The Amazing Adventures of Kyrgyzstan and Col

Chapter Eleven: Edumacation

On an educational note, I wanted to express my feelings towards our rayon's English festival held this past week. Me and three other PCVs were the judges of about 35 schools or so from Tuesday through Thursday. While my school and the other PCVs' schools all finished towards the top in regards to their grasp of the English language, many schools provided plenty of entertainment that made the hours and days fly by and on other occassions pass like a camel in the desert. If I never hear the songs "We Shall Overcome" and "My Friends are Your Friends and Your Friends are My Friends" ever again, I shall die a happy lady and have overcome.

But I should admit that many schools and individual students impressed me with their fluency of one of the more challenging languages in the world. The enthusiasm and willingness to get on stage in front of peers and judges was impressive. If there's anything to say about the people of Kyrgyzstan, they sure "dance like no one is watching."

Oh, and a friend of the family, who I'll refer to as M.B.H., came through BIG TIME, sending me an "M Bag" full of educational materials. I'm talking real ESL textbooks and workbooks and wall art. The hours I've been spending worrying about what to teach and how to present the topics have been signifincantly reduced to simply minutes. I am in awe of educators in this part of the world, or really anywhere I guess, who lack adequate books and materials to use in the classroom.

Now if I could just get my students to retain the knowledge and come on a regular basis, I'd be a pro.

This is my classroom. They really like that blue paint.


And this is me, The Educator.

posted by C @ 12:28 PM