Mis Alumnos

I should tell you something about my class. We meet in Aula 8, a very small classroom. Our teacher is Irma, she is from Puebla and I think she´s about 30. She is very animated and encouraging and manages the class well. Not too stuck on following an exact curriculum, but still maintaining a direction for us.

There are 6 of us in class:

Malcolm is from Singapore, he will be working in Monterey, Mexico beginning in September. We works for a company with offices world wide. He is a business and finance manager, Spanish is his 4th langauge. He is in his 20´s, an only child, and a gentle giant of a man. He likes to play rugby.

Poyon (pooh-yawn) is an ESL and English teacher at a middle school in Indianapolis, IN. Her family is Persian, and farsi is her first langage. She is in her early 30´s. She has studied other languages as well and is well traveled. Indianapolis is the town she grew up in.

Erica is applying to complete her Doctorate in some sort of Social Work. One of the schools she has applied to is in Venezuela. She is from California, LA, I think. She has done a whole lot of traveling since she turned 18, and is 24 now, living off of student loans she says. Her parents are Chinese.

Adam is 20, he is from Texas. His 16 yr old brother, Graff, is here with him. They are staying with family friends in Chalula. Adam is a Christian, loves rock climbing, and has an eclectic sense of preferences in music and movies. I think he would have alot in common with Daniel and his friends.

Mackie is from Arizona, she has been here for more than one term, and will be staying longer. She is 22 I think, and from a close family. Her mom will be coming to visit and attend the Institute soon.

Everyone other than me will be staying the whole term (4 weeks). I understand there is an awesome dinner party at the end---sort of a gradation, that I will miss. I´m sure my choice of 3 weeks is the right one. I am learning about as much as I can digest, and I will be ready to come home July 11th.

We are all quite different, but seem to be a cohesive group. I am 20 years older than everyone, and the only one married---and by far the least comfortable with travel, etc. But they are all kind and encouraging to me. We do laugh quite a bit.
Today we were working on Reflexive verbs, it was frustrating for all of us. It doesn´t really translate into English, so it is difficult to make sense of it and apply the pronouns correctly. We wound up playing a game of Memory using Verbs as the cards---then conjugating the matches into the Preterite form (past tense) Doesn´t that sound like fun? It actually broke the tension and was a good break from the struggle.

Each week we have a guia (guide) for the conversational part of our schooling. Last week I had Miriam, and this week Eli, both are University students and Poblanas (natives of Puebla) with great creativity to keep conversations going with a gringa of limited abilities. I´ve enjoyed working with them both and very grateful for their help---tho I really have no idea where we´ve gone about town. When I´m concentration on listening, comprehending and speaking, not much else gets noticed!!