Settling in

Yes, we made it past the first day!

We’ve now been living in Piura for one month. Already some of the things that seemed strange or different are seeming normal, ordinary. So it’s hard to know what to comment on. I’ll just try to let you know some basics of living and working here.
The house is working out great. This picture is me in my school uniform with the girls, in front of the house, ready to go to school. We have moved into the master bedroom upstairs, with its own bathroom, and a large window over the front yard. (Only lasted a week in the room down the street). The neighborhood is very nice. We have a lovely park just a few doors down the street; there are trees all over town. Piura is famous in fact, for the algarrobo tree, which is sometimes described as carob, but belongs to the mesquite family. It grows quite tall, maybe 50 feet, and provides a lot of shade. Good thing, too. It's only winter, but it's often 80-85 F with humidity around 65-70%. Not exactly The Dalles.

We share the house with Gina (pronounced Yee-na), the niece of Ceci, and the “chica”, the maid, named Yobani. Both are about 24 years old and very pleasant to be around. Gina is finishing her college degree in Administration (?) while working part time at a major bank. Her boyfriend Ivan ( Ee-vahn) works there too, which is nice since we’ve needed a little banking help. Everything goes smoother if you know someone.

At first I shared a taxi to school with Ceci and the girls since we all headed the same direction, but now I have my own “movilidad.” This means I have contracted with a specific taxi driver (part of a large, radio contacted company) to pick me up at the door and take me to school every day. I pay for a month’s service in advance. Ceci helped me get a fair deal, and Señor Cesar is safe and dependable. This picture shows a mototaxi right in front of our taxi on the road to school.

Once I get to school, I sign in by 7:30 a.m. at the gate with the security guard, a nice woman called Mili (Milagros). A high red-and-white-painted brick wall surrounds the entire campus. In the morning we all enter thru one door; in the afternoon, we exit on the other side (again, staff signs out. Kids just leave.) Actually, many stay after school for basketball, drumming (on a box called a cajon), tutoring, making up work, etc. Staff stays until 4 p.m., many later.
At school I teach 5 different levels of English at the “secondaria” level, which works out to about 7th or 8th graders thru juniors/seniors in U.S. schools. The youngest are about 13, oldest, around 17. I see each group every day, but at different times. Most classes are 50 minutes long. I also travel to each of their classrooms, which requires a previously-unknown level of organization on my part and sometimes results in leaving things behind—like chalk, masking tape, guitar, CD player, notes, and “papelotes,” which are large papers sort of like butcher paper that we can write notes on to avoid using the chalkboard all the time. They’re easier for the kids to read, and if we want to put something up again, there it is (if we can find it!)

Classes are large, ranging from 25 to 32 kids each. The rooms have hard walls and openable windows that let in lots of air and noise from other classrooms. Small sounds are quickly amplified, so it gets noisy very easily. I find this difficult, but hope I will get used to it. I miss my carpeted floor and sound-absorbing curtains. Each room has two ceiling fans, which is wonderful. They are actually pretty quiet. As the weather gets warmer, I suspect they will run full speed, full time. In the mornings sometimes the kids don’t want them on because it’s cold (68-70 F.)
My colleagues are friendly and helpful. We English teachers have gone out a couple of times together, which has been fun. We went to a presentation in English last Friday by an American woman talking about Lines of Communication. Even though she was trying to sell her book, she did have some good ideas. Afterwards Leroy joined us for some amazing desserts at “Capuchino’s” downtown. Those 2 extra kilos I found somewhere will stick around a while.
We’ve also joined the Club Grau, named after the local hero. There’s swimming (2 big pools), tennis (3 clay courts), weight room, and a number of other amenities, including a snack bar and a restaurant, meeting rooms, party rooms, and who knows what else. So far, I don’t have much spare time to go there, but at least we can go on the weekends.
So far, so good.