Big things

My time here in Montevideo has been going really well. I've been having wonderful conversations with students and teachers, sharing what I can about the US and learning everything I can about Uruguay. It's becoming clear to me, though, just how little time I have left. It's practically September already, and I leave in November.

So I want to get started with some more ambitious projects. Even if I can't finish them, the important thing is that someone might be inspired to keep working with these ideas in the future.

What really interests me is the concept of doing things voluntarily rather than it being an obligation. I've already talked a good deal about literature and music in this way, trying to incorporate stories and songs so as to motivate students to want to learn. My favorite source for these kinds of ideas is Philip Pullman.

OK, so that can help people develop as individuals, but what about on a larger scale? And what about doing something more hands-on? One of my previous jobs was with City Year Boston, a non-profit organization whose motto is 'Putting Idealism to Work.' We tutored students in schools and did murals and other projects in the community.

The proximity of many ciclo basico and segundo ciclo liceos here makes me think students tutoring other students could be practical. I am still finding out how to get started, though.

So far, the best organization I know of here is Un techo para mi pais, but I'm sure there are others. And even brainstorming with students, we can come up with lots of ways to get involved.

Astronauts and Interior Designers

School 36, or IBO (for Instituto Batlle Ordonez), is where you'll find me on Fridays.

This past week there was another special guest to entertain Beatriz' students--the IBO's own Julio Pereyra, naval officer, NASA scholar, and native of Rocha's rural lighthouses. He's inviting me and the other Fulbrighters I'm living with to come visit his home in September.

The kids were jealous. What they do for fun is pretend to be surveying people downtown about their opinions on love. On Friday afternoons they even come back to school during their free time to have English conversation with an American and an astronomy teacher.

Here we are at Liceo 18--Gabriela, Flavia, me, Maria Julia, Fabiana, and Estela.

I shared with them some of the topics from the symposium I attended on Saturday. Among the things we talked about:

Laura Flores' ideas about subjectivity, using stories and visual arts to "open up the exchange of experiences, values and emotions that are at the centre of our educational duties"
Maria Noel Taranto's great singing voice, and all of our talents, which imply "a responsibility for us that goes far beyond the safety of the syllabus"
The field trips students can go on, since they're so close to the Blanes museum and the park
The plays they have at a British cultural center, where everyone is a native speaker
The plays they used to have at the house which is now the Museum of Memory, how scary they were
How bad lion bones smell after awhile
How hard it is to take pictures with newfangled phones
How I am more like a cheerleader than a teacher

Rah-rah-rah!

My first class visit was to Mariella's group right after our meeting time at school 59. The only picture I thought of taking was of this desk, but oh well, it was a great time all the same. They introduced themselves, and some of them told me their nicknames, and I played some music by Bruce Springsteen, my favorite musician. They wanted to know how to dance to it--when I tried to show them the way I would dance to it, they laughed at me. They also had organized a soccer tournament to go along with the World Cup, but I'd just missed it. Some of the students, in full track suit regalia, were bigger than me. They were all way cooler than I was at that age. I'll try to take a better picture if I get invited back again.