Good Ol' Saint George's

It has really been an adventure teaching here at Saint George's College. This is partly because I am teaching in Spanish. When I arrived in Chile about 6 months ago, my Spanish was very bad. Now, my Spanish is only pretty bad. My goal for year's end is that my Spanish will only be not so bad. 

And then, there is the question of culture. It is a different world here. The school, in its structure and pedagogical practices are different too. I often feel as if I am not sure what is going on around me - and often I am not. Fortunately, there are other teachers at my school from the United Sates who are doing a year of teaching here. We spend a lot of time commiserating with each other. 

One of the things that is different is the political activism in the country and in the school. For instance, recently, students in all parts of Chile have been protesting about the educational system. The students, especially in the universities, are unhappy with the quality of education. The result is that they go on strike and stage protests. Last Wednesday, the students in the high school section all walked out of class and headed to the gym to discuss the issue. This was unauthorized by the administration and 100% organized by the students. Supposedly, tomorrow, most of the students will go on strike and stage some type of protest outside our school or downtown. It is not that our students have problems with our school in particular. They are attempting to be in solidarity with other students in the country. 

Still, I do like it here in Chile and at the school. This has been a very enriching experience. I only wish I had better language ability and cultural understanding at this time so that I could be a more effective teacher. These abilities will come in time. Here are two pictures from Saint George's from this past Friday. The first one is from student council campaigns during the morning break. The second is from the electric car competition from the technology class.