estar flexible.

estar flexible.
27 Enero 2011

so, ive been all gung-ho about getting back into work after early IST - and i seemed to have forgotten how hard it is to get things going in my site. normally things are tough, but they are even tougher now that it’s rainy season - my lovely, little, sleepy town has gotten even sleepier.

my socia previously forewarned me that she was going to be pretty busy until next week, so we planned on meeting when she comes back from Chiclayo, to discuss our game plan for recruiting people in the community for our banco comunitario project. i spent most of the day before yesterday preparing for this meeting, so ill be ready with my concrete ideas when she comes back to Catache. check - done!

my emprendimiento juvenil class (entrepreneurship class) for the kids of Catache was supposed to start at 3pm today. i had a meeting with the director of the colegio yesterday morning, and i spent the rest of the day preparing for the first day of class. well, that fell through. the director came by my house this afternoon (2 hours before my class was to start) to tell me that im going to have to wait until next thursday to start my class, because of a teacher workshop. ugh! so, i spent the rest of today reformatting my class schedule.

im finding that my job requires a lot of doing - redoing - and more redoing of things. “be flexible!” - one of the things peace corps tells you from the beginning… they aren’t kidding.

on a brighter note, i was selected to bring a professor from my site to attend an english teaching seminar in Lima mid-february. it is going to be held at the embassy, and im super excited! ive previously worked with the english professor of the colegio in his classes to provide a cultural exchange for the students and to help strengthen the english program that the colegio currently has in place. i think he will benefit greatly from a program that concentrates on teaching methods instead of simply english instruction.

his role at the colegio puts him in a prime position to affect a large number of students. el colegio de san agustín is the only secondary school in my community, making it the only place to receive advanced education. because of this, a large number of rural students from surrounding caseríos walk for miles to attend classes there. the entire community will benefit greatly from a new strategy for effectively teaching english, and im super excited for the opportunity!

so that is where i am in my projects and endeavors. i have some exciting things coming up - but in the meantime, im planning, waiting, and being “flexible!”