All-Star Volunteers

Nothing was ready on Day 1, including the sign.

After a week of planning and organizing, the first day and first week of school was upon us! Day One of classes brought… chaos at Ometepe Bilingual School.  Seems there was a teachers' meeting at the public school in the village, so Ruth (kindergarten), Julia (1st grade) and Bex! took off, leaving yours truly with twenty-someodd kids and six volunteers and no idea what was happening.  Granted, it wouldn't have been much better had there been no meeting - it's Nicaragua, remember.  NO ONE knew what was happening the first day.

It was great for Bex! and for our presence in the community.  She met the principal, who pulls double duty as the head administrator for all the Merida schools, as well as the schools in nearby San Ramon and Tichana.  She also met the secondary school English teacher.  For the first time since being in Central America, Bex! felt a chill in the air from the cool response she got from this guy.  He didn't seem thrilled that we were here.  We are certainly not competing with him.  We're here to back up what he's teaching the high schoolers in his twice weekly English sessions.  Methinks he wants nothing to do with that.  Oh well - we're teaching our own curriculum!  So there!

And - yeah! - I used 'methinks' in a sentence!  I'm a badass English teacher.

As it turned out, we had seven volunteers (!) to kick off the year.  Five were scheduled and two others were visiting Merida, liked what they saw and decided to help out.  It was truly fantastic, especially since things were a little chaotic to start!  The Ministry of Education was late, like every other year, publishing the school calendar.  No one knew for sure when school started, which is hard to believe and then again, not so much.  In the US, we know where and when the next six Super Bowls are being played but in Nicaragua, no one knew when the first day of school would be.  A cultural difference, to be sure.

Charter schools like the Ometepe Bilingual School depend on volunteers to make it work.  There is no full-time English instructor, at least not yet.  The teachers for the kindergarten and first grade are wonderful.  Ruth (K) and Julia (1st) teach the regular Nicaraguan school curriculum and it was up to us, sans volunteers, to keep English lessons rolling on a regular basis, this to fulfill the ‘bilingual’ part of the school’s mission.  As I said before, our primary goal is to teach the adults and high school students in the village and help coordinate the volunteers at OBS.  In between volunteer visits, however, we would cover English with the kiddies.  When volunteers are here it frees us up to work on our other objectives.  Less work for us!  Yes, selfishly, we like volunteers for our own personal reasons!!

Fortunately for us, all seven of them were rock stars of the highest order.  Let’s start with our hometown faves – Liz and Evan.  They hail from beautiful Aurora, OR, USA – just a little south of our home town of Portland.  It was fun to get to talk to visitors from home!  Liz is a teacher at a small school in Aurora and her son, Evan, was entering high school.  They had taken a couple of months to travel in Central America – learn Spanish, soak up the culture, enjoy the experience.  They had taken lessons at a Spanish language school in Altagracia, one of the two ‘big’ towns on Isla de Ometepe.  They had decided to break up their scheduled time there so took some time in between their two weeks of Spanish school to visit our village and were staying at Hacienda Merida.  

Guests at the hotel typically end up talking to each other and this is how we met Liz and Evan.  Alvaro had told them about us and us about them, so it was simply a matter of picking them out of the crowd and introducing ourselves.  Liz was intrigued with the school, so agreed to lend her expertise to OBS and relieve us of some of the chaos.  Having worked for a law office in the past, Liz was able to help develop and refine many documents, providing the proper note of professionalism and many syllabled words to create some serious street creed, yo.  Word. 

Evan was a willing and able participant, as well – rolling with the punches and helping out wherever he was needed.  This young man definitely could be teacher material if he chooses that path.  We were extremely grateful for the calm approach Liz brought to the tasks she undertook.  The only bad part of her visit to Merida is that we never had a chance to delve deeper into her time working as a… private detective!!  Yeah, that’s right.  

Liz – You can be sure we are looking you up when we get back to Oregon!  We'll meet at the
White Rabbit Bakery for coffee and pastries!!  

Hey, most of the signs are pointed the right way.
Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue photographers don't have this much trouble

Next up for All-Star status is Kelly.  K-E-L-L-Y!  GooooOOOOO, Kelly!!  Visiting Merida all the way from Canada with her hubby and two children, she brought some serious skills to the beginning of the school year.  With her background as a counselor and children's social worker, she was able to work on many of the admin things that the school so desperately needed - documenting volunteer agreements, school philosophy, expectations for the volunteers, class schedules, etc.  Kelly and Liz worked on this major project and did some incredible work!  They were the Dynamic Duo!!

Last but certainly not least, we had four volunteers from Switzerland!  This group was sent to the school through P.I.E.C.E.S., a 'student-driven social initiative focusing on children's education in developing countries'.  The Swiss (as we affectionately called them even though two of them are German) are enrolled at the University of St. Gallen.  'Full of energy' is an understatement!  They added a serious amount of fun to the craziness of the first weeks.  Theresa, Ella, Théo and Chris were incredible!  They tirelessly worked with the kindergarten and first grade; Theresa single-handedly managed the 7-10 year olds' English enhancement classes; Chris and Theo even taught French to the adults; Ella spent her time trying to figure out a way to take a couple of the kids home with her.  These four were amazing and we had such a great time getting to know them.  Plus, Chris looks a LOT like Justin Bieber but I promised him I wouldn't mention that in this blog.  So, of course, I won't mention that Chris looks a LOT like Justin Bieber.  In fact, Justin Chris and I hit it off so well, there was a serious bromance happening.  It's probably best they left when they did.  (sigh)

Ella:  "I promise I'll only take one kid home!"

(l-r) Théo, Chris, Ruth, Fabiola partying fireside at Playa Gringo

Chris, Theresa, me, Bex! dancing at the fiesta after the bull riding competition

We had fun mentoring The Swiss and they were eager to learn from us, as well.  We were venerated, treated like wise professors, providing them with insights into life and learning.  Phhhppphhht!  Yeah - right.  Between the four of them and my wife, I was literally out-smarted.  Why, until we met these folks, I had never gotten drunk on Toña and Flor de Caña then gone swimming at 1 AM in my boxers.

Who is that big first grader?!