Miss! Miss Jane Lee!

School has begun!

Here is a little bit snapshot of what my first week looked like:

Days 1-3: 

Such a blur. The first few days went pretty well. Just the normal amount of craziness that is to be expected in the beginning of the year. The students were so cute and excited to be at school. 

I team teach with another teacher so we share two classes of kids for a total of 38 students. This means that I only teach Language Arts and Social Studies and my partner teacher does Math and Science.

My biggest challenges the first few days were learning names and remembering what I did with which group. The kids are lucky because they don't have to learn anyone's name. The students address all the teachers as "Miss." There is one little girl however, who calls me "MissJaneLee!" Luckily my name is only two syllables.

Days 4-7:

Adjusting like crazy this week and learning a lot...

1. Teaching different grades in elementary can really be like completely different jobs.

2. 9AM rolls around and it's tough - we're all starving (students + teacher). Days start really early here. Kids are in my room at 6:50.

3. 9AM - also the hottest part of the day.

4. Finally on day 7 I learned to strategically position everyone under the fans and have them eat a snack with a timer. 9AM on day 7? Exponentially better. Small successes like these can make a teacher's day.

5. Why with a timer? Because of instructional minutes! Schedules never include passing time.

6. There's a lady at school that calls me "Miss Jahnay" but it sounds like "Miss Llane" when she says it. Funny every time.

7. Mosquitoes are my biggest problem.

8. Mosquitoes are everywhere.

9. Today I ran out of my room because I moved a box and a swarm of mosquitoes came flying out from under.

10. All I want to talk about are mosquitoes.

Some photos of my classroom:

Something else I have always believed but never experienced firsthand until now -- The importance of students having teachers that look like them or have a similar background as them. There is a sizable Korean population at the school (maybe 1-5 per grade) and some of the kids have approached me in the cutest ways. A couple of 2nd grade girls approached me during recess and gave me a vocabulary test to make sure I was "really Korean." I'm glad that something so simple could be exciting for them.

The day I don't have any mosquito bites will be the day that is exciting for me.

MI PRIMER DIA EN NICARAGUA

One of the things that I love about being in another country is that accomplishing the most everyday task can feel so rewarding. Due to a misunderstanding with my liaison, I showed up with zero Nicaraguan currency. Consequently today's mission was to go into town and get some córdobas!

This is the gate from the inside of my school after barely getting back. **Teacher friends: I actually mean "barely" not "just."

Some takeaways from my first day:

1. Managua is not very walkable. Leaving my apartment is a mission in itself. Looks like I’ll be taking lots of taxis!

2. I think the guards at the gate of my school/home are going to be my first friends.

3. ATM’s are a great place to get local currency (was also true in Argentina & Uruguay).

4. Malls in Nicaragua are fancy places where people want to spend their time (was also true in Argentina, NOT true in the U.S.)

5. Prices are quoted sometimes in USD and sometimes in córdobas -- idk why yet, but this makes things confusing since 1USD = 27c$ and I don’t know how much anything should cost. 

6. It’s really exciting to see Koreans when in another country. Heard some little girl call for her “umma” as I was getting into my taxi and I felt strangely at ease seeing them. So much that I would have talked to them if I wasn’t already getting into my taxi. 

7. Days are short here. Sunset today was at 6:12 PM.

Foreign currency always feels like play money.

My first purchase using córdobas. They also had wifi here!