The program begins! (La programa empieza!)

After a long day of traveling (not only did I have a four hour layover in Atlanta, but I was surprised with a four hour delay on top of that - half of which took place on the first plane we were supposed to take), I arrived in Managua (the capital of Nicaragua) late Wednesday night. Kellan and Yacareli (the coordinators of the Enlace Project) picked me up from the airport and took me back to Yacareli's mom's house in Managua. I stayed the night there and got up the next morning for a delicious breakfast, my first Spanish lesson, and shopping for materials for the workshop. Later that afternoon, I hopped on a bus to El Sauce which took about 3 and a half hours. Need for Speed was playing in Spanish so I got to practice my listening a bit. Then, a myriad of Spanish "music videos" were played at full blast. Much to my surprise, the videos switched over to 90's pop music featuring Savage Garden, the Verve, and "Mariah Carey." When I arrived in El Sauce, I met my host family and had dinner. They are a very nice family! The mother, Sara, is a nurse and a great cook. The father, Juan Carlos, has a Master's in sustainable agriculture and is taking over as coordinator of the Enlace Project. He has been learning English, so we both stumble over our words as we practice each other's language. Their son, Jose Carlos, is in 6th grade and will be representing his community at the national Math Olympiads competition next week - smart kid and he speaks a bit of English, too!  I haven't gotten a chance to talk to the daughter much, but she is 15 and enjoys listening to American music. They have a parakeet, a Doberman-black lab mix named Negro, and a cat. 

This morning, I woke up bright and early (5am) to catch a bus out to the first school I visited in Valle San Antonio (a small community outside El Sauce). Luzvelia, my translator, accompanied me, and I observed 3 English and 2 Spanish classes taught by one teacher. He is one of the teachers that will be attending my training next week. There were many students at the school, but apparently there were a lot less than usual, as several students do not attend on Fridays. The students ranged from 1st grade on up through 11th (5th year of secondary school for them). The resources at the school are limited to desks, a few posters, and a whiteboard. There are so many classes that some were held outside - which proved to be very distracting for those students as others were having recess at the same time. It wasn't clear to me whether it was a scheduled recess or that their teacher did not show up. Regardless, I had a difficult time hearing the teacher at times, and he was having difficulty keeping the students' attention. The students did a lot of copying down notes from the whiteboard and from the teacher's oration, and most of them wrote very well. One class was given an opportunity to work in groups to come up with sentences in English. Others focused mainly on writing the sentences or vocabulary. The challenges these teachers face have much more of an impact than what I encounter on a daily basis, and they work hard to keep their students engaged and learning despite those challenges. The lack of resources, space, and materials are enough to challenge any seasoned teacher, yet these teachers are doing their best with what they have. I admire their ability to manage such a large class with such little experience and few resources. In general, the kids were doing their work, writing neatly, and behaving well. The biggest area I see for improvement is student participation. 

On a side note, on the bus to Valle, the bus driver was telling Luz how he really wanted to take English classes. His daughter moved to the United States and married an American who doesn't speak Spanish. The driver wants to be able to communicate with his new son-in-law, and he understands the value of knowing English in the workplace. There is such a high demand for acquiring English language skills here, but the teachers don't have a whole of training, support, or materials in order to teach it. I look forward to doing the little bit I will be able to accomplish while I am down here to help these teachers develop some strategies and prepare some materials and activities to teach their students.