For every person who wants to teach there are approximately thirty people who don't want to learn. - W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. ~Donald D. Quinn

So it's been way too long since my last post. There are several reasons for this. One being that I got crazy sick last week. I started with stomach cramps, a sore throat, and a headache on Sunday the 31st.... progressed to a 102.5 fever and the chills on Monday.... and continued on to have cronic diarrhea and digestive troubles for the whole rest of the week. On the positive side, I seem to be almost completely better and may even have lost a few pounds. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that since i have experienced just about every problem possible, hopefully I have eliminated the chance of getting them in the future. Probably completely untrue, but I can hope!

I started actually teaching last week, as well (which was challenging considering my health troubles). It has been a very interesting experience. The kids know absolutely no English, and my Colombian co-teacher (who is employed as an English teacher) is honestly right behind them. This makes lesson-planning together particularly challenging. Furthermore, each class has between 40 and 50 students. (here are some of their shining faces, looking deceptively well-behaved) Picture 50 ten year olds, in a classroom, in the heat, without a computer or a TV, without any knowledge of the subject, and without the ability to print and distribute worksheets. What do you do with them, you might ask? I ask myself the same question every single day. So far, I have given a diagnostic test to check their abilities (a waste of time because they all cheated off each other), taught the ABCs, worked through a paragraph about my family, and started common classroom commands. There were some songs thrown in there, as well as a few games, but so far I haven't tried to be too ambitious. However, it is before Carnaval.

Carnaval in Colombia is a huge deal. The school shuts down for a few days (Feb 12-16), the whole school puts on a huge parade (more on that to come), and learning fails to occur. In fact, serious classes and serious learning does not even start until after Carnaval. The schedule isn't even finalized. I never knew which kids I would see on any given day or whether I would be doing it alone or with my coteacher. Teaching without a coteacher is also particularly challenging. Most teachers discipline and maintain order by yelling, and oddly enough, a small gringo who speaks broken Spanish just does not seem to gain the same order and respect as a Colombian one. If I can keep them interested, I am golden. However, if it is the end of the day or they are already insane to start with, it is all over. And since teachers do not wait for a replacement before leaving the classroom, most classes are left completely unsupervised, and thus out of control, awaiting my arrival. Every day is an adventure. However, with Carnaval this weekend , it will be interesting to see if any of that changes at all after the festivities are over. I'm excited to see.

However, despite all the insanity that surrounds teaching English in Colombia, I really do love it. The kids are just adorable. They run to greet you every day, kiss you on the cheek, hug you, spout out any English they know, and shower you with presents. When I leave a classroom, I may depart with any number of new possessions, including food, drinks, action figures, drawings, or love notes. Walking in the hallways, I hear a chorus of "Teacher!" "Profe!" "Good morning!" "Thank you!" whatever they can think of to get my attention. I get hugs from smiling kids, many of whom I don't even know or teach. They want to eat with you, talk with you, learn from you (just not in the classroom). If any of us sits down by the snackbar at snack time, we will inevitably end up surrounded by children, listening to us talk and trying to join in. I love it. Now if I could just channel that enthusiasm into the classroom, life will be grand.....