo, from 5a, who goes from good to naughty (apparently due to a bad home environment), but just really craves attention either way, had written that "John, Ali & I were the best teachers" (in Spanish) and was trying to hide it as he worked. I noticed his peers started taking the mickey out of him when they saw it, and I´m not sure what happened but when I opened F´s book, to show John (Ali had gone home, not feeling well) when we were marking, his work wasn´t there. Think he might have destroyed it after the teasing.
Wednesday: Bit sunnier. Horrible horrible class with 5b this morning. They really are my least favourite class, which is a shame as there are some lovely kids in there, but a bunch of boys at the back just ruin it for everyone.
With 3 of us there, Ali has been able to spot that it isn´t actually all 6 on that table, just 2 rotten apples, and if you isolate them, the rest behave quite well.
Anyway, somehow the boys had managed to get hold of a couple of the girls´ (Elizabeth & Florencia´s) workbooks (I had collected them in to do a test) and scribble male genitalia all over not just the cover and random blank pages, but sadly, in Elizabeth´s book, on a page where she´s got a sticker & stamp for excellent work.
The girls were visibly upset and shaken when they discovered this vandalism, and I did my best to calm them down, whilst John attempted to find out who the culprits were. Obviously no one admitted to it, but we knew the main prepetrators. As their form teacher walked in, the girls & I went to tell her.
Now I hate this teacher. She has the ugliest, scowliest face imaginable, she evidently hates children, and I have ONLY ever heard her shout at her class in a loud, grating, nasal, foghorn of a voice. Even when they haven´t actually done anything wrong. Worse than useless, in week 1, she was the one who whilst marking their homework, proceeded to talk to some children, in the middle of my class.
John quoted Billy Connolly: "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness goes right to the bone".
I thought I´d get her involved anyway. Frustratingly though, she didn´t listen to anyone, and started to shout at the wrong boy (a cute, good little kid) who she obviously assumed had done it as he sat behind these girls. Scared, he said nothing. I positioned myself between him and the shouty banshee, tried to say "It wasn´t him" several times, then gave up, exasperated, as she told the whole class that if they didn´t behave, no more English lessons. (I took small pleasure though when I heard a collective sharp intake of breath and whispered "Noooooo!")
We finished the lesson in subdued mood, and I vowed that I was not going to stand for this tomorrow (our last day together as Friday is a school play - I am giving it a miss and going to El Refugio with C), so warned my colleagues that we´d have to be hardcore tomorrow if any trouble.
We reckon Matias (the main bad guy, he´d got his "crew" to pull their tops up over their mouth and their hoodies over their eyes for most of the lesson) will probably be on the rob and in prison in a few years (that´s him written off then).
6b were cool, they´re the class Ali & I identify as with "the sweetest boys and the thickest girls". There is seriously nothing going on behind the eyes of any of these girls, like they´ve been lobotomised, but the boys make up for it. And the girls are, in their catatonic state, at least no trouble! There´s one boy Ali & I really don´t like, a loud-mouthed, work-shy thickie called Pario, but I think I nailed it today with him (more later).
I´m learning new words (thanks to watching the OC, Pushing Daisies and Cold Case with subtitles, I know that e.g. "Callate!" means "Shut up!") which if I use sparingly, and in a jokey fashion to some of the kids seems to shock enough (that I know the words) to work.
And teasing helps. One giggly boy yesterday - he´s not bad, but really mischievious - was distracting the boy next too him too, so I had to try and quieten him. I told him he was like a monkey "Eee! Eee! Eee!" and his mates started to laugh along with him and me, "Mono! Mono! Haaaaa!"
It´s quickly become a running joke. This morning I said "Hola chicos! as he and his friends ran up to say hi...then a cheery "Hola mono!" to him. Queue lots of little boys falling about in hysterics, and he´s loving the attention of being singled out by teacher, with a special pet name.
As for the rest of today: John & Ali´s last day (sob!)...in 5b we did physical descriptions, (heights, builds, hair types and styles, eye colours) which went pretty well and without too much incident after yesterday´s awfulness and telling off.
J&A did laugh, when I illustrated ´pretty´ and ´ugly´ with two faces on the board, the ugly one bearing more than a passing resemblance to 5b´s horrid form teacher!
At least though today she had separated one of the trouble-makers off, put him at the front of the class, and this seemed to make the whole table behave well, even Matias, the car-thief-in-waiting.
There was a hairy moment right at the end, when a kid started punching his much littler friend repeatedly and wouldn´t stop although I asked him nicely (but firmly) several times. Now I know it wasn´t meant maliciously, they were friends and he is normally a good little boy, but still. Something inside me snapped and I just thought, "I don´t care if you´re not the naughtiest, I´m going to make an example of you". So I led him by the arm to the head´s office.
Poor thing looked so contrite, on the way, I gently explained that I just couldn´t have behaviour like that especially in the next two weeks as I was "sola" and did he understand? He nodded, silently.
In the staffroom, not wanting to be too hard on the kid, I explained to Fabiana it wasn´t just him, there were lots of naughty boys in this class, so she came back with us and I let him sit down as she addressed the whole class.
F is soooo the opposite of the horrid teacher. She stood and quietly and calmly explained that they were to behave themselves and listen to us...especially as I was on my own for the last two weeks. They agreed solemnly (well, Matias looked at the floor).
Then John said some really kind words, saying it was his and Ali´s last lesson with them and that they were very lucky to have me for 2 more weeks, that I was v intelligent and experienced (at teaching!?!?!) and they should listen to me as they could learn a lot. Sweet.
I still feel a bit bad about making an example of that boy, Ali & I both noticed he looked so broken afterwards, but hopefully it´ll send a message that I´m taking no prisoners in my last two weeks. And besides, he *was* punching his friend, however you slice it!
6b were cool, they are soooooo adorable and their equally sweet teacher got them to give J&A a round of applause for their time here, and said they were all happy I was staying for 2 more weeks.
6b - cute cute cute!I´m sure having a lovely teacher makes you want to learn more, and conversely, the horrible teacher is probably responsible for putting her class off school. It´s the old nature-nurture thing. Plus, because she shouts all the time, when she tells them off, they are immune to her anger.
I remember was a good and bright pupil, but absolutely *hated* German, because we had a bitch of a teacher, Mrs Deans, and I dropped the subject as soon as I could. So if with what must surely be a hated form teacher, I can understand how her kids probably hate school and misbehave as much as they do.
I did have a bit of a problem with the loud-mouthed thickie in 6b, Pario, today, but when after John moved him and he *still* didn´t shut up, I asked him to choose between "Maestra alta or silencio?" (big teacher or silence?). Eventually, he chose "Silencio" and kept it zipped for the rest of the lesson. What I loved though, was that all the other boys, sick of his behaviour, kept telling me to take him to the "Oficina". I said I would if he misbehaved again. He didn´t dare.
Apart from that, we had a lovely lesson and I impressed the chicos with my ability to cross my eyes and then move each one individually like a Newton´s Cradle, when we got to "eye colours".
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I can´t blog about a very funny thing today, not yet. This is just here as a reminder - all will become clear. "What´s that girl called again...?"
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Quick social summary: Tuesday did nothing, C´s feet hurting too much to Tango so we had an early one.
Wednesday C & I had a heated difference of opinion about our evening´s plans, but eventually he realised perhaps I had grounds to be upset if he was choosing to go out with 3 teenage/early 20s female voluntarias he´d known all of 2 weeks rather than come with me to K&A´s pad for a few drinks and more Summer Heights High. I was worn out after the horrid day at school and wanted a quiet one, with him and my best (oldest) friends here. Anyway, the footy was on when we got there, so he was happy, settled in with his beer and crisps whilst we girls had a goss...men are such simple creatures, eh?
Thursday: spent the afternoon after school with C & Ali to visit Oz Kirsten at at El Puma, her conservation project...Not an awful lot to say about it, and the pics are self explanatory to what we saw. El Puma is quite small, and I was a little upset to see massive majestic creatures like the two jags they had there, pacing up and down in a tiny cage. Oz K explained that they had started with to build larger reserve areas for them, but when the Argentinian Govt changed (about 3 months ago) the funding was pulled again. Apparently this happens with each new Government every 3 or so years, which means changes and improvements are v slow, if they happen at all. She too was torn about whether it was better to have these creatures cooped in captivity, or let them take their chances in the wild. A bit like living in communist Cuba, I reckoned; where they have free education, healthcare, subsidised food/rent and a guaranteed job - but they can´t leave the country.
What price freedom?
Oh, and the puma of ´El Puma´ was asleep, hidden in his shelter, so we didn´t get to see him. K says she hadn´t seen him in a month of working there, and reckons he may be depressed.
Still it was really good to see where another of our friends works, and to laugh at the monkeys (who had a lot more room to swing about) and play ring-tones to the parrots (they go silent and listen attentively, if you wondered, and some even bob their heads in time...)
Take a closer look (click on pic). This appears to be the world´s first 2-headed crocodile
Tonight going to meet everyone for Ali´s last supper. Well, C&I will meet them for drinks after we´ve had our meal at Aida´s, seeing as we are still a bit careful (I have my card now - hurrah - but haven´t dared trying to activate it yet, lest the machine munches it up again and we are totally stuffed).
And the best news is, I´ve found this internet café next door to Sampaka (so 2 mins from home) and it´s owned by Mario´s wife Laura´s sister (still keeping up?!) so I now get cheery greetings and hugs when I go there too!
Dinner calls...gotta go...
1 comment:
hey saps, looking gorge as ever, keep the photos coming. sounds like you're handling everythjing like a pro! wouldnt have expected anything less ;-)
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