the first day of school

so today was the first day after winter break for everyone.  and my first day actually in the school where i'll be teaching.  it was a bit of a madhouse, as registration hadn't really been sorted out, no one had schedules or class rosters, and there were bunches of new kids, and scores of parents waiting in line to shout at the principal about some complaint or another.  we're off to an exciting start, though!

i have heard that most english teachers at public schools in colombia don't actually speak english.  at all.  i found that pretty hard to believe--how could someone whose job it is to teach a language be unable to converse or even string together a sentence in said language?  especially considering that the colombian ministry of education has deemed english a mandatory subject.  what i saw today, however, did little to disprove the rumors.

the kids seem very enthusiastic about learning english, though.  i sat in on a 5th grade class while they tried to sort out the roster, and the gossip spread that i was the new english teacher.  the kids crowded around me and buried me in a flurry of "¿cómo se dice?"s, asking how to say everything from "glasses" and "triangle" to "assassin" and "1,865,399."  a pair of particularly inquisitive boys asked:

"¿cómo se dice amor en inglés?"
"él solo quiere saber porque está enamorado de ti"
"¡ay, no!" a scuffle ensued as he chased his accuser across the soccer field.

i giggled as they were quickly replaced by a dozen other students clamoring to learn other random words in english.  a pert, pigtailed little girl pushed the front, grabbed my hand and announced "hello my name is marcela how are you bye!" and ran off.  i hope they maintain this linguistic enthusiasm, even when the shiny newness wears off and the homework and grammar drills roll in.  i made a mental note to teach them "how do you say ___ in english" in english during their first lesson, and to institute an "i'll tell you but only if you repeat it with me three times" rule.  but for now i was just happy that they were excited.

several of the teachers invited me to go for coffee with them over break, and we had a good chat, much of which i understood.  they seem quite sweet, and this is helping to quell some of my fears that all the teachers would hate me because i live with the principal. 

i was shadowing a teacher later in the day, and as we passed the registrar, i tried to make conversation by asking her something vague like "what are the students like?"  i had inadvertently opened a can of worms, i found, as she began explaining:

"well, they are hard.  you see, the students here have some problems.  mostly they are very poor, and we have many who are rebellious and undisciplined.  lots of them have problems at home, maybe they were kicked out of the house or ran away because of domestic violence, maybe they just live with a brother or grandmother or something.  some are here because they were kicked out of other schools. and then of course, a lot of them are the Displaced, they had to flee the villages and come here to bogotá to escape the fighting with the rebels and paramilitaries.  so yes, they... they are not easy to teach."

i looked out across the schoolyard where the students were playing soccer, gossiping, playing tag, swinging on the goal posts, flirting, chasing old tires down a slope, sharing their crackers, peering through the windows of the classrooms.  they seemed no different than any other students.  perhaps a little rowdier than those i'd seen at the uppity private schools in the north.  but pretty much the same.  in fact, the first word that came to mind when i saw them was not "war-affected-population" but "hogwarts."

because of the poverty of many of the students in the public schools, the government instituted a uniform policy to try to reduce stealing and socioeconomic class-related bullying.  though students still find ways to assert their class--from the hipness of their haircuts to where they bought their backpacks--i guess it's worked to some degree. at any rate, the result is a schoolyard full of hundreds of kids in maroon v-neck sweaters and grey trousers or pleated skirts and stockings.  just like a bunch of hogwarts students.  hogwarts students that are academically way behind and come from very rough backgrounds.

in conclusion, i think this pretty much sums up my day: