Photo from Ukraine

 

This is Katy.  Her mother is my on line English student from Ukraine.  They fled to Poland a few months ago but kept their flat in Ukraine.  She and Katy went back there early last week to visit family and pick up a few things.  On Sunday when we had our class she was so happy to be back in her country even tho they have to run to the underground parking garage when they hear alarms.  Her husband has kept his job and works remotely from Poland.  My client did have a job on line but was let go and she is still looking for another.   If you're interested is chatting with a person from Ukraine go to ENGin. com and sign up.

Pickleball and English classes

I want to post an update on my activities here in Ole Mexico....or to use a term I just learned,..... Flexico.  

 As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have gotten Pickleball started and last Friday was our 4th gathering and it was a big success.  I had bought a whole net set up, not just the net, thru Amazon and it made a big difference.  We also lined off a regulation sized court ( mas o menus....we used some basketball lines so our "kitchen" and service boxes are not quite exact but its a lot better than before.  I also got 4 better paddles thru Amazon....such a love hate relationship I have with Amazon....and they have made a difference too. Anyhow, last week a young man, who I have described as looking like a Ralph Lauren model ( my son asked me to describe what that meant to me and I responded....tall, painfully thin and awful posture) came to stand next to me as I watched and shouted coaching tips from time to time.  After a few minutes, I asked him if he wanted to play.  He said, No, I just came to practice my English with you.  Now that made my day because I got this whole pickleball venture approved by my program manager at Peace Corps by claiming that it is a vehicle to teach English and US culture.So anyhow, Andre asked for a couple flyers to put up in his building ( his major is Nanotechnology) which I gave him.   So, earlier this week, I was in that building for a class and noticed one of our pickleball posters posted with something written on it.  It is hard to see but in the bottom right corner, he has written," You now know friend, so come and improve your English.

 

 

This next picture is a couple helping assemble the real net we now have and based on last Friday's showing, I have ordered yet another and a couple more better paddles.

 

 As to other efforts, we are working with a virtual English teacher, sort of a pilot project.   Its been interesting, to say the least.  My role, as I currently believe it to be , is to observe and make recommendations in the hopes of improving the process for  similar situations in the future.  He is an older ( 80) guy in Kansas with a lot of education and experience and his expectations of what he can do with our students is a bit unrealistic.   Distance learning is hard in the best of situations and he is trying to teach them the finer points of phonics so they can be better teachers when they get into the classroom themselves. His efforts and goals are high...the students are not showing the level of interest he was hoping for.

As to what  else I'm doing in the English classes.  UTEQ is organized by quatrimestres....something we've not heard of.   They are 4 month terms and they run continuously.  There is no summer break, just a break of a week or so each term.  I am definitely going to have a more settled schedule for the rest of my time here.  I want to pull small groups out of a few classes and work with them on their oral communication.  Many of them know a lot of words but there is no time to practice within their classes.  So, I see this as something that could make a difference.

A class that I am coteaching  with Deyanira is a beginner class for UTEQ employees.  Its great fun.  We've started with pronuncing the alphabet in English and short vowels and on and on.  The other thing we are doing is Readers Theater.  Its a very low difficulty play for young native English speakers but it is challenging for  beginner English learners and we 've had a lot of fun with it.  I am serving as director and I had never realized how physically exhausting that role could be...but, its great fun.

The other class/workshop I'm involved with is with the Drama teacher, Rodrigo.  We haven't really done anything much but I hope to be able to contribute as time goes on.  This quarter is almost over so hopefully I'll get involved earlier next quarter and be able to play a bigger role. 

 I've introduced myself to about 25 classes of students and I am sick to death of doing that but I have to continue thru the beginning of April when this term ends.  There will  a new one starting at the beginning of May.  I'm going back to MD for 4 days at the end of March, during Semana Santa here and spring break, and hopefully will get to see John and Hanna ....Sue and I are planning to drive up to Juniata County and as of now, Hanna and John are planning to drive down and visit with us for a day or two.  We are planning to spend the night so we'll have a little time together, for sure.  We're hoping some Peacheys drive over for a  visit and the Gilsons are in Florida still so there won't be many folks to see outside of our immediate family.  We Hertzlers and Beavers have all but disappeared from Juniata County.

I also want to memorialize a comment of one of the students....there are several which are memorable but his was amazing.   When I introduce myself, I often play a little game where a student guesses what my answer will be to a question posed by one of their classmates.    The question was...what do you like most about the Mexican culture ?   This student guessed that I would say,   " that we are so kind to each other:, it shocked me...in other classes a student has said something like, the food, the music, the language, etc.  This student went in such a different direction....I loved it and let him know.  

Now some random photos:

This is a photo from our first pickleball attempt.  We were using soccer nets that they had in the athletic department and lines that were put down for basketball.  Not a good situation but it was a start and we have come a long way.   Its a covered court that is usually used for volleyball and basketball so we have to compete for time and space.

The previous three show how the students rigged up the new regulation  net that I ordered but we still did not have the right posts to hold it up....so they improvised using the posts from the soccer nets we had phased out.  It kept blowing over so they figured that out too.

Birthday, pickleball, local places and street views

 

This is Adelayda Sotello from Malpaisillo and her son Carlos Mario, in Nicaragua.  Very very good people. 

The lighter dog is the guards dog at UREQ and she decided to share her house with this new fellow and now they seem to be inseparable.  I hate that big bowl of food which does not seem to get eaten, probably rancid,  but I don't say anything.  I just found out that the darker dog belongs to one of the teachers and she brings him to hang out on campus while she teaches. 

We got pickleball started at UTEQ and the response has been very very good.  It's hard to take good photos with my old phone but this will give you an idea.  We had two meet ups using a net that  the soccer coach had for soccer drills.  But, then I ordered an official net on Amazon and that is what you see in these photos.  We had to use the posts from the soccer nets and the students made it work and then they took a rest. 

Two other January birthdays in the office.  Esperanza and Bernice with me.

This is a pretty awful shot of our first pickleball effort at UTEQ.  I have an old camera without a wide angle lens so this is the best I cold do. 

Just a couple of charming streets near where I live....actually on the way to the lab where I was going to get my blood checked after having trouble shaking a bad cold.

I live near the bottom this street, 5 de Mayo,.  It shows the mixture of vintage electric wiring and fancy condos just one hill away.

The local post office is in the white building next to the orangeish one.  The first opening is where they park the motorcycles on which they deliver the mail and the second opening is the actual post office where you can mail things.  It works.

A yummy breakfast at Veg Co, a local vegan restaurant owned and run by two sisters.

Some roof art, its steel mostly, which I noticed on my walk one day.  Earlier I posted a painting of an automatic weapon which was on a wall of a house...I noticed recently that it had been painted over so someone objected...other than me.

Mostly about efforts to rescue cats

Steve brought Gringo down to me right before Christmas, 2023.  I was sooo glad to get him and to have the chance to show Steve some of the highlights of Queretaro. 

One of the highlights in Queretaro is this pyramid that had fairly recently been unearthed.   Apparently it had been covered with trees and other greenery over the years and local folks did not realize that there was a pyramid underneath.  It's really quite amazing....two sides have been unearthed and the other two have been left covered with flora. There are guides who describe the astrological basis for the location of the pyramid, etc.         https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=pyramid+in+queretaro+mexico#cobssid=s&fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5ea7f933,vid:5nPoEjHo9Tk,st:0     This link might work...its a you tube video with some interesting commentary.  I apologize for the proselytizing at the end.                                                                                                                    

Another highlight was eating and having an occasional dark beer.  We had a discussion about alcoholic content...Modelo Negra is my favorite. 

This is preparation for a posada.  We did not stick around for it to be performed.  We walked at least 6 miles a day and my back was not happy....so we left.  Posadas are a phenomenon, in my opinion, that occur at Christmas and somehow combine brass bands and dancing with the celebrations of the birth of Jesus.....

This is the inside of a catholic church decorated for Christmas....interesting combination of religious icons and foil streamers.  We sat for a few minutes and then as we were quietly leaving, my shoe string got caught on a nail in the kneeling bench and I tripped, hit the ground and on my way down grabbed the back of the pew in front of us which made a loud sound which reverberated in this huge quiet space.  Embarrassed ?    duh.

A street vendor of Lele dolls and other items.Notice the children that are often brought along with their parents to sell on the streets.

This is so cute.  It's hanging on the door of a little shop indicating that it is ......yep closed.

I couldn't resist these next few photos.....dog walkers rule, apparently.  Note the people who have given up the sidewalk to the dogs.  These photos also give you an idea of the cute streets in the center of Queretaro.

This appears to be a rifle ( not sure of the model but think its one of those automatic military style)  that is painted on the exterior wall of a house near me, actually it's on my walk to the PC office. 

 

This is just an example as there are many similar storefronts showing this type of gown....this is what many girls wear to their quiceneras....celebrations of their 15th birthday.  I met a young female student at UTEQ who told me that her family gave her an option to have a quincenera or take a trip to the US.  She chose the trip for the whole family.  She is a very impressive young lady.

This takes some careful reading, but the word "cajones" caught my eye...it must have several meanings...in this context it means "parking space."
HaHa

 

Now, as to the cats:

 We have had a family of cats living in the Peace Corps patio for several months.  The mom showed up and shortly thereafter she apparently moved her 4 kittens into the patio also.  They began getting comfortable and growing , we were all enjoying watching them grow and thrive.  We even had a naming activity and agreed on names for them. Somehow, mysteriously, someone on the staff of PC decided to take the mother to be sterilized.  Apparently, they did not consider the effect on the kittens because While she was gone, her 4 kittens took off . To be sure, they were eating kitten food and were no longer nursing but .... At least one ended up living next door on the grounds of the Marista Prepatoria.  That is what they call private high schools.....prepas.   The grounds are very nice and many of the staff are also great.  Somehow the nuns are involved but the teachers all looks like civilians so....?  

 So, there are a couple photos below of the mother cat and her 4 kittens.  HOWEVER, there are also photos of the mother cat and 1 kitten.  When they all took off, only one, the orange one, was recovered.  We have no idea what happened to the other three....The mother did get sterilized and has a little notch in her ear and that is wonderful but 3 of the kittens are gone.  When the mother was returned to the patio, after two weeks at the vet ( to recover from the surgery) she began looking for her kittens, meowing and hunting around, and we heard a meow from the other side of the wall.  I went over to the school and they were very cooperative in letting me put little piles of food and water on the wall, near a hole that that went down into the hollow in the wall, and little by little the food disappeared and we occasionally sighted the orange kitten sneaking out to eat but when he became aware of us, he scampered back into the hole.  THis went on for several days until I got a humane trap from Amazon, we caught him and returned him to the patio and his mother.....see the other photos.  It was not handled well.....it is an example of cultural differences between the folks who took the mom leaving the kittens behind and how it would have been handled in my culture.  

 

 

 

 

As I end this post, both cats are still there but every day when I go to feed them or give them water, I expect to see one or both missing.  So far so good.

Christmas comes to UTEQ

 

THis is a very clever tree made out of plastic bottles with strings of lights inside.  I haven't seen it lit up but I bet its pretty.  There is an occasional green bottle which I bet looks real nice.

This is the tree from a distance, with the school letters in front.

Across from the tree you'll find this nativity scene with pine cones hanging from the ceiling and colored balls decorating the bushes nearby. 

Th

Then you go a bit further and encounter this altar/ shrine to the Virgin Guadalupe. Candles, cactus, flowers and other things I can't make out.

This is not Christmas related, just another beautiful specimen on campus.  My host in Costa Rica, long long time ago, before Peace Corps, talked about her "tuna" often.  I don't recall what she said probably because I could not understand it but it never occurred to me that she was talking about a giant cactus.  Well, she was.  This cactus is call "tuna" and the fruit is pictured below in a closeup.  The tuna fruit is delicious.  Of course you peel it but its not unlike a kiwi...very sweet, soft, just real good.

The call the fish, "atuna."

f

 

This is one of our cohort, Aeden.  A real nice guy and a good sport about everything.  His host mother took him to a concert and when he got there he learned he was a judge of a Christmas show.  He's a TEFL volunteer and is a great guy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm listening to a story n NPR ( my early morning tradition in addition to listening to WAMU) both on line, about the rise of regional Mexican music.  I have to admit that I can't recognize the various regions but I also have to admit  that I really like the music with the tubas, accordians and of course Mariachi...and I think those are from three different regions....according to NPR at least.  Apparently, a young female singer won a Latin grammy recently.  Have to learn more about that  but I fear some grandmothers , especially me, would have trouble "blending in" at the clubs around here.  

I must state here that I have been enthusiastically received by the students and faculty at UTEQ, University Technologico Queretaro.  I've posted several photos  of the campus in the past but I haven't said much, if anything , about the classes and students.   So far, I've been attending various classes with various teachers to get to know the system, routine, and the students and teachers.  At first, I felt really scattered but now can see the benefit of this.  Classes are over for this term but there is a series of exams and tutorials between now and Christmas break so it will be confusing to me until Jan 10 when classes resume. 

Yesterday was a somewhat typical day.  I co-taught with another teacher in which she introduced the lesson which consisted of them getting into pairs or trios to write, in English of course, a conversation in which they used the particular grammatical structures they had studied in the preceding term.  She explained the assignment, gave them a time limit, and told them to get into pairs or trios and to get started. I observed for a time; they followed directions and were settling in to get to work.   I then was able to contribute by putting examples of the structures they were supposed to include on the white board ( as scaffolding) and quietly explained the technique to my co - teacher.   She is an excellent teacher but had not heard the word and was very receptive and in fact, added something to my writing that further scaffolded the assignment.  They worked away while she and I walked among the groups giving suggestions, examples, questioning, etc. All advice was welcomed by the students.  Finally, time ran out and I met with each group in an empty classroom across the hall where the students read  and recorded their conversations, I made a few ( very few in fact) adjustments in their dialogues ( mostly adding or deleting articles or prepositions, curiously)and  then I read their conversations aloud and they recorded  me. Plan is that they will listen to the two recordings, note the pronunciation and make adjustments.  They will read their conversations to their teacher as part of their end of term evaluation of  their "speaking "  skill.  Now here comes the good part for me.....the students were so excited after they read their work aloud and saw how few corrections I made...it was thrilling, to me for sure, and judging by their smiles and body language, to them as well.  Felt good about my contribution, finally.  

Some other good things have been happening.at school..I have to remember I've only been at the site for 2.5 weeks and now we go on a month long vacation.  Actually the students have exams and the teachers have to do grades etc, but there are no classes again until Jan 10 and, due to PC policy, I can't go outside the country until after Feb 9, three months from swearing in. 

 Steve is bringing Gringo down for me on Dec. 15 so this will give us time to get used to the new apt ( and that is a story ) before I have to leave him there alone for most of the day.  There are a lot of good windows so I'll get it set up so that he can look out at the activities most of the day.  Also, there is a big fenced in area where I can walk him without the fear of loose dogs hounding us.  Sadly, there is no grass, just cement, so he'll miss his grass chewing.  Maybe I can get a plot of sod for him.  We'll see.

There was a kerfuffle at PC about my bringing Gringo down and about Steve bringing him.  It got resolved but I won't go into it on the blog.

Our role here with PC is not only to teach English but also to share our culture and learn about their culture and as much Spanish as I can.So, in the culture vein, last week I gave a little presentation to about 8 classes about Thanksgiving, its origin, traditions, meaning. etc.  The US state Dept. has a website called American English and on it they have some materials, including some for teaching about some of our holidays.  I knew the Thanksgiving story  we were taught  as children had omitted a lot of truths but I didn't want to include all of them...I didn't want the whole thing. to be a downer.  The piece on the State Dept. site is not too bad so I used it and added some explanations along the way....like where Squanto had learned English....he had been enslaved by British explorers years before the Pilgrims arrived,  taken to England, escaped to get back home only to find that most of his tribe, the Wapanoag ( Patuxent) had been driven from their homes and many were slaughtered or killed by disease.  The point I want to make here on this blog is how very interested the students were.  I would read a paragraph, they would follow along with me, with the hard copy I had given them,  then their teacher would translate into Spanish ( this being a cultural lesson, I wanted them to hear the story),  I was very pleased at their interest level and how well they followed along and truly seemed to enjoy the lesson, did not get bored by all the reading and listening they had to do and their questions and comments showed their attentiveness.  It was good.

The most interesting thing I get to do is interact with the students.   I met one recently who is outstanding in a number of ways .  Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to him before the class he is running ( its an after school sort of extra class ) started their presentations.  apparently some of the students with higher English skills work as “immersion” teachers with the very beginners.  He is one of the teachers and he had his students doing their final projects about countries.    He invited me to watch  the presentations and one of the countries some of  the students had selected was the US. 

In very difficult English they reported various facts like, population, climate, the flag, the sports, etc and typical foods.  I was mortified to learn that hot dogs and hamburgers are our "national typical" food according to some website these kids found.  I'll put some photos on here to show...some other groups did Jamaica or Canada, and it was cute. 

These girls somewhere determined that Flan was a "typical" dish served in Great Britan so we all had some very good flan.

This group did the U.S. and you can see their poster of a Hamburger with the various ingredients identified, including bacon.

This group did Canada and focused on the fact that it is cold there so that one kid had on a jacket and knit cap.  I think they did say the most popular sport is hockey.  Their pronunciation of Maple Leaf was so cute.

This is the young man who is their teacher and about whom I wrote a few words below.   He is really an amazing young person.

This group did Jamaica and the boy is dressed in "typcial" dress and the fellow with the guitar is representing Bob Marley and Reggae

I offer this just to show you the four hot dogs on the table representing another "typical" food of the US.  Also, the kid in the boxing gloves was showing that boxing is a popular sport.
  

The kid who invited me to observe  ( he is pictured above ) is 20 and himself a student but is teaching one of these immersion classes after school and the countries were like a final project.  This kid is amazing...he is very polished, uses very good English tho he does need more time to learn vocab etc.  I got a chance to chat with him and learned that he is the youngest of 4, his older sibling are in their mid 30s, his father is a blacksmith and has a taco stand and his mother is a housewife.  If you met this kid, you'd think he came from a family of college graduates who worked white collar jobs.  He is so self confident and eager to learn.  He is currently completing his application to work as a camp counselor at a summer camp in Houston next summer.  I offered to help in any way but I am sure he has several teachers offering their help.  They all recognize his talents and specialness.