As I joked around and said goodbye to my colleagues after work
today, I just had to smile. How incredibly lucky am I to be able to
experience teaching in a Mexican public school for the year! I’ve
been to Mexico many times as a tourist, but to stay for an entire
school year to work and live with my family is a sensational
opportunity.
As I joked around and said goodbye to my colleagues after work today, I just had to smile. How incredibly lucky am I to be able to experience teaching in a Mexican public school for the year! I’ve been to Mexico many times as a tourist, but to stay for an entire school year to work and live with my family is a sensational opportunity.
Although we’ve been in Mexico City since August, I continue to see things that delight and surprise me. On my walk home from work I see so many interesting things.
Women line up at the tortillerÃa to buy their fresh tortillas for lunch, the main meal of the day. They chat while old tortilla machine squeals as it squirts out the masa and then presses it into rounds. This racket competes with the music blaring out from the furniture store. The tamale man opens the big steel container to serve up tamales served in a bun (not exactly low in carbohydrates!).
I ponder having highlights done at the makeshift hair salon under a tarp, right out on the street. The fruit seller calls me over to her stand with her fruit artistically set in little piles. The mechanics covered in black grease, working on five cars at once, shift to the side of the sidewalk when a pedestrian walks by. The shaggiest dogs I’ve ever seen soak up the sun. Elementary students stream home from school in their adorable little uniforms. Families walk together arm in arm, laughing at something that happened that day. My eyes and ears feast on the sights and sounds of Mexico City.
As you can imagine, our Spanish is getting better every day. Kermit – my husband – and I smile every time our kids use some slang that they’ve learned at school. Sabine calls the snobby girls at school “fresas” and throws out “Orale” whenever she thinks something is cool.
Mexicans amaze me with their artistry in using their colorful language: they continually use proverbs, idioms, and expressions with double meaning. This has been challenging and exciting to me as I try to grasp the entire meaning of what people say. The teachers and secretaries at my school love when I whip out my little notebook to write down something they say. Every time I pepper my speech with these expressions, my colleagues crack up. They find it absolutely hilarious to have a foreigner use their colloquialisms!
Despite the ugly cement block constructions that are the dominant architectural features here, so much about Mexico is strikingly beautiful. Mexican markets always thrill me with their bursts of color and scents.
In one market in the mountains near Puebla we found live turkeys for sale, fruits I’d never seen before, necklaces made of seeds, local vanilla beans and colorful hand-sewn blouses all sold by indigenous people in their traditional costumes.
Another thing I love seeing is beautiful bougainvillea that covers fences all over the country with its bright purple flowers.
We have been enjoying some of the many well-preserved colonial towns throughout Mexico that are called “Pueblos Mágicos”. And while Mexicans travel to the U.S to shop at Target, Crate and Barrel and other big-box stores, I delight in the gorgeous textiles and ceramics that are all hand made here. Another surprise is the variety of the Mexican landscape, much of which is unspoiled and amazingly beautiful.
Although some days are very rewarding, teaching in Mexico City has been challenging. Class size is huge – most of my classes have 40 to 42 students. I still have not learned all of my students’ names!
Students seem to be used to more traditional teaching strategies, so they sometimes don’t know how to behave when I try interactive methods. The school building is made of cement blocks that reverberate every single sound! Teachers charge students for each photocopy that is made, so therefore, handouts are infrequently used. It is not uncommon for my class to be interrupted by a truck with a loudspeaker passing in front of the school, a parent asking for materials for a sick student, or even the principal asking me to leave my class to speak with her downstairs in her office!
The joys of teaching however, are universal: the relationships that one builds with the students, the excitement that one feels when students apply what you’ve taught them, the thrill you feel when you see the look of comprehension and the challenges that you overcome.
These are the things that keep teachers going – all over the world.
One of the beauties of living in a different culture is seeing things from another perspective.
It has been interesting for us to learn how Mexicans perceive their neighbors to the north. First off, they resent that we call ourselves “Americans.” They have a point, after all. Everyone who lives in North America, Central America and South America is an American.
Many people I’ve met believe that people from the U.S. have “cold” personalities. I think part of this stems from the difference in how we greet one another. In the US, we may shake hands or give a little wave hello, while here in Mexico, people greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. Even some of my students kiss me hello and then goodbye after each class!
Many Mexicans are mystified by the value placed on independence in the U.S. It’s hard for them to imagine sending their kids off into the world at the age of 18! Families in Mexico often live happily in multigenerational homes. Sundays are almost always spent with the extended family. Many of my friends here are surprised when they learn that I also value the time I spend with my family.
Part of my role as a Fulbright Teacher is to be an ambassador, to help break down the barriers between our cultures. I sincerely hope that I am fulfilling this important duty.
