Dizzying December Days

While living in the United States, December easily qualified as the most hectic and stressful month of the year. Not only was I on a quest to find the perfect Christmas gifts for my friends and family, but I also needed to study for finals exams, write far too many papers, and try (and fail) to dominate TUXC's annual triple crown. It was absolute madness.

Yet, nothing could prepare me for the month of December in Zamora. It was absolute locura highlighted by the discovery of my perfect new penthouse apartment, too many afternoons spent reiterating the forms to the verb “be” to students attending mandatory recuperation after classes, and some narrow victories in the annual sport's tournament at the colegio.

The “Penthouse”

As a member of Omnibus 106 in Ecuador, I am amongst the final generation of Peace Corps volunteers in Ecuador who will have the opportunity to live without a host family during their service ostensibly due to security concerns although many suspect budget concerns may be the more compelling reason behind the policy switch. Thus, the vast majority of my fellow PCVs and I formally moved into our new dwellings in December.

Given that I enjoy an excellent relationship with my host family, I admittedly put very little effort until December when I had the realization that I needed to move quickly to comply with Peace Corps regulations. Will, a fellow PCV in Zamora, had been searching for months with little success. Few of the vacant apartments in Zamora fulfilled Peace Corps guidelines. Yet, I somehow managed to stumble upon a gem within hours of beginning my search and moved in about a week later.

My apartment, affectionately dubbed the penthouse, sits atop a four story building on a hillside above town. Although I love the kitchenette with windows overlooking banana trees and my spacious bedroom, my favorite feature is an enormous terraza overlooking the entire city and surrounding hillsides. Whenever the sun shines (admittedly a rarity lately as we enter the rainy season), I can lay in my hammock, roast my skin, and emerge myself in a book in spite of the cacophony of reggaeton music and birdcalls rising from Zamora and its surroundings. Heavenly.

And, surprisingly, I'm not actually living entirely alone. Unfortunately, my apartment is also home to far too many cockroaches, lizards, and chickens that have escaped from a neighboring coop. So, in spite of its swanky title, my penthouse is certainly Peace Corps housing after all. And I absolutely love it.

Recuperation
As I scoured the city for affordable furniture and kitchen utensils (a can opener costs $18.00?), I continued working long weeks in the colegio. In fact, the afternoon planning sessions became ever more important as the colegio began a period of mandatory recuperation—afternoon classes for students who had failed during the first quimester. Under new education laws, students cannot fail a year; essentially, they can learn nothing but must be promoted to the next year. The colegio, therefore, wanted to ensure that all students were at least learning something.

Prior to the start of the week, I expected a few kids from each class of roughly 35-40 students to require additional help. Thus, I was quite surprised when seemingly the entire school arrived to attend recuperation. The situation was especially dire in many English classes; in “10D” (ninth grade), only two of 42 students had passed the first quimester. And a passing grade is 14 points on a 20 point scale—which is 70% or the equivalent of a passing grade in the United States.

Why are so many students failing English? I believe their struggles stem from a combination of factors ranging from poor teaching methodology to lack of interest and effort on the part of many of the students. It is, after all, hard to give the students any legitimate reason why they must learn English given that few English-speaking tourists pass through Zamora in spite of the province's efforts to advertise itself as a tourist destination. Moreover, the older students lack the necessary base to complete their schoolwork. Each year, they utilize the next book in a series called “Our World through English.” Logically, the books creators assume that the students have an adequate understanding of the material before proceeding with the next book. This is not, however, how it goes. Rather students who cannot even conjugate the verb “be” in the present tense (part of the second unit in the first book) are somehow expected to master the first conditional in the third book or irregular past participles in the fourth book.

Much of December was, therefore, dedicating to helping students earn passing notes so that they deserve to advance to the following year in June. Hours were spent rehashing personal pronouns and verbs with some success. Many students who dedicated themselves to recuperation saw remarkable improvements in their grades. A student previously earning a whopping 5 points in the first quimester managed to attain a 17 on the final quiz. Another who attained an 8 in classes earned a 20 on the final quiz. Success. Although the events did bring up questions as to why the majority of teachers only offer extra help after students failed the quimester; wouldn't it make more sense to note struggling students earlier and recuperate them before giving them a failing grade in the first place?

El Campeonato de Deportes
As noted in a previous entry, the colegio inaugerated its annual sports tournament with the madrina competition at the end of November. Although competition was briefly interrupted by the recuperation, the high school's staff has been immersed in the event ever since. It consists of three sports—basketball (masculino and femenino), soccer (masculino and femenino), and ecuavolley (masculino). My team, Las Manderinas has faired relatively well and I'm excited to see how we do in our final games in January.

On a brief side note, ecuaovolley in a uniquely Ecuadorian form of volleyball played almost exclusively by men. The three-vs-three competition resembles volleyball in that points are attained when a soccer ball touches the ground on the opponent's side of the net. It differs, however, in that almost all types of hits are legal—a necessary adjustment given the weight of a soccer ball. Moreover, the net is considerably higher in spite of the fact that most Ecuadorians are quite short; I am, in fact, a giant in Zamora as I stand at a towering 5'5.

Regardless, I most likely won't have many opportunities to play ecuavolley. While women are increasingly participating in soccer and basketball competitions, ecuavolley remains an exclusively male activity. Although dozens of men pack into the canchas by the river on a nightly basis and bet sums of money reaching into four digits on the games, I have never seen a woman enter the facility to play nor watch.