Pictures

As promised, here are a few pictures from my activities so far.

These are from the first Sunday that I was in Ciudad del Este. Pictured are me, Graciela, her son Eduardo and his girlfriend, and James (Graciela's grandson).


These were taken at the school where Graciela works.


These are from my first Rotary Club meeting in Ciudad del Este. The first shows an exchange of the banners, and the second is of me with Brittany, an participant in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program.

Days 5-9: Itaipu, Tres Fronteras, English Methodology

Wow! Have I been busy! I still have a lot to do, so this will be short, but my husband was getting on to me for not updating!

On Friday, Graciela took me to Itaipu Binacional. It is the hydroelectric plant that is a little north of Ciudad del Este. It is HUGE...not that I have anything to compare it to, though. It took us at least 20 minutes (probably longer) to go from the Paraguay side to the Brazil side of the dam. We took the daylight tour that stops inside the plant, and the night tour that they call the "illumination." It was really pretty at night. As part of the Itaipu project, conservation and preservation were included, so there is a zoo of animals that are native to the area. The zoo was very different from any I've ever been to. If I had wanted to, I could have touched the animals (no, Mama, I didn't). They were in cages, which was sad, but it was interesting to get to be so close to them. There is also a museum about the Guarani people. I found it interesting that they made crosses even before the appearance of the the Spanish.

On Saturday, I spent most of the day recovering from the long, hectic week. I received an email from Tally, a teacher who has family in Frisco that lives in Asuncion. She has been very gracious in sending me a ton of pictures and information about Paraguay. I've learned a lot from her emails.

On Sunday, I had a chance to talk to my husband, and he was able to see me for the first time since I've been here! We still have some kinks in the technology, but we're working on it. I also prepared for today's training with the English teachers. In the afternoon, I visited my third country on this trip--Argentina. Graciela, James (her grandson), and I went to the Argentina side of Las Tres Fronteras (The Three Frontiers/Borders). It's where a couple of rivers meet and form one, and it is also the border betweent the countries. By standing in one location, you can easily see Paraguay and Brazil while standing in Argentina. I now have stamps in my passport for Argentina as well as Paraguay. (None for Brazil--you don't have to have a visa to go into Foz de Iguazu, the city that is just across from Ciudad del Este.)

Today, I held a class for English teachers in the area. I talked a little about myself, Texas, and the United States, then discussed some of the differences in the educational systems. In the afternoon, I shared several ideas on how to make their classes more interactive. Tomorrow morning we will continue with me modeling an English lesson, then possibly later in the week, teaching an actual class of students (to film for future teachers).

Graciela and I just got back from Brittany's despedida (going away party). She leaves tomorrow to go to Asuncion, then Wednesday she starts her lengthy process of returning home...she has several stops that her flight will make before she makes it back to Pennsylvania.

And, as you've already read, I have a busy day tomorrow, so I'd better get in bed. (Remember, it's an hour later here than at home! I'm already up past my bedtime on Texas time!)

I PROMISE to get pictures up soon. I'm hoping that tomorrow I will have some time in the afternoon or evening to do so.

Day 5: Colegio and Rotary Club

This will be brief, but I wanted to update on today's activities. I went to Graciela's school again today. I observed a class of Guarani and saw a play put on by another class. The educational system is SO different here. (More on that later.)

This afternoon, representatives of the Rotary Club delivered TVs and clothes to a children's home and a home that would be like a retirement home in the states, except that the people there are lacking a lot of the necessities of life and don't have family that takes care of them.

This evening I attended my first Rotary Club meeting in Ciudad del Este. It was a celebration for Father's Day with music and food. It was a lot of fun! I have pictures, and Graciela found a cable that fits my camera! :) I will work on uploading them this weekend.

Tomorrow will be another busy day...tomorrow I will tour the hydroelectric plant and I think the city (I haven't been able to see much because it's been raining most of the week...I know you guys in Texas are jealous [or at least my husband and his parents for the boat and jetski sales!].) I may also be going with Brittany, another Rotary exchange person, to help paint in an orphanage.

I can't believe it's almost been a week sent I left Texas...and my cats and dogs and husband are still alive--with food and clean clothes (or so Shawn claims)! Hee! :)

Days 3 and 4: English Classes

Yesterday was a busy day. I went to the school again yesterday morning and talked to more of the teachers there. We started talking a little about some English words. Then last night, Graciela had a planning meeting for a Rotary Club project, and I went with her. I met another American that is finishing a 10-month exchange through the Rotary Youth program. It was interesting to here about her work. It was a late night (for me), as we got back around 12:00.

This morning I had technology problems...again. Tuesday morning, my alarm didn't ring on my iPod. This morning, it rang and I got up with it, but then came to realize that when I had synced my iPod with my computer, the computer had changed the time back to Texas time...so I was an hour late getting up. Cheryl and Pam from my district technology department are helping me fix that problem. Thank you!!!

I made it to the school, and I had a class of 5 teachers/students from the school (the students were off--staff development day) that I worked with on basic English. We worked on greetings, introductions, and saying goodbye. It was fun to hear them asking each other, "What's up?" :)

I need suggestions...what is an American or Texan food that I should make for my hosts to try? From what my students told me, gravy is one (no, I won't make JUST gravy, and you won't be able to make snowmen from it, either. HA!) I appreciate your comments!

Another note...I have video chat set up through AIM (thanks to the assistance of my cousin Cheryl!). It is the same as my home email address, so feel free to IM me if you see me online.

Day 2: Colegio

This morning, Graciela took me to the school and introduced me to the director and to an English teacher that I will be working with this week. Here in Paraguay, they teach three languages: Castellano (Spanish), Guarani (the native language of the area), and English.

For the linguists that are following this, they are attempting to preserve the native population's language and seem to be somewhat successful so far. I'm told that generally people in the larger cities speak Spanish as their native language, but people in the country use Guarani in their daily life. Therefore, the curriculum requires both languages be taught with (I think) about the same emphasis. My understanding is that the language of instruction for other classes will vary depending on the native language of the students.

Also, it seems that the government has recently focused on creating curriculum specifically for "educacion media," our middle school. The English materials that they have give the teachers a lot to work from. They encourage the teaching of all main language areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Their problem, however, is that the teachers don't know or don't feel comfortable implementing them in the way they were intended. As is the case in the U.S. sometimes, the teachers focus considerably on reading and writing, but tend to overlook speaking and listening. I will be working with them to improve these areas of teaching, and also on incorporating more alternative assessments into their teaching.

Please feel free to post questions that you may have. I want to be able to help you understand what it's like here!

Day 2: Host Home

As requested, I have photos to show of the room that I'm staying in. No pictures yet of people, though. The first two show the main part of the bedroom. It has a desk area, then the bed is next to it. Across from the bed is another room, a dressing area, then off of it is the bathroom. FYI...Pictures are taking about 5 minutes each and video about 20 minutes to upload, so this is all you get for now. Sorry! I'll work on getting more later.


P.S. I got the video camera working again! :)

Day 1: Continued

I can now say that I have visited Brazil. We went into Foz de Iguazu and my host family drove me around the city a little. Then we stopped at a restaurant that mainly served desserts. I had something made of chocolate (I know, imagine me and chocolate...and coffee [although not Starbucks]).

I took pictures to post, but unfortunately, it appears the cord to transfer from my camera to computer did not seem to get packed. But, if I was going to forget something, I'd rather it be something small that I can do without. I may see if I can find a cord--if not, I'll use the video camera to take pictures to post while I'm here and then wait to transfer from my regular camera when I get back home.

I must say that I've enjoyed my first day in Paraguay. It reminds me a lot of Mexico in regards to traffic and safety. The house that I'm staying in has a gate around the outside, with two guard dogs. (One of them is a black Lab like my nephew-doggy Jake!)

It also makes me glad to know that I'll be able to chat with my husband with a webcam, so we'll still be able to see each other. It's not the same as being together in person, but it will make it easier on us to be apart during this time.

And in case you didn't see my sister's comment, she says that my dad actually got to choose where to eat for Father's Day! That's rare! :)

From what Graciella has said, she will be showing me around the city tomorrow. I can't wait to see what we do!

Day 1: Father's Day

Like in the United States, people here are celebrating Father's Day today. My host family prepared a wonderful meal of different types of lasagna: one veggie, one with chicken, and another with fish. I have to say that my favorite (yes, I had to try them all--that's what I'm here for!) was the chicken. We also watched a movie in English, The Gift, which I am told hasn't come out in the U.S. yet.

All of the family has been here at least some point in the day t0 wish their dad a happy day. Since I'm not nearby, I'd like to wish my dad, Neal, and my father-in-law, Sam, a good Father's Day as well. If I had to guess, I would say that my dad probably celebrated by going out to eat at a place that most likely my sister chose. :) And Sam, I hear, was going to ride his new X2 at the lake. Hopefully my "children" took good care of their dad today!

I can't comment much yet on Paraguay itself. I can say that my host family is great. They've made me very comfortable here. Graciella was a little worried about the driving scaring me, but it's very similar to Mexico's (Mama, skip to the next paragraph!). It's very crazy, and I would be scared to drive in it, but people here seem to manage it just fine. Graciella said that there is one main road that goes from Ciudad del Este on the east side of the country, through Asuncion to the west side of the country. It was paved and didn't seem to have a lot of traffic compared even to Frisco. We got off of that road to drop off another teacher at her home, and all of the roads there were dirt--not gravel--with speed bumps in them. Most of the side streets near Graciella's home are paved, but it appears that it is not something that is common. You forget how spoiled you are until you are away from it.

After returning from the airport last night, as I said in my last post, I was absolutely exhausted. I tried everything to fall asleep during the flight from Dallas to Sao Paulo, but I was only successful for about 1 hour at most. I did watch lots of TV--a couple of episodes of House, a couple of The Mentalist, a show on New York, even a Monk and a 30 Rock. They'd better have new episodes on my way home!

I spent about 8 hours at the airport in Sao Paulo. Again, I tried to sleep, but I wasn't very successful. I was able to call my husband to let him know that I made it. I put some finishing touches on the scrapbook, and listened to my iPod a little.

I'm anxious to get to go to some of the schools. I'm hoping that I'll get to go tomorrow.

I'm off for now. We're going to take a trip over to Foz de Iguacu.

P.S. I see either Alisson or Leila in Colombia! Who else of you are out there? Leave a comment with your first name so that I know you're there!

Arrived

I've made it to Paraguay! I wasn't able to sleep on the plane much, so I am completely exhausted, but I wanted to let everyone know that I arrived safely.

Scrapbook 3

The scrapbook is coming together. Here are more pictures of students working on it (and helping pack up for the end of the year). Shown are Yurina, Hikaru, Kosar, Carolina, Mattew, Gonzalo, Sofia, Serina, Kera, Alisson, Angela, Do Young, and Wallace.

Rotary Club Meeting

Today I attended the Rotary Club meeting and was able to share a little about myself and my interests in the R.I.T.E. program. Everyone I met was so supportive and encouraging! I am so thankful to them for allowing me this opportunity. My husband Shawn and my assistant Angie went with me. Pictured with us is Nicole, my contact with the local Rotary Club.