Table Manners

Another change, that I don't particularly mind but I do think that it will be an adjustment coming home.

Table manners. They don't really exist here.

Mom, when I come home, you probably shouldn't watch me eat for about 2 weeks when I get home...

Ignorance is bliss

Another change I've had since coming here:

I've always been a tolerably deep sleeper. Dad's vacuuming (isn't that just an amazing word? vacuuming) downstairs on a Saturday morning? No problem. Light coming in through my white curtains from the Alaskan Summers? I close my eyes and drift off anyways.

Living here has given me a new level of interruption-resistance while sleeping. To the point where if I'm a bit sick, I don't hear the alarm. I have two roommates, one who stays up late and one who goes to sleep early, and I never wake up to people working on their computers with the light on late at night or taking a very loud shower in the morning. Where the neighbors in the auto shop next door have dance parties on Saturday nights and loud music in the mornings, and cats and dogs bark, and I wouldn't notice if it weren't for the fact that sometimes I have to force myself to get up on a Saturday morning.

I think this is partly a cultural result. Because the general rule here is that people sleep deeply. But I think this is an exciting change. And a useful one. Although the not-hearing-the-alarm thing can be a bit unpleasant sometimes...

I hope you were the mold that made penicillin.

Another change: My tolerance of mold and other moisture.

Ecuador is wet. It rains basically every day. The humidity in the air means that my clothes never dry: they have this permanent chill when you put them on in the morning due to the almost-damp. Mold grows profusely everywhere (and the lack of refrigeration doesn't help matters).

Maryam said the other day "Try not to mind the mold. I think of it as friendly mold."  And though its not as if we live in a petri dish, I have become comfortable with "friendly mold". Not in terms of eating it, and not in terms of not cleaning, but being able to deal with it.

The way I think of it, mold has cured a ton of diseases, and so with this exposure to spores and bacteria, my body could absorb a cure, or at least build up a ton of resistance.

Mold, you and I live a peaceful coexistence.

Approach to Sleep

Another change: My approach to sleep and travel.

For me, travel used to be a big deal. If I went anywhere, it would be in a plane. Here, I can win 10 fingers because I've been in a plane (in a pickup truck full of youth, 5 or 6 of us have been in a plane). Coming back really late at night or early in the morning would necessitate a day or at least a morning off to rest. Sleep was something that I needed every night, and if I missed a night I would have to take part of a day to catch up.

Now, I'm looking at getting on a bus tonight, arriving at the beach tomorrow morning, going dancing tomorrow night, going to the beach Friday morning, taking a bus back home Friday night, and waking up early on Saturday in order to go zip-lining. Then on Sunday I'm getting up early to drop Emily off at the airport and grading what will be a mountain of papers in time for school on Monday.

And the funny thing is, this is a plan that I am okay with. I am not searching my schedule for naptimes (although I'm sure I'll want them). The idea of going going going like this, riding busses through the night and waking up incredibly early is part of the culture, and although I am not super enthused about the getting up early part, I have learned to live (and teach classes!) on 3 hours of sleep.

Changes, part 1

I've changed since coming here because:

My attitude towards children. Today, after coming to school with me, Emily said to me "I'm so glad you like kids now." And its true. I have changed from referring to children under the age of 10 as "it" to a Mother Goose, Come-give-me-a-hug moosh! type person.

I think it would be impossible for this change not to come about. But I have to admit I was surprised at the magnitude and rapidity of my about-face where los niños are concerned. It seems that once I became comfortable with children, their weird questions and comments become endearing (I had one of my students say "My mother has a seed in her belly that will come out later as a baby and then I won't be the youngest" today). Their unconditional love is not so much a responsibility or trap as a mutual happiness in being together. Their different perspective of the world can be seen as individual, not a universal age-separator. As a good friend once said, I was not racist, I was kid-ist. And now I am no longer kid-ist.

It feels good to have that prejudice fall away.

The thing that surprises me most is how much I enjoy teaching, albeit I know I enjoy the virtues education classes I teach much more than English. The idea of finding an explanation that someone with the experiences, knowledge, and vocabulary of a particular age group, while also thinking of ways to plant seeds that will blossom into further understanding in time, is truly a challenge that I enjoy.* I like watching the learning process go on in the completely open face of a 6-year-old. I love the rush of joy that comes when a certain type of discipline or presentation of material just works, even for one kid. And I truly love the kids themselves. Individually. In classes. In school. When they see me outside of school and the next day tell all their friends as if they saw a celebrity. When I tell them they got a spelling bee word wrong and they burst into tears.

I like kids.

Wow.

*THIS BY NO MEANS SIGNIFIES THAT I WANT TO BE A TEACHER PROFESSIONALLY. I DON'T. I HAVE A HUGE RESPECT FOR TEACHERS. I'll just teach children's classes instead.