Whew!

Teacher training is all done and I've been hired! I'm working in the ICPNA - Lima Cercado branch (downtown), just a block or so away from Chinatown and the central market. I have a class to observe on Saturday mornings and an accelerated adult class from 3:15 to 6:30 pm Saturday afternoons. During the week, I have 2 basic adult classes and a class to observe every day, starting at 5 pm and finishing up at 10 pm. Between the 5 branches of ICPNA, there are 50,000 students total. That's pretty big.

Celeste is happy! We are back on a regular schedule for July, anyway, with plenty of time for Celeste-time for playing and and getting outside in the mornings. I'm happy, too. I don't mind saying that those days when I was up at 5 am and didn't stop till I fell into bed at 11 pm were more than a little hard on me. Not to mention that there is a certain amount of stress involved in learning to do something someone else's way, fumbling around with busses and transit systems, going to new parts of town I've never been before, and at the same time, holding down the old job to maintain an income to pay the monthly bills.

Besides getting a new job where they pay better and have benefits and really have a contract, two other good things came out of this past month: I never once noticed that there was no sun to speak of and I've learned better ways of teaching. I found out that I wasn't that far off track with what I was doing on my own, just better ways of doing it. And I uncovered my worst weakness: I am dreadfully disorganized (mentally) until I discover my own rhythm in teaching. It's very hard for me to walk into a teaching situation on someone else's terms. However, I am really good at telling children's stories, especially if I can prepare some pictures to go along with it to illustrate what I say. I think that's because the pictures help me organize my thought process.

Now if I can fumble my way through this first month, I think I'll fine.