Routine established.

I made it through the first week of all my community classes. The youth and adult classes are gigantic (50-60 people in each class) and, surprisingly, the adult class is more difficult to manage than the youth class. The youth pay more attention and don´t talk as much with each other while I´m talking, and for this reason they are already ahead of the adult class, after only 2 days. Still, both classes are way too big and would be so much more productive with smaller numbers. Last night I had a few adults sitting outside the classroom because there wasn´t anymore room inside. The delegate from the Ministry of Education (my main Nica boss) came by to check it out. I think he was a little shocked by the overflowing classroom. Unfortunately, I don´t have any extra time in my schedule to break them up into smaller groups.

The sixth grade classes have been a little more challenging, though I was able to consolidate two groups into one so I have two sections instead of three now. The kids don´t seem to absorb much or anything of what I´m teaching them, despite the fact that children are supposed to be able to learn foreign languages easier.

Sunday was the anniversary of Sandino´s death. Sandino is like Nicaragua´s George Washington, except he led the revolution and started the Sandinista movement. At school yesterday, Monday, to honor this date, there was an ¨acto¨ at school. I felt like I was in East Germany getting ready to go off to war. They played military songs that condemned the gringos/yankees and were chanting things about patriotism, solidarity and, of course, ¨Viva Sandino!¨ Some kids dressed up in military fatigues and the majority of the 600+ students had an FSLN (Sandinista) or Nicaraguan flag. The best part is that they made me sit in front of everyone with the honored guests-- the mayor and the delegate from the Ministry of Education--so I had to feign enjoyment.

I started to think that things with my iffy counterpart were going better until the other day. She came up with excuses for not planning three times in a row. Then she showed me her plan book where she had copied (alone), word for word, from a manual made by Peace Corps that we use for ideas (not entire plans). I asked her nicely if we could do it together next time. We´ll see how that goes.

In other news, I think my pet chicken ran away, was stolen or was eaten by a bigger animal. I haven´t seen her in over 3 days. Her single, working mother (me!) didn´t have enough time to pay attention to her. Oh well...at least I won´t have to deal with convincing people not to eat her.