Yesterday I woke up to meet the minibus that picks the teachers up for the school that Michael is the principal of (next year he will be the director). He gave me a tour and a good idea of whats going on. Its 150 kids pre-k - 12 and school is taught in English, kids are either upper middle class, on scholarship or have an american parent, etc. Although you don´t have to have a teaching degree, the commitment is 10 monthes. However, Michael says they are always looking for after school tutors and SAT tutors and that i could probably make ends meet just tutoring a couple of hours a day. Maybe make 2000 quetzales (divide by 7.5) or 300 dollars a month. He said I could also substitute because they have no substitute teachers. He also plans to start a summer camp for the public school kids this fall, they have oct. to dec. for ¨summer¨vacation (not his school, just public).
In the afternoon I checked out a couple of spanish schools, including one that seems like the best option for volunteering as well. They have a daycare, medical clinics, and also build stoves for rural families (because of respiratory problems and dangerous current practices i believe). It is 35 a week to live with a host family and get 3 meals a day or michael pays 100 a month to share a really nice house. For 5 hours of spanish one on one, 5 days a week it costs 125 and the money helps fund the community projects. There are a lot of spanish schools, a lot of organizations with ads for english teachers, etc. I´m considering the following for next winter:
Leave AK end of sept.
Visit KS
Guate from Oct-Dec
KS for Xmas
Anchorage for January
Mid-Feb head to New Zealand for 2 months
I figure this keeps everyone happy, including the alaskan govt and assures that i will get christmas presents.
There is a cruise on April 12 from NZ to Hawaii, there are also 2 week cruises around NZ all the time. Also, friend Nick Johnson from AK just got a job on the Millenium ship, which will be down there, and I think he can bring guests for $10 a day.
Yesterday I also did my laundry and some other errands. I bought a 4 dollar ticket to go to some hot springs for this morning and was planning to get a massage for 12 dollars an hour but the Dutch guy told me last night that he and some others were planning to go visit the indigenous village where the peace corps volunteer (with curly long blonde hair and bandana), Cody, works. So I switched plans only to find out we might not even see Cody, as he was working away from the village. Well, we didn´t really have a plan or know the exact buses to take but we ended up making it there in about 2-3 hours. The village was bigger than we expected and like many places in Guate., not much was going on. We walked around a little, got something to eat, the guys tried to find a strip club (ha ha), we then happened to run into Cody (not quite as tall as he could have been), then we had to hop a bus back so that Dutch guy and English guy could make it rugby practice. Although this town has 100K people, 4 of the 5 people I was with today know Michael either from rugby or from his roommate.
In summary, the excursion today was a pretty uneventful experience. Kinda wished I would have stuck with my plan, but going to hot springs by myself would have meant being a little bored and not having anyone to watch my stuff get stolen while i soaked. And I couldn´t get anyone to answer at the massage place. Cody is coming to town for the weekend because the rugby team has a game against Guate. City but I am leaving tomorrow, probably hop a luxury motorcoach for the 4-5 hour ride to the city. Spend the night by the airport and fly out Fri. AM.
2 comments:
You might not be getting enuf sleep. (Or too much non-Amer. beer)! Had a harder time following your thots. :)
I visited Hilda Sunday. Mon. evening she fell in her room, broke hip, had to be taken by ambulance to hospital. Not in good shape at all. Surgery on hip scheduled for Thursday. Thot wrist mite be broken too, but it's not. She's pretty drugged and asleep most of the time. Terri has to find a nursing home to take her by Monday - almost impossible. She can't go back to her apt. She didn'tremember 'Karie', 'Kristen', anymore. Just asked 'who'?
Had choir solo auditions this week, long, some kids don't practice and embarass themselves. Others are amazingly terrific singers and work hard!
My students' (17) recital is this Fri evening. This KU plays 1st game in Sweet 16. Then NO piano lessons for April or May! Should make somebody very happy.
Mom
Recital went very well! Got flowers and gifts from students. KU easily won tonite to make it to Elite 8. Heard you stopped by the lower 48 (Florida) for a brief period on your way back south. Glad you're where it's warm. STill cold here, might even freeze next wk. Which cruise were you on Freedom of the Seas? a students' family just took a cruise with them in March. Baseball tomorrow, then Sunday at 4, I have to ride the bus with highschoolers to Lawrence where Chorale and Madrigals perform in Dr. Dunn's church Sunday nite. They're a good group to practice on. Mrs. O came in and helped prepare Madrigals on a couple pieces. It was great to see her again! She asked about you.
Stay safe and don't get any diseases,
Goodnite. Mom
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