First Day at the School

I woke up early on Thursday, anxious to see the school for the first time.  I was also hoping to see my friend Alexis and reunite with her.  I was picked up around 8:30 and again cringed as we weaved in and out of traffic.  The school was located on a hill, well, a mountain, as was everything else that surrounded the city.  We entered the side gate and as I entered the campus, I immediately fell in love with it.  Despite it being located on a hill, it was covered with lush green trees and brick buildings.  To my right was a soccer field and the center was a small circle with benches and tables.  Beyond that was a large white building, which I learned held all of the administration offices.  Up to my left was a large group of people, which I found out were all the teachers.  The school was hosting a breakfast for all of the teachers and people were just waiting for it to be laid out.  As I walked up, I saw Alexis and immediately went to talk with her.  I couldn't believe it...I was finally in Bolivia.  With Alexis.  Teaching at the same school.  It was a little unreal.

Part of the center of campus

During breakfast, I was introduced to more teachers.  They were all very friendly and open to helping me with anything and everything.  One teacher, in particular, Katherine was very helpful.  She was from England and had the coolest accent.  She was also the 10-12 grade English teacher and was going to be in the room right next to mine, so she was eager to help show me the ropes.  After breakfast, we all had to go to the auditorium where Alma went over rules and expectations of the school and of us as teachers.  It was overwhelming, and felt a little overbearing as if the administration was telling us what not to do, rather how to encourage us in teaching.  I know it is similar in any school setting, but as this was my first time teaching, I especially felt it heavily.  Administrators create rules and boundaries without creating solutions, which causes difficulty for educators to enforce these rules while still maintaining a learning atmosphere.

As the meeting droned on, I looked around at all my colleagues.  The majority were women, but there were a handful of men.  Most of the people looked native, although a few looked out of place.  Surprisingly, I looked like I could fit in.  I had the dark hair and skin, although my facial features were slightly different.  Here was one of the first places I felt like a majority, without actually being part of the majority.  I was liking Bolivia so far.

After the meeting, I went with Alexis to get our room keys and inventory.  Each room had an inventory of what was there and we had to go through and check to make sure everything was accounted for.  Lucky for me, my inventory was barely half a page, while others were two full pages.  The office ended up not having my key, as we think the last teacher simply did not return them.  I was told that a worker would open up my room later, so I went with Alexis to her room.  Man, was that a hike!  I was definitely going to be getting my exercise while at work this year.  We caught up as I watched her clean out her closet and begin to set up her classroom.  Watching her made me anxious to get to my own classroom and see what it had in store for me.  She walked me through the system of ordering school supplies, which is a pain.  Every little thing needs to be accounted for, so you need to list exactly what you want and how many.  And certain things, you're only allowed to get so many of.  So, for instance, everyone is only allowed one box of staples at a time, or one set of dry erase markers.  And when you need a new one, you need to tape it to the back of your next order form.  Now, I realize that being a small private school, not much can be taken for granted, but still...  The entire system was a bit too regimental for my liking.  However, this was going to be my place of employment for the next year, so I had better get used to it.

The view from Alexis's room was amazing.  The mountains that surrounded Cochabamba were beautifully dotted with trees and houses.  She had a great view of the other side of campus with a small playground for the younger grades.  We all ate lunch, which consisted of chicken and rice, with vegetables.  I was cautioned not to eat any lettuce or strawberries during my stay in Bolivia.  My stomach would not be able to handle that, but everything else I could eat, but just be prepared for my body getting used to new foods.  After lunch, I went up to my room, which had been opened for me.

The bulletin boards still had paper on them, and I was excited to see two white boards and not a lot of white space on the walls that I would have to fill up.  I had already determined to change the colors on the board, but now it was all about coming up with what to put on them.  I started doing my inventory, which took all of 10 minutes.  Then rearranged my closet and began looking at the textbooks.  The closet smelled somewhat musty, but at least it nice and cool.  My classroom was going to be in an interesting spot as far as temperature...cold in the mornings and then hot in the afternoons.  Plus, my view wasn't the best.  But I did have a lot of windows, so I was satisfied.

I finished cleaning out my room and ordered supplies to decorate my boards.  I would have to wait until tomorrow to finish decorating.  I moseyed over to Katherine's room next door to see what she was doing.  We talked for a while and she gave me ideas on what to do with my class.  By this time, it was the end of the day and I was exhausted.

I went to the store and since I was still at the hotel and didn't have a stove or microwave, I had to find something that I could have for dinner that didn't require heating up or refrigeration.  As I walked into the store past the check-out lines, a young clerk came running up to me.  Again, we had difficulty with the language barrier, but he was trying to tell me I had to leave my purse at the desk.  Apparently, to prevent shop lifting, people are required to leave their bags in a locker at the front of the store.  It was an interesting concept.  I wandered around the store looking for what to get for dinner.  I was going to get bread and jelly, but the jelly would need refrigerated.  Fruit?  Well, I was still trying to be careful what kinds of fruit I ate until my body got used to the different foods.  Then I saw the perfect solution: Snack Pack Pudding Packs!  Something I was familiar with that didn't require any electronic devices to eat.  So, my second dinner in Bolivia was not the most nutritional or filling, but it worked.  Got to go with what you have sometimes.