Answers
My aunt sent me an e-mail with many questions and I figured you may have some that are similar so I'm going to post my response to her (sorry for the repeat auntie). Enjoy!
In answer to your first question right now I'm tutoring three home-school students, they are the kids (ages 15 & 16) of the missionaries who run the ministry here; They were adopted from Haiti when they were babies. Since they moved here six years ago they can speak both Spanish and English which made it a little strange at first because they would talk to each other and I had no idea what they were saying, they are nice kids though so I wasn't too worried about it.
My Spanish is coming along, I feel like I've learned a lot in the past month. It helps to be surrounded by Spanish speaking people all the time. I'm not actually receiving any classes so I just study from my books when ever I get a chance. Right now I'm teaching English in the school to grades 8, 9, and 10. It's actually a government requirement that they learn a certain amount of English in school. It's difficult though because they haven't had any English classes before (or very little) so I have to figure out what to teach. It's defiantly a challenge because there isn't any curriculum or texts books to follow. I really like spending time with the kids, they're a lot of fun.
All the children that attend the school are sponsored by people in Canada. A lot of them come from very poor families and homes that are dysfunctional. Many of the children here in Tactic do not study past grade 2 because their families take them out so they can work (80% of the people in Tactic are illiterate) so it's really important that the children remain in school. The kids are very happy to be able to attend school because it is a privilege.
When the kids aren’t attending school they help their families with work. The boys help their fathers work in the fields (they grow a lot of vegetables and fruit here) and the girls help their mothers with the cooking, cleaning, and washing cloths (everything is washed by hand). There are very distinct roles for girls and boys (like we used to have in Canada). For fun the boys love to play soccer (called football) and the girls like to play basket ball, or with their dolls.
Aside from tutoring and teaching at the school I also teach English to three small groups on a weekly basis. I enjoy teaching these groups because they are people my age and are really eager to learn. It really helps with my Spanish too because I have to explain everything. I also participate in a children’s program which is in a neighbouring village called San Antonio. This program is for children who need help with their homework (from public schools). The public school systems here are not very good. There isn't a lot of importance placed on education, often the teachers don't even show up for a few days, and there are some children in grade 6 that don't even know how to read. It's a pretty sad situation so the ministry I'm working with is really trying to improve the education system here. So far they've opened 4 schools and are working towards more as well as opening a clinic.
Right now I'm living in a small flat (there's a little living room, a bedroom and a bathroom) it's a good size for me. The Guatemalan family that owns it is very nice, I eat my meals with them and they take good care of me. The typical Guatemalan meal is black beans, eggs, plantains and tortias. They eat tamalies on special occasions and chicken is usually the meat of choice. I also like the hot drinks they have here, one is called ruze con chocolate which is like hot chocolate but it has cooked rice in it, it's actually quite good once you get past the texture. Another one that is similar is Mush which is oatmeal, cinnamon, milk and water.
The weathers been pretty good, though it's been raining quite a bit lately (think Vancouver Island in the winter). Tactic is at a high elevation so it doesn't get as hot as other areas in Guatemala. It's very beautiful because it's surrounded by small mountains. It's supposed to be warming up more soon as we are coming into the summer months. The hottest it's been here so far is 32 degrees and the coldest is 9 degrees (though there is no indoor heating so it is pretty cold). It's very humid so if it's cold it feels really cold and if it's hot it's very hot.
Some other interesting things I've seen here:
~ Roosters crow at all hours of the day and night (there's a rooster pen 10ft from my bedroom).
~ The grave yards have concrete boxes above ground.
~ The woman carry baskets on their heads.
~ The celebrate holy week (the week before Easter) but don't celebrate Easter Sunday.
~ They have parties on Dec. 24 but don't do anything on Dec. 25.
~ Fire crackers can be heard at all times of the day and night.
~ There is a milk and yogurt man that comes to your door.
~ Chickens run around everywhere but they know where they live and go back for food and sleep.
~ They have strange beliefs/superstitions for example, after a woman gives birth she has to stay in bed for 40 days, and she isn't supposed to drink anything cold because it will make her milk cold.
~ All the work is done by hand (eg, mixing cement, making bricks, moving gravel)
~ The moon is facing a different way (instead of a crescent it's like a smiley face)
~ The sun sets in 15 min.
Well that's all for now. Talk to you again soon :)
In answer to your first question right now I'm tutoring three home-school students, they are the kids (ages 15 & 16) of the missionaries who run the ministry here; They were adopted from Haiti when they were babies. Since they moved here six years ago they can speak both Spanish and English which made it a little strange at first because they would talk to each other and I had no idea what they were saying, they are nice kids though so I wasn't too worried about it.
My Spanish is coming along, I feel like I've learned a lot in the past month. It helps to be surrounded by Spanish speaking people all the time. I'm not actually receiving any classes so I just study from my books when ever I get a chance. Right now I'm teaching English in the school to grades 8, 9, and 10. It's actually a government requirement that they learn a certain amount of English in school. It's difficult though because they haven't had any English classes before (or very little) so I have to figure out what to teach. It's defiantly a challenge because there isn't any curriculum or texts books to follow. I really like spending time with the kids, they're a lot of fun.
All the children that attend the school are sponsored by people in Canada. A lot of them come from very poor families and homes that are dysfunctional. Many of the children here in Tactic do not study past grade 2 because their families take them out so they can work (80% of the people in Tactic are illiterate) so it's really important that the children remain in school. The kids are very happy to be able to attend school because it is a privilege.
When the kids aren’t attending school they help their families with work. The boys help their fathers work in the fields (they grow a lot of vegetables and fruit here) and the girls help their mothers with the cooking, cleaning, and washing cloths (everything is washed by hand). There are very distinct roles for girls and boys (like we used to have in Canada). For fun the boys love to play soccer (called football) and the girls like to play basket ball, or with their dolls.
Aside from tutoring and teaching at the school I also teach English to three small groups on a weekly basis. I enjoy teaching these groups because they are people my age and are really eager to learn. It really helps with my Spanish too because I have to explain everything. I also participate in a children’s program which is in a neighbouring village called San Antonio. This program is for children who need help with their homework (from public schools). The public school systems here are not very good. There isn't a lot of importance placed on education, often the teachers don't even show up for a few days, and there are some children in grade 6 that don't even know how to read. It's a pretty sad situation so the ministry I'm working with is really trying to improve the education system here. So far they've opened 4 schools and are working towards more as well as opening a clinic.
Right now I'm living in a small flat (there's a little living room, a bedroom and a bathroom) it's a good size for me. The Guatemalan family that owns it is very nice, I eat my meals with them and they take good care of me. The typical Guatemalan meal is black beans, eggs, plantains and tortias. They eat tamalies on special occasions and chicken is usually the meat of choice. I also like the hot drinks they have here, one is called ruze con chocolate which is like hot chocolate but it has cooked rice in it, it's actually quite good once you get past the texture. Another one that is similar is Mush which is oatmeal, cinnamon, milk and water.
The weathers been pretty good, though it's been raining quite a bit lately (think Vancouver Island in the winter). Tactic is at a high elevation so it doesn't get as hot as other areas in Guatemala. It's very beautiful because it's surrounded by small mountains. It's supposed to be warming up more soon as we are coming into the summer months. The hottest it's been here so far is 32 degrees and the coldest is 9 degrees (though there is no indoor heating so it is pretty cold). It's very humid so if it's cold it feels really cold and if it's hot it's very hot.
Some other interesting things I've seen here:
~ Roosters crow at all hours of the day and night (there's a rooster pen 10ft from my bedroom).
~ The grave yards have concrete boxes above ground.
~ The woman carry baskets on their heads.
~ The celebrate holy week (the week before Easter) but don't celebrate Easter Sunday.
~ They have parties on Dec. 24 but don't do anything on Dec. 25.
~ Fire crackers can be heard at all times of the day and night.
~ There is a milk and yogurt man that comes to your door.
~ Chickens run around everywhere but they know where they live and go back for food and sleep.
~ They have strange beliefs/superstitions for example, after a woman gives birth she has to stay in bed for 40 days, and she isn't supposed to drink anything cold because it will make her milk cold.
~ All the work is done by hand (eg, mixing cement, making bricks, moving gravel)
~ The moon is facing a different way (instead of a crescent it's like a smiley face)
~ The sun sets in 15 min.
Well that's all for now. Talk to you again soon :)
posted by Mariah | 3:47 PM
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2 comments
