Teaching the Queens

In my previous entry I mentioned how I'd some how managed to get talked into teaching English classes. This actually worked out quite well for me as it added a bit of structure to my day (even if it did mean i had to get up at 6am!)

For 18 days throughout December I caught the morning bus to work. I didn't realises that busses could be any more cramped but somehow they managed it! The only small blessing was that as I lived so far out I was normally able to get a seat. However given the crammed convi is I often had to move towards the door a good minute before I wanted to get off as to negotiate a path through the jigsaw of bodies swelling in the vehicles central aisle.

After teaching two classes I finished at 11 and so had time to go into the centre and get some food. This was a really blessing as I've been struggling with food in Peru so being able to choose what I feel like was really great. I would also have a coffee or maybe an ice cream (as it's pretty hot here all year around) and plan my classes for the next day before catching a bus to the office.

Given the lack of structure to my position things can get a bit tedious and sitting in the office for 7 hours would not have been much fun. However as I was only there for 4 hours or so I felt I could be allot more focused on translating the website which was my main job.

You can see the progress at www.ciescu.org. Most of the principle pages are now available in English. I managed to get them to clear the structure up a little but but I still find it's a maze to find what you're looking for. I've been trying to get through a page a day though which I feel is pretty good going given the amount of information that's been crammed on the page. I did try and get things simplified but i think Jose has alot of information he wants to get across.

The other positive thing about teaching is it's given me some links which could be useful for the work. Many of the kids in the Mansion have been asking me to teach them English and to be honest I don't really know where to start! I figured if I taught in the school I'd get some more experience and access to materials which I could use.

I have also mentioned to Samantha (the Sarah Palin look-a-like) about the project and CIESCU and she's interested in helping me set up an English class at the weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to get it up and running and get other foreign visitors who are teaching at the school to help out on the project. The only thing holding it back is that nothing is that easy in Peru!

I asked Jose when a good time to start would be and he suggested the second week of January which didn't give me a lot of time to plan. I contacted Samantha who said that she wanted to visit the area and start to plan. I tried to find out if it was possible to visit in the next day or when would be a good time but it seems the project is struggling and stopped for Christmas/new year/indefinite future or something. so i'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I'm trying to get more involved and set something up which would help the project and the organisation but there isn't actually anything concrete to work around! Ah Peru!