Yo soy maestra.

As my role of maestra (teacher) is further solidified here, more and more people have started talking to me about the educational system in Mexico. Everyone knows that their children need to go to school, that it's the most important thing they can do to help their kids have a better life. But they also know that their kids hate school, and they're not really learning anything.
I want to start off with a disclaimer and say that I'm working with some of the most under-privileged people of Cuernavaca. I don't know a thing about the schools in other places, or what it's like for wealthier children to attend school. I also know that there have to be good teachers somewhere, because their are highly educated people, but I spend most of my time tutoring kids, not observing teaching methods. That said, these are some of my reflections on what I've seen.
From what I've seen, the developmental milestones which were so helpful to me in my work in Las Cruces, that describe what most children are able to do and understand at different ages, aren't in place as guidelines here. Three-year-olds in the US  are encouraged to scribble on blank paper, hopefully in semi-vertical lines. Three-year-olds in Mexico are expected to color neatly within the lines. Most six-year-olds in the US are still learning to write their names. Four-year-olds in Mexico are asked to write theirs without help.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing to me, though, is that pre-school isn't mandatory in Mexico, but the level of knowledge first graders are expected to posses before entering is not only beyond their developmental reach in my opinion, but also impossible to obtain unless they attended pre-school for at least two years. In the US, I think it's hard to deny that children who attend pre-school are ahead of the game. But I also think we try hard not to teach anything essential until the point at which ALL children are attending--early childhood curriculum, while encouraging skills that will enable future learning of reading, science, and math, really tend to lean on motor skills and social development.
I'm thinking, especially, of reading; if, in Mexico, your child doesn't learn to read when they're four, in pre-school, very little is done within the standard school system to make sure they learn how. If your child can't read, your child can't do their homework in any subject, and this line is drawn from the word go. And if your child can't do their work, gets consistently bad grades, and you have little to no time or energy to help them (if you can even read), how will your child feel about school? They're not likely to like it. They're not likely to want to go. They're likely to feel frustration and embarrassment and shame.
I am fully aware that I went to public school in a state with notoriously bad public schools. But I am so grateful for the talented and patient teachers I had (although I also had my share of bad teachers, I think), and that I never had to doubt whether I would have the opportunity to go to school. I ask you to remember that, although I write about Mexico, there are also people in the US who don't have the same opportunities for education that you and I often take for granted. Please, please, support the DREAM Act, which would give undocumented minors who have been in the US for an extended amount of time a chance to go to college. It's not difficult to write a quick letter or email to your representatives, and it makes a huge difference in the outcome of legislation. I definitely don't think that the DREAM Act is perfect, but it's a step in what I consider to be the right direction; it's a step toward realizing the ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all.

Harry Potter "review" **SPOILERS**

Some of you know my long-standing avoidance of the Harry Potter series, but I'll briefly explain it here for those who don't know.
I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when it first came out, like essentially everyone of my generation, but I wasn't grabbed by it. I only vaguely noticed what a cult phenomenon it was becoming while I was in high school. But when I was studying literature in college, I became increasingly annoyed by the people in my upper level courses, trying to tie every concept to Harry Potter. I'm sorry, but no. Harry Potter is adolescent literature. It's really good adolescent literature, but it still isn't a substitute for Marquez or O'Connor or Camus or Tolstoy. Read a book. This I maintain.
At the same time, I made best friends with a real Harry Potter fan, and I went to see the movies with him. Despite his arguments, I still refused to read the books, but I was intrigued most by his claim that the themes and conflicts get increasingly complex as the characters grow.
So what broke me? During my BSC year, I was really struggling with how awful the world seemed, and I felt like I couldn't read any of the "serious" books I owned. So I borrowed... Twilight. I know. I know. But it was available, and mindless, and I was bored. At the same time, excitement was building for the movie of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We went to the premiere. Despite complaints about the movie's accuracy, I was definitely intrigued by how dark this movie was, by the honestly compelling emotional trauma of characters good and bad. So, I decided that if I could get through Twilight, Harry Potter couldn't be that bad.

Before the spoiler-hiding-cut, I have to say that
Neville is clearly the man!
Also, have you seen a recent picture of Matthew Lewis?
Yowza! Who'dathunkit that he'd ever grow into those teeth!
photo here.

So, now that I'm done, here are some of my thoughts.

**SPOILERS FOLLOW** If you don't want to know some things about the ending, don't read any more! Or don't be mad at me if you ruin it for yourself!

Harry Potter, knitting, and my feud with UPS (a rare light-hearted post)

I got mail this week! WAHOO! and what an ordeal it was!

The details are boring. The thrust is this: if you're planning to mail me anything other than a letter (which can be sent through the normal mail fairly safely), use DHL, and make sure it wasn't made in China (I'll have to pay a lot of money to get it) or it isn't food (I may or may not get it, and I may or may not have to pay for it). Also, you should know that my mom is awesome. AND, that's the world's most expensive candy corn and it took me at least 10 pieces to get them stuck on my teeth right. I feel richer and more wasteful than I have since getting here. 
I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in under 30 hours of receiving it, and that included two full work days. I... I have too much to say.
I've also been excitedly knitting, since about four skeins of sock weight yarn got through customs. I'm having fun making this pattern for someone, although I have to confess I'm less pleased with the color combination now that I'm mid-project than I was when I picked the yarn out. I think, mostly, because it's one I've used before, and I usually try to be a little more original than that. Oh well. You'll get over it, mystery-gift-recipient ;).

Update on La Estación

Firstly, I wanted to thank all of you for the many messages of support and concern I got since I last wrote. It means more than words can say to know that you are all thinking of me and my community of service.
I wanted to share that the young woman I wrote about in my last post has been found, dead, in a different part of town. While it's horrible that she was taken from this community, the general feeling is of relief that at least now her body can be at peace, and we can rest in the knowledge of knowing where she is. There have been additional deaths, but Andrea, Fresvinda, and I are agreed that while we're not ready to change my work schedule back, there's still no reason to think I need to be removed from the place entirely.
I had a good conversation with Andrea yesterday in which I was finally able to voice my confusion, indeed my frustration, about my work placement (stick with me here--this is good news). I had hoped I wouldn't have to teach English this year. I had hoped I would be able to work more hands-on in women's issues. I had hoped.... for so much. It's impossible not to romanticize something that doesn't exist yet. I think it's only natural that upon arrival for a year of who-knows-what, we start to think "What am I DOING here?!"

La Estación - a prayer request

I wrote a lot in my last newsletter about the neighborhood where I spend most of my working hours, la estación. I feel it's important to share a news update, but I first want to stress that I am fine, that there's no reason to think I'm in any more danger now than I was when I first agreed to come to Mexico, and that there are lots of people spending a lot of time thinking about my safety.

image via google search, which took me here

The thrust is this: please be praying, in whatever way you can, for the people of this community. For their safety, for their peace, for their restored ability to trust one another, for the opportunity and the challenge we now face: to join one another in the small steps that can better our world.

I think we should come home covered in confetti more often.

My friend and fellow YAGM Anneli was kind enough to come to a 5 year old's birthday party with me this weekend. I thought this picture was fantastic and I wanted to share it with you this week. We got covered in confetti, which was annoying at first, but then it suddenly became unbearably funny (mostly because of how much ended up falling down my back and into my pants, I think) and we were scraping it off the table to throw more at each other. 

I haven't been taking a bunch of pictures, since I'm still trying to get know people, and I think whipping out my camera separates me from the action of life, but there are a few new things posted on my flickr, mostly of birthday parties.

Newsletter

The newest newsletter is now posted here.

¡feliz cumpleaños, hermanito!

My little brother's getting all grown up. It's this little guy's 21st today!

 I hope you had a good one, Buttface.