I can't believe I've been here almost 2 weeks now--in part I've gotten used to a lot here and feel like I've been here a long time, and yet I look back and the time has gone so quickly! I had my first full week of classes and everything last week, so I'm getting settled into a routine now. I finally started work at Ochoa elementary school last Friday, after spending much of my allotted field study time earlier in the week attending events organized by high school students who have been affected by the ban on Ethnic Studies in Tucson and are taking their education into their own hands--very cool to see and be able to participate in such strong activism! (If you want to know more, just google Tucson public schools and ethnic studies-- lots of articles will pop up! It's a very interesting and important debate here!)
The teacher at Ochoa I'm working with cancelled school for the first half of the week after talking with families about the controversy going on with the school board and Mexican-American Studies and held a walk out to support the MAS students. I met her Monday at the protest the students organized and then again on Tuesday at the "teach-in" which was sort of like autonomous education--students taking the banned classes and material into their own hands and using community members to help educate themselves in a public space.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I have classes with everyone downtown at the BSP office--the first week was a little irregular but the classes are going to be very interesting! We've got a lot of reading, but it seems like the written work is slightly lighter than during a regular semester, though the topics and experiential learning components will certainly be more intensive and take more energy in a different way. So far the group has been getting along pretty well, and classes seem productive and seem to be a safe space for everyone (yay!). We've also been really good about communicating interesting events in the community (like the teach-in; also Noam Chomsky is coming to the University of AZ!!), getting together to study and whatnot, and in general just make contact outside of classes. Like I said before, Tucson is a very unique place and we're all learning our way around and trying to take advantage of everything the city has to offer!
The weather has been absolutely GORGEOUS and is only supposed to improve with warmer, sunny days. I'm still trying to get used to the drastic changes between morning/afternoon and sun/shade temperatures, but that's what layers are for! I've been biking a lot (it feels like haha), though it probably only averages to 5-8 miles/day. I'm really lucky that my family drives, and that my commitments are around the same time and place as theirs in the morning! So I haven't really had to face the cold, windy 8am mornings (yet!), but during the day I get around by bike and then bike home in the late afternoon.
Overall things with my family have been going really well--I cooked tofu stir-fry for everyone on Saturday and everyone really liked it!! I'm not used to cooking for so many people so servings were on the small side, but now I know to at least triple my recipes! But I was really happy the tofu went over well! My host mom and sisters are really excited to learn some veggie techniques for cooking--and my host mom is now addicted to fresh basil!
There's been lots of time playing with the little ones and helping out around the house in any way I can. I have been able to get some quiet time in my room, and when the grandkids aren't here it's pretty quiet and I can just chill and watch telenovelas (I'm already addicted to 2!) with the rest of the family. I've gotten to talk more with the other daughter that has gotten married and moved out—she was involved in local activism for a while so it's interesting to talk about current events with her. Also, she just got married 3 months ago so the family has been showing me all the pictures and tonight we saw the wedding video from Hermosillo, Sonora (Mexico). So beautiful!!
I've worked at Ochoa twice now, and in a normal week will go Monday, Tuesday, and Friday for the school day (8:10-12:10). It's been really fun and interesting to be in the Hopes and Dreams room, and I'm excited to see more of the Reggio Emilio philosophy in action and talk with the kids and their parents, who are really involved in the learning process and the activities during the day. I'm working there with another Earlham student, Emily, so there is plenty of supervision to go around! Hopefully I'll be able to give more details and insight about my time there shortly!
On Thursday we're going on an "excursion" as part of the program/one of our classes--visiting a migrant shelter in Altar, Sonora for a day and night and then going back to Nogales for 2 days and a night. I'm sure I'll have much to say (if I can articulate the experience!) afterwards.
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