On Wednesday, I started meeting with the people I will be working with this year. First, I met with the chair of the theology department. She had a very pleasant surprise for me. I will be teaching two classes by myself this year! I knew that I was going to get into a classroom this year, but I thought that it was going to be a team teaching situation - which wouldn't have been a bad thing at all. In fact, I would have welcomed such a thing. After all, I am still working on my Spanish fluency. And I had a very good experience team teaching at my previous school. Yet, I get to fly solo! Evidently, they think that my Spanish is good enough and that I can make positive contributions in the classroom. The department chair is hoping that I can help reform the department. She thinks that the faculty needs to be inspired and that new methods of instruction needs to be introduced into the department. Evidently, theology is the least favorite subject of the students. The good news is that I have had success of making this subject interesting and fun - or at least provocative. I am going to use the lessons I learned at my previous school and build off that success. I had really good system in place, especially with the Junior level, that I will try to improve upon here. Fortunately, the subjects that we as a class will be covering in the 10th and 11th grades (I have one section of each) are very practical and "hands on" concepts.
I have only two classes because they did not want to overwhelm me in my first year, especially with the Spanish. Thus, the rest of the time, I will be working with the elaborate campus ministry team. I met with the directors of campus ministry on Thursday. They have an impressive list of activities throughout the year, including a day of reflection with a different section every week. That's right, a school retreat every week! Besides the retreat work, I will be doing retreats and other projects with alumni, helping with the confirmation program, working with two groups of students doing projects at Fundamor, our orphanage (more about that later), helping coordinate student reflection groups, and lending a general hand in a billion other things. For my contribution, I will be pushing for a busy person's retreat during the year. In all, I am projecting that I will be serving at St. George's for about 45 hours a week. Not bad.
Today, I had a meeting with the directors at Fundamor. I will also be working with the orphans/abandoned children. The center is right behind our house here in Santiago. The children do not live at the center, but in house around the neighborhood. There are four house in Santiago with 50 or so children in the various house. Each house has three women or tías who take care of the children. The professional staff are housed at the center, where the children come for programs, tutoring and recreation. There are also other house outside of Santiago. My mission is to accompany two houses in the small town of Talagante, an hour and a half outside of Santiago. I will go there, by bus, on Wednesdays after I am done teaching at St. George's at noon and return to the house around 10pm. I will also spend the whole day Saturday in Talagante. I will divide my time between the two houses. I'll visit one on Wednesday and the other on Saturday. The next week will be the reverse. This will require a lot of traveling - but it will be worth it to be a positive role model and presence for the kids.
Also, as mentioned, I will accompany two groups of St. George's students in their projects at Fundamor. On Mondays, a group comes and puts on workshops for the kids, such as computers, art and music. On Fridays, another group comes and does one-on-one tutoring. On Thursday mornings, I won't go into the school until midday. Instead, I will spend the morning visiting the house in Santiago. The children will be at school. This will be my time to minister to the tías. They are a hard working group and need (read starving for) pastoral care. I will go and visit with them and pray with them. In all, I am projecting about 20 hours a week with Fundamor (not counting travel time to and from Talagante).
I am quite pleased with this schedule. I feel that I have sufficient projects and challenges. I love variety and I love challenges. I cannot wait for the programs to begin. In the next few weeks, I will start in ernest with Fundamor. The school year doesn't start until March. Thus, I have time to plan my classes, prepare the retreat at the beginning of March for an alumni group that is helping out with confirmation and to relax and enjoy Santiago. This is the time of vacations. From what I hear, Santiago, a bustling and vibrant town, is dead in February since everyone is away. Thus, I am told I will have good luck exploring the city without traffic and full subways. All the museums are open (except on Mondays) and there is a lot of free entertainment in the city at night. My plan is to explore Santiago and have some fun this summer!
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