Make no mistake, despite my parents third-world nationalities, I am still first-world born and with that comes perceived entitlements. Yes, I said entitlements. We Americans believe we are entitled to electricity whenever we flip a switch, water whenever we turn on a faucet and wifi EVERYWHERE. I had to get over that real quick. Electricity is pretty available where I live, minus the biweekly or more city wide blackouts. Yes, blackouts, if we had a blackout in the US not storm related people would think they are gonna die, people here go about their lives. I love talking to my dad about my new experiences and he just laughs me out, "Fabiola, you are not telling me anything I do not already know", well I did not really know, but it is alright, now it is a reason to just go to sleep early - bright side. There is no way to stress enough how I now possess a genuine humility, that I know I could have never gained without seeing things with my own eyes. Let me tell you all about water. In my apartment I get water once a day, probably for 10 minutes, usually begins at a God-forsaken hour. We leave our shower head open so that when the water begins it will pour into the bucket during our slumber. Bucket baths, bucket baths, buckets baths... this is a very new concept to me. I will probably not take a "normal" shower for a year, but I am alright with it. Bucket baths are exactly what they sound like (do not overthink it). I find that I get ready so much faster in the morning, the fact that the water is cold I'm sure helps move that along as well. As previously mentioned, I talk about being hot all the time, so I take at the very least a couple of these baths a day, and now I look forward to it! Yes, I said I look forward to it, how? because I have adjusted.
Now on to the topic of the kids - which is the main reason as to why I am even here. I love the children here, they are as rambunctious as children anywhere. The poverty is heart-breaking, but the vibrant spirits and personalities inspiring. I found out this week I will be teaching 4th grade, and I am so excited about that. Going from a high school teacher to elementary school will be very different, but I love a challenge. Teaching high school was a new arena for me because I always worked with younger students, and just like anything else I put my mind to, I set out and conquered that new challenge. The challenge of teaching the oldest students in the school, with a past of inconsistent teachers has been bestowed upon me. I have been in training this entire time, and although I was consistently bored to tears by the repetitive and surplus of information -I did get some good ideas on behavior management and classroom policies through the process. Summer school starts on Monday and I am so excited to finally be in the classroom teaching and getting to know students. When people ask me to describe myself, as I get older it becomes a much easier question to answer - I am a teacher, humanitarian and lover of rich new experiences...
Happy Reading,
Fabiola
