After conversation class today, I headed straight to Tlacochahuaya for a tour by Jose Luis, one of the uncles of one of our students. He met us at the crucero (highway crossing) right after we got off the bus. It was nice to get in the back of a vehicle driven by someone we were familiar with. Our first stop was the market and the school where we teach. Usually the market is closed by the time we arrive, but we were two hours early and had a chance to talk with the people selling vegetables, fruits, and copal. They did not know about the English classes, and, while we were still looking at the produce, they were on the phone telling family members about the classes. We then crossed the street to the carniceria and picked up a couple of tacos dorados (taquitos) covered in beans and lettuce.
We headed out of the town, through the corn and squash fields, toward a beautiful building known as the Hacienda de la Virgen de Guadalupe, a two-hundred-year-old building that is now owned by a couple from San Francisco who invite art students during the summers to learn from the traditional Oaxacan artists. We saw the beautiful grounds of this Hacienda and the studio where the artists work and exhibit.
Then, we headed back to the town. Around the Escual Bilingue y Intercultural, we came across a man carrying two giant bags of green beans (ejote). He whistled for Jose Luis to stop. He hurled his two large bags into the back of the truck and joined us for a ride back into town. Along the way, we saw a couple of other trucks and as many burro-drawn carriages.
With the clock ticking (we needed to start teaching at 4), we headed to Jose Luis’s workshop to see his loom, his wife’s smaller loom, some of his and his wife’s work, and to have some lemonade (minus the sugar). We talked about how there was more of the town to see: the organic produce place (Tierra del Sol), the Iglesia de San Geronimo (the Church of San Geronimo) and the giant organ and refurbished floor in this church, and other places. Jose Luis said we had just experienced the first part of the tour, and we would need to return again early for the rest.
During class, we had a short break. While many of the students were playing on the swings, one boy, Gerardo, began yelling: Toro, toro. A bull was loose on the basketball court, and a man in a blue truck had a rope around its neck, but it had long horns and would run at him. The bull finally ran down the road with the blue truck racing after it. I tried to get Gerardo to come to class; how would I explain that he was gored during English? He did not want to leave the drama of the chase and would have trailed after the toro if he could have… One of the teachers said, I want to see these kids in ten years from now. I agree.
During class, we practiced acquiring new nouns. We have fruits and vegetables down. We still need a bit more work on animals, but we are coming along. After the excitement of the tour earlier in the afternoon, bull, and a double rainbow as class ended, I decided that Wednesday we are going to head out on a walk around town. Two of the girls, upon seeing the rainbow said: “Arcoiris. How do you say this in English.” I was happy to be asked for a word. “Rainbow,” I cheered.
As we walk around town on Wednesday, we will name the things we see in English and in Spanish. By letting them decide which nouns they want to know the names of, I think we will have enjoy ourselves – and the words just might stick.
shewhodaresnothing 