Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Viila Techi, Romania
I love back to school. I get made fun of for it, but I can’t help myself. I don’t know if it is the shiny new shoes or the shiny new pencils that beckon me with gladness, but I love it. I love learning and love teaching. Perhaps both of those have something to do with it.
Yesterday, I got an invitation from Sanda’s little brother to go to school with him. “You go to school with me?” Lissi said. I tried to hold back my excitement and play it cool but I quickly checked with the mission contact here to make sure that my appearance at a Romanian school wouldn’t land me at the embassy or Romanian jail. I got the all clear and was on my way early this morning to pick up Lissi and his younger brother, Benny. The morning was cold, I could see my breath but that didn’t stop the skip in my step as I help Benny’s hand as if he were one of my own headed to their first week of school.
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I strolled up the steps to the school yard. I felt the excitement and the nervousness that I am sure all students feel. Will I be accepted? What is going to happen when these doors close behind me? Am I good enough, smart enough to make the grade? The smart thing really didn’t matter for me this time as I wasn’t getting graded for my presence in this classroom. But how I carried myself and how I worked through the language barrier surely would.
Lissi is a 3rd grader and he was my translator. Benny is in Kindergarten (grade zero if you will) and went straight into the classroom, took off his new jacket, got legos off the a shelf with various other toys, and sat at a table completely content with the project he was about to create. I left him to allow Lissi to show me his classroom. Lissi’s classroom was simply a bunch of desks, a chalkboard, and a bookshelf labeled with plain white paper “biblioteca” that held a few books short of the library it indicated it was. Lissi took his seat and I was left to figure out how the rest of the day would unfold.
I found a seat in the back next to the coat rack that was quickly filling up as the sun was rising and providing warmth for the day. The kids got the supplies out on their desk, girls more neatly than boys and folded their hands waiting for the teacher to arrive. I couldn’t help but smile. The classroom is such an amazing place of potential. A place that can mold and shape minds. I find there no greater honor than to teach someone. And the classroom is the place designed for that to happen. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face the entire 3 hours of school (that is not a typo – that is how long it lasts here), mostly because the kids kept turning around in their seat to either make sure that I was still back there or to see what the “Americano” was doing. The kids sang and did some reading and then got a snack out of their bag and went outside. Lissi told me to “come on” so I followed to see what part of the school day this was. It resembled what Americans would call P.E. but without the teacher and without organized activities. The field they play in doubles as a grazing yard for cattle. The cattle weren’t there but their droppings sure were. The kids expertly avoided the piles and ran straight to the furthest corner of the yard to a few trees. As I got closer, I was much slower and less of an expert at manuevering, I could tell the trees had fruit on them. That quickly explained the fun game they were playing – throw rocks and sticks at the tree to make the fruit come out. Some quickly benefited from their great aim and still others kept trying. I just watched in horror as I just knew someone’s eyes were going to get poked out. It is all fun and games until that happens.
The bell (a tiny hand- held one that the teacher rings from the school building) rang and the students went back in for some more learning. This time it was vocabulary. I am still not sure what words they were learning. And before I could figure it out, the bell rang again. Followed by the same scenario as before, snacks being pulled from bags, Lissi yelling “come on” as he raced out the door, and me following behind still trying to figure it all out. PE again. The kids raced back to the trees. This time the sticks and rocks weren’t doing the job so they climbed up the tree to have someone shake it. And by climb, I mean they should have had some climbing gear on. I felt like saying “Belay on”. The only thing different this time from the first PE, was snack was provided – a small loaf of bread and milk. One girl wanted to make sure that I was well taken care of so she ran to get me the snack. I wanted to do cartwheels about having actual milk in my hands. I tried to buy some last week and quickly realized that I don’t know how to buy milk in other countries. It makes me sad, because I miss milk but can get calcium from a much healthier (ha!) way, ice cream! She even put the straw in the paper pouch as I tried not to look at all the dirt on her fingers. I took a sip and nearly cried at how different it was than the cold drink that feels like home.
We went back in, right after I saw my first glimpse of the squatty potties that are sure to come in other countries. Foreshadowing? I am sure of it! We made our way back into the classroom for math. I am not a huge fan of math but we did simple addition and subtraction and it became a game to get the answer before the kid. I know, I should play games like that with people my own age. But math in a different language was handicap enough. Each kid had to come to the front of the room and do a problem. Not fun for those that aren’t strong in math. It kind of creates a situation where you want to run out of the classroom crying if you can’t get it or cry in your chair before you are called. The bell rang again and you guessed it … recess …for an hour this time. I left early.
I walked by Lissi’s house this afternoon and after I dodged the apple he threw at me from his window, he asked me again, “you come to my school tomorrow?” How do you turn that down?
