“Lend a hand, make the most of every moment, respect each other, take responsibility, care for others, come to class prepared to discuss and be engaged, be enthusiastic, encourage others, be flexible, take off your blinders and don't yuck on my yum!” These are a few of our “community standards” the girls created for our group, we then drew each thought as we interpreted them, and in the end 20 prayer flags are now flying in the wind at our Hacienda, we will carry them where-ever we roam and strive to live by them. This gives us a way to talk about what matters, referring back to these words and phrases when we feel we have lost the essence of what this time has to offer us. How do you stay present and intentional during this duration, how do you hold love and respect for home, and continue to live present here? It is ever changing, and never easy, life on the road is challenging, but it requires of us intention and authenticity! Together we will facilitate conversation and motivate action to stay in this moment. From the depths of these bonds much will arise although the goal is to have created a connection that will allow trust and comfort for all to express themselves as they wish.
As the chorus goes, it really does seem like we have known each other for ever, although we have barely been in this country together a week. We have diligently processed what it means to be apart of this school, the expectations and opportunities, and the way our classes and activities are different than schools back home. We as teachers engage with our curriculum and seek to open the walls of every class to encompass what is around us. Today our history class will be a tour of the Hacienda we have been staying in. The property owner Diego will speak to us about the encomienda industry, instilled by the invasion of the Spanish with catholic fervor, and proselytized language to boot, the total re-writing of the indigenous people and land of Ecuador. This class will be followed up in our class tomorrow which will take place in Quito, sifting through the nooks and crannies of the Old Town section filled with Boroque cathedrals and museums. We will climb to the top of the highest church, looking at the city from a different perspective; this is where we have starting our dialogue with this class... never take one perspective as truth, keep researching different interpretations, and especially search past the history written by conquerors. This class will take place in conjunction with our Spanish classes, as our joint curriculum will stress conversations with individuals passing through the “Square of Indepencia”. The girls are just starting to wipe the sleep from their eyes from the years of traditional schooling, when History was lectures and tests, given by an unenthusiastic preacher-man, when Literature was simply summarizing what you read in a book that may not have pertained to you, or when math was a lost-in-translation scramble of numbers.. here we strive to wake them up and meet the world which created these subjects in the first place!
My hardest sticking point: Spanish! It eats at my soul to not be able to make the connections and jovial relationships with the people surrounding us, helping us, guiding us, taking care of us, driving us, directing us. Not being able to communicate with other humans kills me. I'm slowly getting over my hesitancy and shyness of putting my words together, its magic when you are able to communicate, even a little bit, but sometimes I hold myself back from this! My goal is to push myself, to learn, although it is hard, one of the hardest obstacles I have come up against in my travels. I new lesson, a new adventure, this time – with language.
Much love to home!
