The Family Unit

Aunt Maxine always comes through with the best, most thought-provoking questions. And as a teacher, she must know some of issues that I have in my classroom. She wrote me an email yesterday and asked:

Amy, do you think the average family unit in your part of Honduras is "stronger" than the average family in the USA? Home for a sit down dinner every night? All pitch in to take care of sick brother/sister/child? Use earned income collectively for family's well being?  Continue song and story tradition within their family? 

She used the example that nursery rhymes used to be so "big" with families and small children and now, very few kids come to school knowing nursery rhymes. She wonders whether any of this has a link to one of her greatest frustrations in the classroom - the lack of family support?

Aunt Maxine is spot on, although I think in a very different way that we experience in America. Absolutely do I believe that in Honduras, the lack of family support causes disruption and frustration in the classroom. As I have mentioned many times before, families in the communities where I live don't generally value education and perhaps its because it is a means to an obsolete end. Their lack of focus on education, however, doesn't say much about how the families function in Honduras.

I view the family unit in Honduras as very strong, much stronger than the average family in the US. It is the most fundamental social unit here where loyalty is an ingrained and unquestioned virtue (unlike education). From early childhood, children learn the importance of loving and trusting members of their family and as a testament to that, it is their go-to conversation starter with strangers. I believe in all areas of life and at every level of Honduran society, a person looks to family and kin for both social identity and assistance.

It's unbelievable that within one household, you'll often find 3 generations (sometimes 4) taking care of one another. It's also unbelievable that there are many families that have broken and then joined other families through marriage without much judgment. To answer Aunt Maxine's question more directly: There is a dinner together every night, all pitch in to take care of the sick, and income (though controlled by the head of household) is used for the family. There are virtually no traditions like nursery rhymes, bedtime stories, etc. but instead you'll often hear "old-wives tales" about local animals and homeopathic remedies. These, of course, are all generalizations based on observations I have seen in my community. There are always exceptions!

Ok, on to stupid things...

Without my best gal pal, Karolina, I've had to put myself out there and TALK TO PEOPLE. In Spanish. You know how that is...

Huhhhhhh.........?

Don't worry. I'm not on the verge of tears like Estefani. In fact, it kind of makes me feel like a rock-star and the kids are my biggest fans. Except, of course, for Estefani.

I realized that I understand them, and most of the time, they understand me too. And I love when they laugh at my jokes and tell me theirs.

Amy,  Como se dice 99 en Chine? (How do you say 99 in Chinese?)
Cachi Chien.  (Casi Cien, Almost 100.)

When walking through town, I find myself stopping by and checking in on my neighbors. Sometimes I catch them at work and they usually don't mind the interruption. Usually!

On a good day, especially when its really hot, the kids and I go swimming at the river. They will share their fruit with me if I ask them nicely or promise to repeat them when they say something in Spanish (that turns out to be really embarrassing to say aloud).

On a day like today, I don't have a lot of time to go out and chat people up because I need to prepare for my classes. Thinking of creative activities after almost 10-months of teaching has proved to be difficult, but I think I have one for today. I am going to teach superlatives - fast, faster, fastest; slow, slower, slowest; big, bigger, biggest, etc. After teaching them the words, I am going to have them draw columns in their notebooks and illustrate animals that match in comparison with the superlatives. For instance: they can draw a sloth for slow, a turtle for slower, and a snail for slowest. Fun activity, no?

The older classes have been much more difficult to plan. They are into the more "boring" grammar and already know a lot of basic vocabulary. I need to think of activities that are fun for teenagers who think they are "too cool for school." Perhaps break them into groups, assign them a vocabulary theme, and instruct them to look up 15-20 words in the dictionary to teach to the rest of the class? Is making them teach a cop-out? Suggestions welcome!