I am working as an English teacher with a micro lending group, EnVia (http://www.envia.org). This week, I am visiting the two pueblos (towns) that offer English classes. Tomorrow I will go to Teotitlan del Valle, a weaving town I have visited several times in the past. Today, I went to Tlacochahuaya, a town known for its garlic (ajo) and other agricultural products. About a twenty-minute ride out of Centro Oaxaca, Tlacochahuaya (which means in the wet land) is an attractive farming community.
The English classes are offered in an old elementary school building, near a market that closes before we arrive in the late afternoon. We need to wait for someone to come and unlock the doors, and he comes when he comes. As we sit waiting in the light rain, we chat with the students. I introduce myself to as many as I can and carefully pronounce the unfortunate “H” my name begins with, a problem for most Spanish speakers. (This afternoon, I even consider making a new name for myself for Mexico; I could choose something that is clearer, easier — for all of us, but it is too late. I am already Heather.)
There are three levels of classes most of the time, and, though I initially went to observe, I had the fortune to work with Jane (the maestra/teacher) and the youngest students (eight to eleven, or so). The students were full of energy and enjoyed hearing us sing out the ABCs in English. As we wrote the alphabet on the board, some thought we forgot the n with the tilde, so we had to explain that there are fewer letters in the English alphabet (no ll, no n with the tilde, no rr, and no ch). One student counted the letters a couple of times, incredulous that letters could be missing from an alphabet.
Rambunctious, they wanted to play with the language, take it outside and have some fun with it, so we headed outdoors to play a game they call Captain (a version of a game called Captain’s Coming, I think). A mix between Simon Says and Marco Polo (without a pool), Captain involves the nouns: fish and shark; the verbs: run, walk, salute, swim, jump; and the directions: left and right (as directions one runs). If the captain, the person pointing to and yelling out the words, says “fish,” everyone crouches near the ground as rapidly as possible; the last one is out. If the captain says, “shark,” some squeal as all players still in the game run to the left side and up a step out of the play area. Again, the slowest is out. The game progresses until there is only one player remaining; he or she becomes the next captain.
I can hardly wait for more tomorrow.
shewhodaresnothing 