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Yeah man. It´s fun to stay at the YMCA (if all the staff don't hate you - more on that later)
After a fairly relaxed tuesday where we turned up to work on the farm and discovered that the animals had already been fed due to some logistics misunderstaning the past couple of days have been a bit more eventful. Tuesday afternoon we hung out with the becarios round the pool, helped with their homework, and avoided doing a lesson for the older ones due to an extremely unfortunate power cut in the salon social.
Earlier on however, we had our first ´dispensa´. Basically, all the less well off people in the area who can't afford very good food come and line up outside the gates, Luisa takes all their names, some money, and gives them a card with a number on it, whilst lizzie, me and a few of the people there for the food lay out piles of stuff for them on a huge yellow ground sheet. It was just basic stuff like limes, milk, cereal, tins of stuff, potatoes, melon, apples, loo roll, a couple of scraggy towels, boxes of jelly, bread etc.
Then we had to stand on the sheet while another woman called out all the numbers, and check that they had paid, and make sure that they didn't mess round with the piles and take more than they should. We felt really bad standing there while they crouched on the floor with their bags that were falling apart, cramming stuff into them, little kids hanging off their arms, and old women with their husbands helping and stuff. It wasn't pretty.
BUT after we'd done that, we finally got to have lunch at about half 4 (we avoided the issue of the knife we had borrowed from the kitchens to cut the melon as we think a woman may have taken it along with her food) with all the cooks (who are a hoot). Lizzie and I ate so much that is was actually a real effort standing up again afterwards.
Yesterday, we had lessons at Amatlan. The 5th grade were okay, dead nice kids, but omgi: the 6h grade were the brats from hell. We got about half an hour of proper(ish) teaching in before all hell let loose. We literally went round the class again and again confiscating things, making them sit down, chivvying them to copy stuff off the board. Eventually we just gave up, stood there and waited for them to shut up. Then we both shouted at them in english. They thought it was hilarious - we were very annoyed indeed. So I shouted at them in spanish a bit (Which was hard, because you look a fool if you stay stuff wrong or don't know the next word). Then their teacher came in to check up on the class, and I told him that we weren't going to teach anything if the class continued to behave like this. He shouted at them, and reminded them that Jorge had asked them to respect us and pay attention when he first introduced us. It was a bit better after that, but we felt really bad for the teacher, because he was the one who was keen for us to stay and play with the kids etc. Funnily enough, we didn't that day, as we were so angry and frustrated, we just got on the bus and left after the class finished. It was pretty funny though, watching all the imaginative ways that kids can get out of a lesson - ´teacher, teacher, can I go bat-room pliz?´ - and then returning later with their dinner in a plastic bag which they have clearly gone and bought "while they were in the bathroom".
The becarios were grate though! They make our day. We´ve learnt to ply the lads with tazos, pokemon ones that you get from crisps, so we're really popular with the younger ones, and we constantly do ´high-low-jackalow´with the girls (although it is wearing a bit now). We did animals with them in their english class, and then went and sat on the field with them to wattch the lunar eclipse. It was ace. I also tried a tamarindo y chile lollypop. My god, never again. Fubu, one of the consejeros that was working with a group from the city montueswed gave us them. Out of generosity? I think not. He was very amused at our faces when we ate them. He also though it would be funny to soak us with a hose when his group were playing on a water slide thing. Oh yeah. Hilarious.
Oh, and we raked leaves again. Although we managed to head the gardener matias off for about 20 mins with conversations about where we were going at the weekends. He told us to be realy careful in mexico city, becuase we are white all the muchachos will stare at us etc. and that it would be dangerous in some parts. But he smiled and said that it was only bad men that were like that, and that most people just looked at us becuase we were beautiful. I laughed and said something along the lines of ýeah right´, and he insisted that we were, so I went red and he nearly wet himself laughing at me. I don't think embarrasment shows quite so easily on mexican faces....
This morning though was a bit wierd. It was a free morning, so we went to brekkie (there were panckaes!) about half 8, and sat with Alfredo, the camp admin guy, and urbano, the counsellor boss, and he said that if it was okay, either me or lizzie would have to work with a group of little kids (bout 5 or 6 years, 80 of them) from the city. I said I would cos lizzie wanted to do some washing, and I got changed into the uniform, and went through the program with urbano, before he told me all about what he wanted to do before he dies (bungee, air ballon, go to tibet etc.) like in the film with jack nicholson and morgan freeman. Then we went to meet the group off the coach. The teacher in charge was introduce to us by alfredo, but she looked at me dead funny when she shook my hand and Al said that I was from england. Anyway, various admin things occured, and I heard a few hushed voices. Then the camp paramedic (what a dude!) showed up, and Urbano sent me to his office to get a list of medical things for the paramedic guy. When I came back, urbano and Alfredo were looking a bit annoyed, and after 5 mins waiting around, Urbano said, vamos, and we started to walk down the path. After a bit of a wierd silence, he told me éstas libre (you´re free) so I asked why, and before he could say anything, I said, ´its because the teacher doesn't want a foreign person working with the kids?´he said yes, (I knew I'd heard the words extranjera-foreigner, and los estados unidos-usa and thought they were talking about me, but I dismissed it), and said that the teacher didn't want me to influnce the kids or something, and that I didn't have experience. Pah!
Urbano was dead gutted, really annoyed aobut it, and quite upset I think. There were defo some watery eye moments. He apologised loads and made sure that I was okay, and I said yeah, I understand etc. He went into this big speech about mexico being his home and he wants to welcome lizzie and I here and make us feel at home and comfortable, adn he doesn't like it when people act out of ignorance (I believe he called the teacher tonta-stupid, but I think he may have wanted to use a stronger word).
So, pretty soon, I´m sure most of the camp will know wha happened, but it really didn't molestar me too much, and it was nice that Urbano thanked me for being so keen to help etc. Plus, from what I can tell, and what I asked, the kids are all spoilt little brats anyway. But I really hope they enjoy their stay. Not. I think that Urbano isn't going to be too keen on working with them now after this incident, so it´s their loss of his enthusiasm.
Lizzie (who didn't believe me when I told her what happened at first) and I have decided that we are going to be the picture of politeness and buenos dias, tardes and noches the teachers left right and centre to show how un-american and culturally receptive we are.
So, off to collect the becarios soon!
Plus, we're meeting up with all the gappers this weekend in cuernavaca and then taxco - so should be fun
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