I'm sitting in the airport now in Panama City ready to fly home for Christine's wedding (couldnt be more excited!), so I figured I would quickly write an update.
Work at the University has been going really well. Teachers are beginning ask for my help more now and use me in their classrooms. I have also taken on a Reading Club and a Drama Club, both of which I have two classes that alternate every other week. On average, I have about 20 first year students in each of the classes while each session is scheduled for an hour and a half. I've had one week of each class so far and it's clear that they are eager to listen to and learn from a native speaker.
My focus in Drama Club is to give the students a chance to learn English in a different way from what they may be used to in the daily classroom--from activities, games, role play, etc. that gets them moving around and simulating realistic conversations and scenarios. For the first class, I just wanted to get to know them better and give them an opportunity to speak a little bit and get them comfortable participating in the club. I had them pair up and I passed out some interview questions that I had made for them to ask their partner. I created the interview recording sheet in a way that would prompt them to figure out how to form the question and the response themselves. Some of the questions were what they liked best/least about Panama and what is today's biggest problem in the world/ideas for solutions. After they finished, I had them role play a press conference with 4 celebrities in the front, everyone getting a chance, and the rest of the class (the press) ask them questions. Interesting to hear the responses about Panama, as many cited the corruption in government and a solution (when I asked for it) being more of a focus on values and morals in the education system at an early age. I've also noticed that they respond well to songs and learning the lyrics to music seems to be an effective (and sneaky) way of getting them to both read and speak the language. Had to go with the great R. Kelly for the first one--"The World's Greatest."
For Reading, I plan on collaborating a lot with the English reading professors and go through/break down passages or stories that they are reading in class. I'm stressing reading comprehension strategies and getting in the habit of stopping often to summarize the previous paragraph(s) before going on. I also used some jokes that play on words/double meaning--I was, as expected, the only one laughing when I first showed the answers (probably would have been really entertaining for you), but these seemed to loosen up the atmosphere once they understood them too. A big thing for me here is to get these students actually interested in reading in general (not only English)...I continually have the image of the crowded beach I went to here in which not one person had a book/magazine to read. I'm hoping a little JK Rowling will provide "a little magic" as I will start reading the first Harry Potter book with them the next class.
Anyways, stories that I don't really have time to write fully about now, but are worth noting: my house is finally completely set up and the mosquito/stray dog problems seem to be done with for the most part; I got hit on by a guy who, at first I thought was just friendly when he sat at my table at a local restaurant until he asked me over to his house for dinner and whether or not I like to get intimate. (oh, and he writes romantic stories just for himself)...quickly got out of that situation; a student (female this time at least) proposed to me (politely declined); I got in a fight with a cab driver over 50 cents (you'd understand if you lived in Panama); I've also made good friends with a couple taxi drivers; I travel 45-50 minutes by bus to my university everyday when, in reality, its a 4 minute drive; everybody at my university (students and professors) are amazing; and finally, I cried not only because uconn won the championship, but because that was the worst ever basketball game ever I've ever seen ever, let alone an ncaa championship game...ever.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Mi casa nueva, el cumpleaños, y los mosquitos!
A house I can call my own and it feels good. I found a nice 2 bed/1 bath house that the renter was willing to furnish using my rent money. A win-win...he can keep the furniture after the 9 months I'm here (rent it for more afterwards), and I can rent a furnished house for no extra charge. It's a beautiful place, and definitely got a steal. However, this guy came down here to work on it and basically built it up from scratch...aka there have been several set backs that we've had to deal with (eg. the couple of stray dogs that have a tendency to bark outside my place at night--still working out how to deal with that one though) So first of all, we obviously had to go out and buy the furniture, wait a week for it to be delivered, then spend a few days putting it all together. (meaning another week spent at the hostel)
Second, I needed to get cable/internet installed--setting things up and getting appointments here in Panama just is not as easy as in the states, with their "no-rush" lifestyle, which is something that has been a little difficult to adjust to. Another thing was how dirty the place was at first; a lot of sweeping and mopping to be done. Because of the fact that it was pretty dirty, there were quite a few bugs that had to be rid of including the tiniest, peskiest mosquitos I've ever dealt with. For about 4 consecutive nights, I went to bed only to wake up with more bug bites on me (11 on my right arm/hand, 2 on my foot, a couple on my shoulder and another 2 on my back)
Last night was a huge break-through though--I woke up at 2:45 am because of the "bzz" noise of a mosquito in my ear...at this point, after days of killing these things, I knew there was one mosquito that was enjoying me for dinner every night and had eluded my murderous attempts too many times already--I was so fed up with it that I decided I was going to turn on the lights and not go to bed until this blood-sucking devil was finished. After 20 minutes of continually spinning around, missing it in the air, searching again for this elusive creature, I spotted it resting on my bed (of course, its favorite place). I approached it like a stealthy assassin and, with images of my 17 bug bites floating in my head, swung with no mercy. And that is how it's done.
Here are some recent pictures I took of the house:
Anyways, as most of you know, my birthday was the 23rd and I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it in multiple ways here. There was an ACCESS orientation that day in which a mock lesson was carried out in front of accepted students from 2 neighboring cities. ACCESS is a program that is designed to tutor poorer students who show high potential in English. Once again, it was a pleasure to see and talk with the U.S. Ambassador, Phyllis Powers, as well as the U.S. Director of Public Relations, David Searby. One of the tutors saw on facebook that it was my birthday and got the students singing happy birthday (in very good English). After the demonstration was done for the day, I proceeded to take about 25 consecutive pictures with each of the girls in the class--felt like Justin Bieber for a minute, needed my wing man Jaden Smith to take some of the pressure off.
Later that night, I went to the fair with a couple of friends in David to the city's International Fair. The fair lasted from March 17th-27th and consisted of hundreds of seller's booths, concerts, fireworks, horse shows, discotecas and carnival rides. It was a lot of fun and was amazing to see the amount of people at this fair pretty much at all times (as well as the amount of horses in the streets).
Besides all of that, I've been searching for a volunteer place to work with and might have found one in Casa Esperanza (House of Hope). This is an organization that fights against child labor and exploitation and gives them a place to learn, grow and play like children should during the day. They told me I could potentially tutor, help with english, play with the kids, carry out activities, etc. So, I'll go this Thursday and see how it works out. Fingers crossed.
Alright, well I heard it's still snowing in some parts there in the states so I'm sorry to rub it in, but...there hasn't been a day under 90 since I've been here. Had to do it.
Take care everybody, feel free to send me updates with how you are all doing too.
 |
| Spent 12-3 am the first night putting together this bed frame--not easy |
Second, I needed to get cable/internet installed--setting things up and getting appointments here in Panama just is not as easy as in the states, with their "no-rush" lifestyle, which is something that has been a little difficult to adjust to. Another thing was how dirty the place was at first; a lot of sweeping and mopping to be done. Because of the fact that it was pretty dirty, there were quite a few bugs that had to be rid of including the tiniest, peskiest mosquitos I've ever dealt with. For about 4 consecutive nights, I went to bed only to wake up with more bug bites on me (11 on my right arm/hand, 2 on my foot, a couple on my shoulder and another 2 on my back)
Last night was a huge break-through though--I woke up at 2:45 am because of the "bzz" noise of a mosquito in my ear...at this point, after days of killing these things, I knew there was one mosquito that was enjoying me for dinner every night and had eluded my murderous attempts too many times already--I was so fed up with it that I decided I was going to turn on the lights and not go to bed until this blood-sucking devil was finished. After 20 minutes of continually spinning around, missing it in the air, searching again for this elusive creature, I spotted it resting on my bed (of course, its favorite place). I approached it like a stealthy assassin and, with images of my 17 bug bites floating in my head, swung with no mercy. And that is how it's done.
Here are some recent pictures I took of the house:
Anyways, as most of you know, my birthday was the 23rd and I was lucky enough to get to celebrate it in multiple ways here. There was an ACCESS orientation that day in which a mock lesson was carried out in front of accepted students from 2 neighboring cities. ACCESS is a program that is designed to tutor poorer students who show high potential in English. Once again, it was a pleasure to see and talk with the U.S. Ambassador, Phyllis Powers, as well as the U.S. Director of Public Relations, David Searby. One of the tutors saw on facebook that it was my birthday and got the students singing happy birthday (in very good English). After the demonstration was done for the day, I proceeded to take about 25 consecutive pictures with each of the girls in the class--felt like Justin Bieber for a minute, needed my wing man Jaden Smith to take some of the pressure off.
Later that night, I went to the fair with a couple of friends in David to the city's International Fair. The fair lasted from March 17th-27th and consisted of hundreds of seller's booths, concerts, fireworks, horse shows, discotecas and carnival rides. It was a lot of fun and was amazing to see the amount of people at this fair pretty much at all times (as well as the amount of horses in the streets).
Besides all of that, I've been searching for a volunteer place to work with and might have found one in Casa Esperanza (House of Hope). This is an organization that fights against child labor and exploitation and gives them a place to learn, grow and play like children should during the day. They told me I could potentially tutor, help with english, play with the kids, carry out activities, etc. So, I'll go this Thursday and see how it works out. Fingers crossed.
Alright, well I heard it's still snowing in some parts there in the states so I'm sorry to rub it in, but...there hasn't been a day under 90 since I've been here. Had to do it.
Take care everybody, feel free to send me updates with how you are all doing too.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Panama's Education System
So I had a compelling/tragically realistic discussion with an English professor at my University today about the state of and truths concerning Panama's Education system. I'll list a few things here from our conversation that absolutely shocked me and put in perspective the differences between a developed nation's system and a third world country's.
First off, I'll introduce this teacher..his name is Nivaldo who is an English writing professor at UNACHI. He received a Fulbright scholarship about 15 years back which sent him to the United States for a year doing the same kind of thing. Therefore, he has a lot of experience with both school systems and is visibly frustrated with how far behind Panama's is compared to that of the United States'. Begin rant:
From the time the children here enter school to the time they graduate high school, the "passing" score in the public schools is 50% (compared to the 65-70% in the U.S.) That may not seem like a drastic difference, yet, if you think about it, every single assignment that they have to complete in order to graduate from high school is pass/fail. As Nivaldo said, it creates an attitude of "do just barely enough to get by" which then, in my view, potentially becomes habit and may be evident in their university studies and/or jobs they attain after graduating--not good for society.
Next, he talked about how students are never challenged to think on a higher-level in schools. Rote memorization is the common (only) method. Copy definition, say the definition, repeat the definition. How do you grow as a student/person when you are never forced to think for yourself?
Yet, the most shocking thing of all to hear was that Panamanian students are never taught how to write. They do not write one true essay before they graduate from high school. The most, he said, that they may do is write freestyle about a vacation, etc. But at no point are they taught how to format an essay, how to research, or how to create any work of their own. When they research, they google, they copy, and they paste....and that is acceptable. It just put me in a state of awe to hear that most of the population of Panama (those who don't go on to a University) has never and will never write a formatted essay.
This is all until they come to the University, of course. That is what Nivaldo says is so frustrating for him..He can't just teach them English writing; he has to first take them through the basics of writing, how to organize an essay in general, and then he can finally get into the English portion of it. My elementary education major may be of more use than I thought over the next 9 months.
All of these flaws, however, are clear, concrete problems that can be fixed. With a bit of determination and research from a dedicated group of intellectuals, Panamanian education and, in turn, society could potentially be improved dramatically.
First off, I'll introduce this teacher..his name is Nivaldo who is an English writing professor at UNACHI. He received a Fulbright scholarship about 15 years back which sent him to the United States for a year doing the same kind of thing. Therefore, he has a lot of experience with both school systems and is visibly frustrated with how far behind Panama's is compared to that of the United States'. Begin rant:
From the time the children here enter school to the time they graduate high school, the "passing" score in the public schools is 50% (compared to the 65-70% in the U.S.) That may not seem like a drastic difference, yet, if you think about it, every single assignment that they have to complete in order to graduate from high school is pass/fail. As Nivaldo said, it creates an attitude of "do just barely enough to get by" which then, in my view, potentially becomes habit and may be evident in their university studies and/or jobs they attain after graduating--not good for society.
Next, he talked about how students are never challenged to think on a higher-level in schools. Rote memorization is the common (only) method. Copy definition, say the definition, repeat the definition. How do you grow as a student/person when you are never forced to think for yourself?
Yet, the most shocking thing of all to hear was that Panamanian students are never taught how to write. They do not write one true essay before they graduate from high school. The most, he said, that they may do is write freestyle about a vacation, etc. But at no point are they taught how to format an essay, how to research, or how to create any work of their own. When they research, they google, they copy, and they paste....and that is acceptable. It just put me in a state of awe to hear that most of the population of Panama (those who don't go on to a University) has never and will never write a formatted essay.
This is all until they come to the University, of course. That is what Nivaldo says is so frustrating for him..He can't just teach them English writing; he has to first take them through the basics of writing, how to organize an essay in general, and then he can finally get into the English portion of it. My elementary education major may be of more use than I thought over the next 9 months.
All of these flaws, however, are clear, concrete problems that can be fixed. With a bit of determination and research from a dedicated group of intellectuals, Panamanian education and, in turn, society could potentially be improved dramatically.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The search continues..
Still homeless. Just wanted to come out and say it, save any suspense. The process has been painfully slow and drawn out. Despite the constant searching and inquiring, and the numerous contacts I've made, I clearly underestimated how difficult it would be to find a furnished place at a reasonable price here in David. Basically everything for rent here, houses and apartments, is unfurnished unfortunately which makes things very difficult for me since I don't want to buy a house worth's of furniture for the 9 months I'll be down here. There was an opportunity to live with one woman for about 200 in her house, but I saw some potential red flags when she sat me down and began the conversation with, "What religion are you?" in a way that made me terrified to answer incorrectly. This was followed by "You don't drink alcohol or do drugs do you?" I strategically answered this question by saying "No, I don't do drugs." I didn't want to lie with 5 different versions of Jesus looking at me from the walls, so I was happy with my answer. Anyways, an interesting possibility has actually emerged recently in which a guy staying here at the hostel is finishing up a house in David and we've been talking. Potential. I'll keep you updated on that front, but until further notice, I'm at the hostel.
I wanted to get that frustration out of the way, because really everything else has been going very smoothly here and I've already met some great and intriguing people (Panamanians as well as people at the hostel from all different countries). That's been one plus of being stuck here at the hostel--the variety of people coming in and out, hearing their stories, what's brought them here, and even finding some who will be staying in the area. The downsides are obviously that I don't have a place of my own and I'm speaking way too much English. Anyways, I've become good friends with one couple in particular from Canada, each around 30. They will actually be staying in an area called Boquete about a 30 minute drive from where I am and have rented a home with a beautiful view (I choose my friends wisely). Here's a view from the back of their house:
UNACHI: After a stressful few days of figuring out my schedule at the University (they were planning at first for me to work mornings and afternoons every week day before I told them that I need time to volunteer as well), I am extremely excited with what the English Director and I came up with in the end. We decided to pack the 20 hours into Monday-Wednesday, leaving all of Thursday and Friday for me to volunteer (or possibly travel on certain weekends..) My responsibilities at UNACHI will include tutoring, helping out in the classrooms (primarily with 1st year students), leading a drama and reading club, and doing occasional lectures on the English language or American culture, history, etc. I'll definitely be busy.
Thankfully, the people at UNACHI have been incredibly welcoming and seemingly really excited for me to be here and help out. My mentor teacher, Elia, is amazing and has taken me under her wing right from the first moment. She calls me her "hijo" which she enjoys since all of her children have moved to Panama City. A much appreciated "rent-a-mom" for my time down here.
Well classes begin at the University tomorrow and I should be asleep by now, pues, buenas noches amigos!
I wanted to get that frustration out of the way, because really everything else has been going very smoothly here and I've already met some great and intriguing people (Panamanians as well as people at the hostel from all different countries). That's been one plus of being stuck here at the hostel--the variety of people coming in and out, hearing their stories, what's brought them here, and even finding some who will be staying in the area. The downsides are obviously that I don't have a place of my own and I'm speaking way too much English. Anyways, I've become good friends with one couple in particular from Canada, each around 30. They will actually be staying in an area called Boquete about a 30 minute drive from where I am and have rented a home with a beautiful view (I choose my friends wisely). Here's a view from the back of their house:
Thankfully, the people at UNACHI have been incredibly welcoming and seemingly really excited for me to be here and help out. My mentor teacher, Elia, is amazing and has taken me under her wing right from the first moment. She calls me her "hijo" which she enjoys since all of her children have moved to Panama City. A much appreciated "rent-a-mom" for my time down here.
Well classes begin at the University tomorrow and I should be asleep by now, pues, buenas noches amigos!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Made it to David!
Just wanted to check in and tell you all that after a 7 hour bus ride, I have made it safely to David. I am staying in a hostel right now that is awesome--AC, free wifi, cable TV, a pool all for $12 a night, not bad! The best part is a great seafood restaurant (tiny, but very good) is within about 10 steps of the hostel. So maybe I'll take my time with this whole "finding a place to live" thing after all.
I've only been here for a few hours, but it's clear that it's a whole different world here compared to Panama City. David is a small, more rural town, not as many honk-obsessed taxis, but still has a bunch of universities so it should be a nice place. Very excited, just wanted to check in and let you guys know oficialmente, estoy en David.
I've only been here for a few hours, but it's clear that it's a whole different world here compared to Panama City. David is a small, more rural town, not as many honk-obsessed taxis, but still has a bunch of universities so it should be a nice place. Very excited, just wanted to check in and let you guys know oficialmente, estoy en David.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Week 1: Panama City
Well, there's nothing like a week of vacation in a place like Panama City to get you acclimated to a new country and culture. All in all, that's basically what these past 8 days have been--a relaxing, hot vacation. And I can't tell you or thank Libby (the other Fulbright ETA here in Panama) enough for taking me in this first week and introducing me to the nuances of Panama's unique culture. I'm lucky to come down here to a familiar face and get used to the country and its people somewhat--something Libby unfortunately didn't have the opportunity to do. I'm sure I will be feeling more of how she felt when she first got here when I finally get into David tomorrow, but to this point, its been smooth sailing. (aka if you're reading this hoping to find typical, absurd "Drew stories" or tales of me wandering the streets begging people for a place to live, skip the rest of this and just come back for my next post.)
If you are still reading, that means you like me and not just hoping for horror stories...thank you. Anyways, this week has been great. The first full day I was here, I was lucky enough to meet the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, the Minister of Education in Panama and Panama City's main Univerisity's President. Quite a day and hopefully indicative of things to come. This was all at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new English Language Immersion Program that a Fulbright Fellow (Christine, another friend down here) has co-created.
The next day, Libby and I made our way to the Panama Canal. I have been reading a book about the history behind the canal for a while now (really long book) which gave me an appreciation for what I was looking at that I wouldnt have otherwise had. Although the "museum" was pretty underwhelming, and I'm still unsure how the U.S. gets 0 profit from this canal anymore after basically building the whole thing (they said Panama grosses about $400,000 a day from it), it was an incredible experience.
The past 5 or so days have been "Carnaval" here--a huge festival/celebration in the streets that is celebrated all throughout Panama and all throughout Latin America. What I have summed it up as is a week long tailgate with a little more dancing at night. Here in Panama City, (not as crazy as other parts of Panama from what I've been told) a long street is blocked off with people walking or dancing along it, lots of drinking and music (mucho reggaeton) and kids squirting squirt guns or throwing confetti on you (or, in my case, straight into my face.) But the whole city pretty much shuts down from the 4th to the 8th including schools and bars--pretty wild.
Yesterday, Libby, Christine and I took a ferry to a small, quaint town and beach on Taboga Island. Some great views along the way and I liked the island itself. The picture here is of the town on Taboga. I thought it was a fine beach, yet was warned continually that its a terrible beach compared to the rest in Panama....I'll take that as an encouraging sign to say the least.
So, over my week here in Panama City, I've done some really fun things, met many good, interesting people (both Panamanian and American), and have tried to pick up as much as I can of the Panamanian Spanish and culture--truthfully, just been living the tourist's life so far. I make my trek to the country side of Panama by taking a 7 hour bus ride to David tomorrow. I'm excited and ready as I'll ever be. Bueno, hasta pronto mis amigos y ¡que te vaya bien!
If you are still reading, that means you like me and not just hoping for horror stories...thank you. Anyways, this week has been great. The first full day I was here, I was lucky enough to meet the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, the Minister of Education in Panama and Panama City's main Univerisity's President. Quite a day and hopefully indicative of things to come. This was all at a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new English Language Immersion Program that a Fulbright Fellow (Christine, another friend down here) has co-created.
The past 5 or so days have been "Carnaval" here--a huge festival/celebration in the streets that is celebrated all throughout Panama and all throughout Latin America. What I have summed it up as is a week long tailgate with a little more dancing at night. Here in Panama City, (not as crazy as other parts of Panama from what I've been told) a long street is blocked off with people walking or dancing along it, lots of drinking and music (mucho reggaeton) and kids squirting squirt guns or throwing confetti on you (or, in my case, straight into my face.) But the whole city pretty much shuts down from the 4th to the 8th including schools and bars--pretty wild.
Yesterday, Libby, Christine and I took a ferry to a small, quaint town and beach on Taboga Island. Some great views along the way and I liked the island itself. The picture here is of the town on Taboga. I thought it was a fine beach, yet was warned continually that its a terrible beach compared to the rest in Panama....I'll take that as an encouraging sign to say the least.
So, over my week here in Panama City, I've done some really fun things, met many good, interesting people (both Panamanian and American), and have tried to pick up as much as I can of the Panamanian Spanish and culture--truthfully, just been living the tourist's life so far. I make my trek to the country side of Panama by taking a 7 hour bus ride to David tomorrow. I'm excited and ready as I'll ever be. Bueno, hasta pronto mis amigos y ¡que te vaya bien!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Panama Eve
Well, after months of anticipation, the time for my journey to Panama has finally arrived. Tomorrow, I fly down to the country where I will live for the next 10 months on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. In a few weeks, classes will start at the university where I will be working: La Universidad Autonoma de Chiriqui in David, Panama. Until then, it is time to explore, get a feel for the culture, and find a place to live.
What I know: what university I'll be working at, the city I'm going to live in, some background history on the Panama Canal, and 1 person 7 hours away.
What I don't know: anybody within 7 hours, almost anything about Panama besides the Canal, where I'm going to live in the city, what exactly my responsibilities will be at the university, how big their spiders really are, and basically everything else.
So feel free to follow me on this blog throughout my time down in Panama as I'll update you on this search for answers with stories, pictures and videos. Take care and love you all.
What I know: what university I'll be working at, the city I'm going to live in, some background history on the Panama Canal, and 1 person 7 hours away.
What I don't know: anybody within 7 hours, almost anything about Panama besides the Canal, where I'm going to live in the city, what exactly my responsibilities will be at the university, how big their spiders really are, and basically everything else.
So feel free to follow me on this blog throughout my time down in Panama as I'll update you on this search for answers with stories, pictures and videos. Take care and love you all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)