May Update

Dear reader:

I hope you're still here because after much vagabondage, I've decided to put my nose to the grindstone once again and get writing!  The million dollar question is where to start?

It's been smooth sailing here in Rafaela. I'm glad I have routines, patterns, and friendships now, because when living (abroad), one needs stabilizers like these. There are ups and downs, and having places to go, things to do and people to see helps keep me chugging along on the rainy days. Almost every day I'm engaged in some kind of music activity. Recently I arranged and started teaching my choir the song Shenandoah. The pronunciation of the word Missouri has caused some brow-wrinkling and head-scratching but luckily they love the song! Today I have my first concert with the choir. We're participating in the 4th annual Autumn Chorale, a musical get-together featuring all of Rafaela's singing groups. Of course I've been tootling along with the municipal band as well. Thanks to other Fulbright ETA Christina Franzese, who came to visit a few weeks back for the pics!

 Rehearsal with the Rafaela Chamber Choir

Concert in the Plaza 25 de Mayo with the Rafaela Municipal Band

Friendly Argentines - Me, Edu, Agos, Liche, Christina

 More Friendly Argentines - Me, Marina, Mauricio, Christina

So far, teaching has been a breeze. Every week I hold individual chats with the senior students so they can practice English with a native speaker and get some pronunciation feedback and other language tips. I love this activity because it helps me get to know my students on an individual level. Several of them have invited me over to their house for dinner or mate (rhymes with LATTE - I'll explain soon). In my junior class, we're working with the Barbara Streisand movie, The Mirror Has Two Faces, bit by bit. The students have to listen to the movie ¡without subtitles! and do special writing and discussion activities designed around each scene. We're also playing an ingenious version of the game TABOO that the students developed to review vocabulary:

It's a phrasal verb! The second word is a preposition and the opposite of up! When you are stuck in a tree, you have to ___ _____! When you dance like a crazy person you know how to ___ _____!
Can you guess what the answer is?

In my sophomore class we started working with the movie Gran Torino starring Clint Eastwood. If you haven't seen this movie, YOU SHOULD! It focuses on Walt Kowalski, recent widower and grumpy Korean War Vet who, although living in a Detroit neighborhood characterized by dramatic demographic changes and social friction, is still fond of slinging racial epithets. And guns. Although he carries some heavy baggage from his years in the service, he becomes the accidental savior and role model for the young Hmong refugees living next door who, despite an omnipresent gang of seriously bad apples, are really just struggling to keep their noses clean.  Imagine trying to work through this cultural pea soup with fresh-faced youngsters from another country!

Bueno, 3 o'clock is tiptoeing near, which means it's almost my favorite time of day - NAP TIME! Thanks for reading and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts!