First Test

            Now that I have been to both schools, I have seen that the other children are indeed somewhat more of a challenge to organize and teach. The teacher seems unconcerned when the children come and go as they please, when they yell, and even when one of the boys climbed onto a desk. I am finding that the school culture is simply much different from what I grew up with in the States, and especially in Bellevue I'm sure. For example, today we gave the children an English test. (We made the test ourselves with my rudimentary drawing skills) We were warned that the children would try to cheat, and to be strict about monitoring them based on the test they took a few weeks ago. However, telling the children beforehand that cheating would not be allowed,and that there would be no talking during the test greatly reduced the problems we had. Almost every child asked me for answers, and I had to tell them that I couldn't say, to do their best. A couple girls took out their notebooks (which were empty), but I had to remind them to put everything else away. All of these are basic testing rules drilled into us from Kindergarten, and I wondered if this was the first time the children were given a test, or if their ideas about testing were in fact so different. This also makes me wonder how students are placed into their grade level. Since they differ so much in age, are students being held back? Are the younger ones moved forward every year based on their education level or some unknown factor? There are many questions I have in regards to the Nicaraguan education system, but I expect that it differs greatly across the nation.

This is the test we made, by a girl who did quite well!

          Disparity has been a common theme during my stay here. This was especially striking as I stood overlooking the balcony of a resort (the Chocolate Museum, which is also a hotel) down into the clear blue water and reclining pool chairs, while on the other side of the balcony, only a wall away, I looked down on grey concrete and rusted metal roofs interspersed with discolored clothing hanging on a line (dryers seem to be rare and are thus SO expensive). I realized that on this stay I have seen the most impoverished places I have ever seen, while also entering more posh and luxurious resorts than ever in my life.

This is one of the ducks that were swimming around the pool with us. I had mixed feelings about that.

In other news, I had not expected my race to be such a significant factor in how people treated me. Men yell "chinita" at me wherever I go (little Asian girl. Which I guess I get in the U.S. as well, but not blatantly yelled at me) They will just yell it at me so suddenly it's like they're just excited to be able to know what I am. While few of the volunteers are American (mostly European) there are almost no people of other races. I am also surprised that so few people know that America has a fair amount of diversity. Both the children, and even an older Swiss couple, were surprised to hear that we were American and said things like "But you don't look American!" As Matt says, that's why education is important.

Thankfully, in general people have been very kind, helpful, and honest. While I would guess that my grammar is rarely correct, people usually understand what I am trying to say. Gesturing has helped, and sometimes I simply say the word of what I want or am looking for, and people understand to give me directions, bring me what I need, etc. The vocabulary is quickly coming back and is easy to pick up, it is just forming the sentences that can be a challenge! The accent here can be difficult because people tend to cut their words short and drop the "s". We've noticed that Spanish must be a more efficient language, because people speak it at least twice as fast. But in general, the thirteen years of studying have not been completely in vain :)

Here's a cute clip that will hopefully upload.