El Cultural

I suppose there are two topics to cover – food and school. As most of you all know, this is basically the center point of my focus, anyway. Nothing new. 

 

Recent pertinent topics!!!

·        - First week of classes has come to a close.

·         -Peruvian cuisine now loves me as much as I love her. It. Yeah?

·         -I will be traveling almost all of July for work, then in August for play. oOoOo.

·        - Tom the Turkey is nowhere to be scene. His boisterous, beautiful morning gobble has been replaced by some cocky cock’s cockle-doodle-doodle-do. I just hope he was pardoned first.

So! I suppose I should start with my first love – food. Never have I been disappointed by la comida Peruano. Not once. Though my taste bud’s (and wallet’s) overbearing love for these new delights had me jumping for joy, my stomach preferred to just send me running to the restroom. I have yet to determine whether it thought that my first two days of class needed some excitement, or that it just fears change. Some things will just remain a mystery. Now that my immune system is up to par, I have dove headfirst into the Peruvian foods - caldo blanco, ceviche, lomo saltado, pollo a la plancha, empanadas, aji de gallina, and much, MUCH more. Aside from the large portions (SCORE), the increase in real purchasing power is doing very well for me wallet. Several days ago I discovered the diamond of Menu Del Dias (lunch specials) at a small place called Pancho’s. A three course lunch with drink costs me S6, which converts to less than three American dollars. One may think, “Yeah, that’s typical for lunch to cost less in Latin America, blahdy blah blah…,” but this is no typical plate lunch. It is WONDIFEROUS! There are also a TON of vegetarian options around that offer similar style lunch specials for maybe one Sol more. Not that I’m a vegetarian or anything, but I really enjoy the fact that I can escape from the realm of meat for a few days if I so choose. I also found several pretty nice coffee shops within a few cuadras (blocks) within my place of work. One of which is French! I had a Crepe Suzette and Café au Lait yesterday and to tell you the truth, it was pretty damn good. I think that was the same day someone asked me if I was French? Wonder if my Zissou hat and moustache had something to do with that. Who caaarres!? - (said with a ridiculously bad French accent) – Oh! I don’t get off work until 8:45 p.m. right? Well this was bad. Until we found a taco stand called Tacos Mexicanos on the way home that is open all night near all of the salsa clubs (yes, a stand) that sells the best tacos everrr! One taco shares the same volume of about three Taco Bell tacos. I got two. Delicioso. So the food. Yeah. I feel as if I can continue to talk about it for a long time. I’ll stop for now. For now.

The other point that I would like to cover is la escuela. I am a teacher, y’all. I teach English at Centro Peruano Norte Americano; El Cultural for short.

The beginning of the week was pretty hectic. Like, real hectic. Between the War of Comida Peruano and El Estomago Americano and not finding out who or what I was teaching until the day of, I may have sprouted a wrinkle. But there is news to follow that reinvigorated my youthful spirit.

I teach three classes – one intermediate level and two advanced. I definitely have my work cut out for me between lesson plans, activities, training, observing and somehow convincing my three classes that I’m hilarious. The first week was definitely an adjustment phase, but I feel as if I have already learned so much. I’m certain that I will continue to progress in my learning as to how to more effectively convey my knowledge of the English language to my students. I think. Yeah, let’s go with certain.

In terms of a schedule:

Observe from 9:00-10:30

Teach Intermediate from 10:45-12:15

Lunch/break from 12:15 to 5:30 (lesson planning/coffee/rambling time)

Teach Advanced 1 from 5:30-7:00

Teach Advanced 4 from 7:15-8:45

I have not managed to go home during my break due to the time it takes to get back and forth from my apartment. It’s not long distance wise, but the commute via combi (small van service that makes New York cab drivers look like…well, wimps!) takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the traffic.

I will administer an oral and written mid-term at the end of this coming up week along with an oral and written final at the end of June. Though my ideology during college for classmates passing or failing has always been a bit harsh, I’m quite worried for my students. I suppose the callousness didn’t have a passport or something, because it is nowhere to be found. I would not be concerned if I was able to write my own tests, but they are the equivalent of a departmental exam. Anywho. I will do my best to learn my students some of that there Anglish!

Traveling! After this normal semester of teaching, Phil and I will hold a workshop for the faculty of each branch of El Cultural. We will be in Arequipa the first week of July, but the second week we will start traveling to each other branch for 5 days (all expenses paid, what what!). We will go to Puno, Tacna, and Ilo – all of which are located in the South, but cool nonetheless. We will cover American holidays, customs and regional pronunciation differences. I hope to be able to do some weekend excursions along the way.

Speaking of traveling, now that I have a better idear of my schedule, I can start planning where to go! I have made some friends here at the institution that have been crazy helpful and I’ve been getting some great suggestions. So far, it’s looking like I will hike near the Inca trail and to the back door of Machu Picchu, which should take about 5 days. Also, I am in the works of a 4-5 day hike through Colca Canyon and the Sacred Valley. From there, I would take a bus to part of the jungle in the North. This would put me on track to catch my flight out of Lima back to the States. On my way to Lima, I hope to stop through Ica, which is the home of some of the largest sand dunes in the world!!! Snowboarding? No. Sandboarding. Gnarly. And righteous? Yes. Of course, this is all tentative. I have a lot of planning to do, and not to mention paychecks to collect. Though Peru is an inexpensive country, I lack some of the gear required for the hikes. Anyway. I feel as if I have talked enough.

Hasta Luego!

Jonathon