Treasure Hunting!

How to end the week on a high? Hold a Treasure Hunt of course!

So that´s exactly what we did. After having spent the week looking at jobs, workplaces (including different types of shops), and how to give directions, we left the classroom and headed for the streets of Sucre.

Juan and I each took half the class out of the Fox Academy, with our set of English directions leading each group in opposite directions. The groups´task was to correctly follow the directions around the city, answering questions about shops and landmarks along the way, before finally heading towards the main Plaza... where the first group to find Rob and successfully recite the tongue twister was the winning team! My (mainly female) team´s progress was hampered by the various groups of teenage boys waging a guerilla water-bomb war against any similar-aged girl they spotted! Juan´s team managed to reach the the target first, and were busily tucking into a bag of chocolates when my group arrived. To console ourselves we tucked into the consolation bag of biscuits, as team mates (and Rob and I) attempted to dodge more flying water-filled grenades!

¿Como terminar la semana alegre? ¡Con una Caza de Tesoro por supuesto!

Entonces eso es exactamente lo que hicimos. Despues de una semana aprendiendo vocabulario como trabajos, lugares de trabajar (incluyendo los typos de tiendas diferentes), salimos de la aula y fuimos en las calles de Sucre.

Juan y yo ambos tuvimos un grupo de estudiantes y con nuestras paginas de instrucciónes fuimos en direcciónes diferentes. Lo que los grupos tuvieron que hacer fue seguir los direciónes (en inglés por supuesto), dando respuestas a preguntas sobre los tiendas que pasamos, antes de llegando a la Plaza central... donde el primer equipo que pudió hallar Roberto y decir la trabalenguas ganó! Mi equipo (de quién la mayoría fueron chicas) fue un poco mas despacio porque hubo muchas grupos de muchachos con bombas de agua, y ellos lanzaronlas a nosotros muchas veces! El equipo de Juan halló Roberto antes de nosotros y comían unas chocolates (el premio) cuando llegamos. Por consuelo, comimos unas galletas y tratamos a huir de los bombas de agua volando!

And now a few words from our sponsors...

Bolivian students have their say!

We were delighted to discover this week that some of our students have posted comments on this blog. For the benefit of our English-speaking readers, here they are with the English translations... (Fuimos muy alegres esta semana cuando descubrimos que unos alumnos habian escrito unas cosas en esta pagina web. Por nuestras amigos ingléses, sus palabras estan aqui con las traducciónes ingléses...)

"Eso no es cierto fue por flogero que los hombres perdieron no por ser dificil eso es todo." (Una repuesta al artículo “Hombres V Mujeres”.)

"That is not true - it was just because we were slack that the men lost, not because it was difficult!" (In response to the “Hombres V Mujeres” article.)


"Pues quiero decirles que soy uno de esos estudiandes es toy aprendiendo el ingles gracias a ellos yo les agradesco de todo corazon lo que me han enceñado yo siempre los voy a recordar. GRACIAS."

"Well I am one of the students learning English thanks to them (the volunteers). I am grateful to them with all my heart for what they have taught me. I will always remember them.
THANK YOU."

Vote SI or No..... the choice is yours... but the fireworks will happen eitherway!

Vote SI or No..... the choice is yours... but the fireworks will happen eitherway!

Sometimes a vote comes and goes with little interest by the public in the UK, for example a referendum on the single currency or whether or not Gordon Brown should be Prime Minister (Sorry the later never occurred). Still many people would not have noticed either way.

This is certainly not the case in Bolivia... and in this instance an imminent vote that appears to be on the face of it a low level attempt to alter the constitution and allow the unlimited reign of power for admittedly the first truly indigenous leader of Bolivia has stirred the public. Just for a moment bear in mind all the issues that Bolivia has, then imagine a place like Latin America that likes to mix its Politics with both fiestas and explosions, and you soon realise this one was going to be contentious.

Back in Sept 2008 another vote bought about a hostile reaction and the police and military needed to protect the seats of power in various locations https://www.economist.com/research/backgrounders/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12260915. However with such a significant divide between societies haves and have not´s then it is easy to understand that voting in Bolivia is as important to the people as food and shelter. What ever unfolds over the next 7 days in the final push for votes, one thing is certainly going to happen and that is a 24hr curfew on transport of people before the election and it will last until 48hrs afterwards. Civil interest in the government actions, who would have thought this would be more alive and well in South America than in our western economies.

Of course you don´t have to believe what I say just have a look at this weeks economist... a passport to utopia... http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12974135

There be dinosaurs here.... well there be dinosaur footprints!

There be dinosaurs here.... well there be dinosaur footprints!

Yes we have just returned from Jurassic park in the heart of south america and wow I really enjoyed it. In addition to the weather being spectacular we had the opportunity to see a the original footprints of dinosaurs seemingly climbing up a sheer rock face (the consequence of the techtononic shifts that has occurred post Jurassic period).

Its incredible to think that at some point in the past these now sheer vertical rock faces were flat and this was actually a major route for migrating dinosaurs on route to the warmth of Argentina. Now I have to admit despite being huge and having only a small brain they did have there heads switched on in order to find the warm weather. This is something we hope to do just before we return to the UK and ensure that we get some proper beach action in Brazil.

Still to end on the dinosaurs, I now finally understand why my running route has 2 dinosaurs on it, which 1st thing in the morning look very hungry. Definitely a good motivator to run up the hill faster. RAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

To D.E.L.E or not to D.E.L.E... that is the question!

To D.E.L.E or not to D.E.L.E... that is the question!

I am sure that many of you are not too sure what such a statement could possibly mean. But the D.E.L.E exams are official Spanish Language exams offered by the Institute de Cevantes. They are a an official recognition of your language capabability and range from Inicio all the way through to GOD of Spanish. Sadly I feel that neither of us are quite capable of claiming God like Spanish status despite our advanced readings of Harry Poter in Spanish. Still completion of one or more of these are certainly possible with the appropriate preperation.

This next few weeks therefore are all about focusing for this objective. To this end a big thanks needs to go to the Bolivian Spanish School www.bolivianspanishschool.com and specifically to Carlos one of our language teachers who has produced a CD with information relating to the DELE exam which should assist greatly in the preparation for these exams. To this end I guess that all that is required upon return to the UK which will soon be upon us, is move to a location where a preparation refresher course can take place before taking the examination.

First however is a trip to the Amazon and of course the Rio Carnival!

The Fast & The Furious

"If you can dodge a spanner, you can dodge a ball!"

The Fast...
Well, we didn´t quite follow Patches O’Houlihan´s advice to the letter but dodgeball proved to be a useful component of our teacher´s toolbox this week. We try to start every lesson with an energiser that also revises words learnt in the previous few days. On Monday the energiser was Dodgeball... after giving out various items of clothing (hats, scarfs, coats, gloves etc), we started the game: when I shouted the name of an item of clothing, anybody wearing it had to run to the other side of the playground, whilst dodging the ball that was thrown at them by a person standing in the middle. Anybody hit by the ball then swapped to become the ball thrower. Students´aims weren´t always spot on (I can identify with that!) but their speed across the yard was impressive! Good fun too - I for one was quite reluctant to go inside to start the´lesson proper´afterwards!

...& The Furious!
Another energiser this week brought out the competitive streak in our class. Split into two teams, the task was for individual team members to race against the opposition to rip the correct word (written on a piece of paper) off the board after hearing a description of it. The competition got pretty intense - the classroom soon broke out into a cacophony of noise as players´team-mates frantically shouted the answers and directed them to where the correct paper was on the board! At one point Rob had to intervene to break up a tussle between José and Alex!


Today will be little calmer, as we´re watching an English film (my vote would be with Sweeney Todd but we´ll have to see what the class elects to watch... hopefully no fights will ensue!).


Los Rapidos & Los Furiosos!
"Si puede escabullirse una llave iglesa, puede escabullirse una pelota!"

Los Rapidos...
Pues, no seguimos exactamente los consejos de Patches O’Houlihan, pero Dodgeball fue muy util esta semana! Tratamos a empezar cada clase con un juego, para dar enegía a los alumnos y para revisar las palabras aprendidos mientras los días antes. El lunes, el juego fue ´Dodgeball´... después que habíamos dado a los estudiantes unas artículos de la ropa (e.j. sombreros, bufandas, abrigos, guantes), comenzamos el juego: cuando grité el nombre de un artículo, todos las personas quien se lo llevaban tuvieron que correr al otro lado del patio de recreo, mientras que se escabullieren la pelota. Los apuntos no estaban siempre exactamente en punto (como yo!) pero la velocidad a través del patio fue impressionante! Fue divertido tambien - no quisé volver en la clase para trabajar después!

... y los Furiosos!
En un otro juego, había dos equipos quién trataron de estar el premio a escoger la palabra correcta después que habían oído la descripción (e.j. "The day after Tuesday"). Las palabras estaban escritos en papeles individuales y pegados a la pizarra. Una persona de cada equipo tuvo que tratar de conseguir el papel correcto antes que su rival. La competencia lleguo a ser intense - la aula se llené con ruido cuando los membros de los equipos gritaron a los jugadores para decir donde estaban las repuestas correctas! Una vez Roberto tuvo que intervenir para parar una lucha entre José y Alex!

La clase sera un poco mas tranquilo hoy, porque vamos a mirar una pelicula inglé (yo votaré por Sweeney Todd peru la class hará la decision... espero sin peleando!!).

Hombres V Mujeres: Spell Off!

A tense spell-off was the culmination yesterday afternoon of a busy week in class, as the spelling competition boiled down to two pairs: Francisco and Brayan (the hombres) versus Andi and Claudia (the mujeres).

During the week we had taught a variety of topics, mainly clothing, body parts, and food. The walls of the classroom are starting to fill up nicely now with flipchart papers completed to help everybody remember the content of lessons and examples of the students´own work. And teaching isn´t just confined to the classroom: I have found myself making friends with the local shoeshiners in the main plaza (boys aged mainly 9-14), who I have been teaching English words to in compensation for them not being able to ´shine´my fabric sandals.

Yesterday was a fun lesson, including the ´Meal Game´ devised by Rob (mainly involving the children being given the name of a food item each and the instruction to find other people with whom they could form a complete meal... only after they´d sprinted across the playground and back though!). At the end the class teacher, Juan, set a spelling competition with a prize for the winning pair: lunch at his house at the weekend, accompanied by me and Rob! As we couldn´t choose between the two best pairs, we had a ´spell-off´to determine the winner. ´Sweater´ proved a test too far for the boys, so the girls won the day with a correct spelling (with letters pronounced the English way) of ´finger´.

Now all that remains to do is go to eat: Buen Provecho!

Now an attempt at a rough translation for our new Bolivian friends…

Después de una semana muy activa en la clase, ayer en la tarde tuvimos una competición de ortografía, en que hubo dos parejas de finalistas: los Hombres (Francisco & Bryan) y las Mujeres (Andi & Claudia)!

Mientras la semana, habíamos enseñado sujetas diferentes, incluyendo la ropa, las partes del cuerpo, y la comida. Las paredes de la aula se llenan con los papeles ahora, para que los estudiantes pudieran recordar lo que han aprendido, y con su propio trabajo tambien. Y las clases no tienen lugar solamente en la escuela: he llegado a ser una amiga de los chicos quien limpian los zapatos en la plaza tambien (de edad 9-14), y los he enseñado unas palabras inglés tambien (como compensación que no pueden limpiar mis sandalias de tela)!

Ayer tuvimos una clase divertida, incluyendo la ´Juego de Comida´ de Rob (dimos a cada estudiante un nombre de un tipo de comida y ellos debieron hallar otros estudiantes con quien pudieron hacer un plato completo… después que habían corrido al otro lado del patio de recreo y regressado!). Al fin de la clase el profesor, Juan, organicé la competición de ortografía con un premio: almorzar a su casa con Rob y yo! No pudimos escoger entre los equipos, y entonces tuvimos un ´spell-off´. La palabra ´sweater´era muy difícil por los hombres, y Andi gané por las mujeres con ´finger´!

Ahora, vamos a comer! Buen Provecho!

Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Knees & Toes)!

Lesson Number One: Success!

Using a mixture of activities from choral drilling (everybody repeating words together... nothing to do with electric drills), to drawing, to miming and games, we taught our young charges the English names for numerous parts of the body yesterday afternoon. Some of the children already knew some of the words, but for others it was all new. Either way, there were new words in there for everybody, and of course a good chance for us to correct their pronunciation.

The trickiest part of the lesson was probably persuading the wanabee artists of the class to concentrate more on labelling their pictures rather than sketching a masterpiece (although I had to admit their artwork was pretty impressive)! At the end of the afternoon we couldn´t let the children go without ending on a high, so we launched into a (perhaps slightly out-of-tune) rendition of that old classic: Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. It had to be done! The kids seemed to enjoy joining in anyway, and with a repeat rendition every now and then it should hopefully help them to remember at least some of what we taught them.

After we returned home from class, the local area seemed to erupt into various celebrations, mainly accompanied by running comentaries on loud speakers... 6th January is an important day here, celebrating the visit of the Three Kings to newborn Jesus. Brightly coloured processions had paraded through the streets during the day, sweets thrown to gathered crowds, and in the evening the festivities continued. We are currently considering starting a campaign to introduce this custom in England: what a great way to postpone the January and February blues?!

Lesson Planning in the Plaza

Learning children´s names, dodging running verb-game competitors, and wiping chalk dust off our clothes... all in a day´s work!

Monday 5th Jan 2009 was the first day in class for Rob and me and the first day back after the Christmas festivities for children at the Fox Academy. After we introduced ourselves to the group and the children had all told us their names and ages, it was onto a competition: Hombres V Mujeres! The competition covered various nouns and verb conjugations that the children had learnt over the past month... and surprise surprise the girls came out top (some things never change)! As it was our first time in school, the teacher led the class whilst Rob and I helped to judge and spur the children on... from here on we will be taking a much more active role, and hope to help the students (aged 7-15) to really progress by the time their summer school finishes.

In the evening after class we headed to the Plaza de Mayo 25 in the centre of town (still beautifully decorated with Christmas lights) to plan the next day´s lesson: body parts. Hopefully we will have enough varied material and activities to keep everybody occupied and interested! As the school does not have a great deal in the way of resources, we also compiled a shopping list, which I have today been out purchasing from our friendly local stationery shop: flipchart paper, marker pens, coloured pencils... got a bit stuck when it came to the spanish for blue tac but nevermind!

For now, I can´t get "heads, shoulders, knees and toes..." out of my head...

Volunteering in a Sucre School

Today we moved in with a Bolivian family, consisting of Jorge, Lumen and their two daughters, and will tomorrow be starting our volunteering at the Fox Academy in central Sucre.

The academy (aka Instituto Fox) was set up by the Fox family in 1982 with the aim of helping underpriviledged Bolivian children and adults to improve their English, thus also improving their employment prospects. In later years, the organisation was expanded to teach Spanish to visiting foreigners, thereby subsidising the English teaching by 50%. Rob and I will therefore be contributing by paying for morning Spanish lessons and then volunteering to teach English in the afternoons.

After a warm welcome this morning from the family we´re staying with, we met with Consuelo, the director of the academy. It was great to finally put a face to the name with whom I´d swapped many emails over the past few months! She explained that at first we´ll be working alongside one of their paid teachers and then taking over ourselves in order to allow the teacher to get on with lesson planning and marking. We will be working with 15 eight-thirteen year-olds, and are both really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after our Christmas and New Year ´holiday´(and of course Rob has already identified a running route in order to burn off all those salteñas...). So, let the classes begin!

For more info on the Fox Academy, see http://www.foxacademysucre.com/index.shtml .

How Do You Eat Yours?!

After seeing in the New Year in La Paz, we have moved to Bolivia´s official capital in the south of the country: Sucre.

Sucre is a beautiful colonial city with whitewashed buildings (unlike the grey 1960s / 70s ones we saw in La Paz), and so far seems quite relaxed (again unlike the frenzy and pollution of La Paz, as depicted in the recent Bond film Quantum of Solace!). On arrival yesterday we put our new found skill in salteña-eating into practice... The Bolivian delicacies, salteñas, are like good old-fashioned Cornish Pasties (proper meat/chicken and potato filling, not gristle and gravy), with the additional fillings of an olive, boiled egg, and lots of juice (the latter being the tricky part). I have found the whole experience a bit like the old Cadburys Cream Egg adverts... How Do You Eat Yours?! The choices are endless (many involving getting covered chin to waist in juice), but having studiously watched the locals, the most effective methods seem to be either biting the end off and drinking the juice out before tackling the rest (if eating on the move), or delicately piercing a hole in the top with a teaspoon and scooping out the insides before eating the pastry (if in a salteñeria). Either way: yum!

Next culinary mission: to test out Sucre´s reputation as the chocolate capital of Bolivia...