Hi again y’all. Finally able to get a little update in… I was having computer troubles, namely my computer charger stopping working, but I am back in business now (knock on wood). Thanks so much again to Salif, Mr. Donahue and the Donahue family for the help in that regard! We were recently on vacation for a couple weeks for one of the biggest holidays here, Dashain. Happy belated Dashain/Bijaya Dashamiko Shubhakamana to you all! We just started school again, but only for a couple weeks before another huge holiday, Tihar (or Diwali). It’s roughly the equivalent of Christmas and Thanksgiving holiday season at home, and I’m lucky to get to celebrate all of these holidays in the weeks ahead : )
It’s crazy that I’ve been here 3 months now. I’ve been saying lately that I’ve been learning more than I’ve been teaching. As I think may be the case for teachers all over the world, it’s hard to gauge the impact of your work. I’m just taking it one day at a time, trying to continuously step back and re-evaluate what I’m doing and improve, find the little ways I can have the most impact. But after a month and a half or so of the actual teaching, it seems to only get more and more challenging.
My schedule is still pretty much as I described before. I teach 6 periods of English grades 2-8. Four classes are English Language and two are grammar. After school I teach a class to two Sirs from my school and another nearby. To end the workday I help tutor 6th graders at home with my host sister. Before Dashain break started, I started setting up some smaller classes in the mornings before school with 1-3 students per class. This was something I decided I had to do after these weeks of teaching and observing my classes. I have been learning my students’ names, habits, personalities, and current levels of English proficiency. Combining this information with their test scores from the first exam, I started inquiring about some of my students with my co-teacher. Some attend school irregularly, some seem to have virtually no reading comprehension, some have difficulty behaving in the context of a structured class. And to be perfectly honest, some of what I’ve been finding out is heart-breaking. Many of the kids who I’ve asked about and am starting to work with outside of school are working in other people’s homes. Some are from much smaller towns and villages that are outside the Kathmandu Valley, places that can take days to get to on bus and by foot. Their families may have arranged for them to come to the Valley in the hopes that they will be able to get a better education by working in other’s homes and going to school. The reality of some of these kids’ lives sometimes seems to be different than their families’ hopes and aspirations though. Many are struggling in school, some are clearly many grade levels behind, and at times their work at home keeps them from attending school and doing homework. But some are thriving, top of their class. These challenges are difficult for my school and I to face. I just hope that with a little extra time, love, attention I can help these students and my others build a stronger base in English. Hopefully in my final blogs from Nepal I will be able to speak of such progress.
My friend asked me about my work schedule the other day and was surprised that I work from about 9-6 (without lesson planning time) 6 days a week. But I realized that those hours, which probably would have driven me insane in some of my previous jobs, aren’t so bad now. I built my schedule to be this long, and I like my work. My kids make me want to be at school. I even wished I was working during the holiday. And you can’t really beat the reception of all the “Good Morning Miss”'s I get everyday, not to mention the 4th grade girls who have started waiting for me at the bottom of my hill then run up and walk with me hand in hand to school. That starts my day with a smile, but it doesn’t stop. My second graders spontaneously sing “twinkle, twinkle little star” every time I come to their class, there’s hardly ever a day in which someone doesn’t call me beautiful, and when I leave school each day, kids of all ages like to run up for a hand shake, which is fun for them especially in its novelty to the traditional Namaste (hands pressed together as if praying). This kind of work atmosphere may very well spoil me for when I return home to any other job.
At the end of the day I’m just taking the ups with the downs, facing challenges as they come, and learning so very much. Sometimes I just stop for a moment and marvel at the fact that this is my life, and I feel again so fortunate to have this opportunity. After a hard year last year, I am so thankful to be able to say that with the highs and the lows, I’m averaging out to being very happy. My life is beautiful, it always has been, but sometimes we lose touch I think. Hope all of that doesn’t sound too cliché ;) Just thought some of y’all might appreciate a little glimpse of how I’m doing personally. I hope everyone at home is well! Please write me sometime if you get the chance! My email is k80may@gmail.com. Take care of yourselves <3
