Should We Stay?

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Man, this place can be depressing.

I really want to make this a home for the next few years. I’m tired of moving around and I want to stay settled for some time. I was hoping this could be a place to do that. More and more, however, I am beginning to wonder if this is such a good plan.

Let’s start with Zachary. I want him to be able to establish some long term relationships. I don’t want him to grow up living in thirty-seven different places. Unfortunately, there are several factors working against him here. The first is the lack of English among the kids. Since this is not a truly international school, the language of default for the kids is Spanish. This makes it extremely difficult for Zman to make new friends. One on one is fine, but get them in a group and everyone falls back on Spanish; a language that at this point is all but impossible for him to understand. This, compounded with his eye sight issues, overwhelm him completely. I know that some of these things will be alleviated over the next year. I would hope that the longer we live here, the easier the language will be.

The second is the distinct class issues. All of his classmates are rich. They are not just well off, they are rich. They live a life that I have never experienced nor wanted to experience. It’s hard because there will always be that difference even without language issues. At events, there is a definite distinction between the other parents and us. We are, after all, only teachers. This places us perhaps a half-step above the nannies. This situation will never be rectified and will always present challenges.

Friday in class, we were talking about life in school. I was relating some personal experiences; from teaching as well as student life. One student asked if I went to private school. When I said no, she asked me why. I told her that we could never afford private school. She asked me why. She had no concept of the idea that there may be things that one cannot afford. She gets whatever she wants. Money in her house is no issue; it never has been and it never will be.

Since there are only two other ex-pats with kids, there are very few options for us to try something different. It’s frustrating. It makes me wonder whether staying here is a good idea or not. I want to make this work, but I am teetering on saying “No way!”

Another concern I have has to do with the school itself. No matter how much noise we make, the administration doesn’t pay any attention. Our entire curriculum is woefully old. The math piece in particular is practically useless. It does not work for our population whatsoever. We desperately need a new program to replace this ten year old piece.

When this school was started, the population was mostly American. There were Cub Scout groups and everything. It has been within the last ten years that a shift has taken place. As Mr. Chavez has nationalized industries he has scared off foreign investment. These investors were our main clientele. English was their primary language. Today our population is mostly Venezuelan. They are native Spanish speakers learning English as a second or third language. This represents a dramatic change, but the methods and materials have not changed to embrace these differences.

There seems to be plenty of money for new plants, new bathrooms, and catered meals for meetings, but little for the actual education of the students. This doesn’t sit well with either one of us and may be the nail that closes the coffin. Our elementary principal has been at this school for twenty – eight years. She has seen a lot of changes in that time and she has been opposed to each and every one of them.

We’ll do another year, but the jury is out on whether that will turn into something longer or not. We are at a crossroads in our international life. Do we stay? Do we move? Do we go back to the States? Do we find another overseas gig? These questions continue to plague us. I’ll let you know what we come up with.

MJR

Mali vs Venezuela

Wednesday April 9, 2008

I have been thinking a lot about Mali in relation to Venezuela. Surprisingly, there are quite a few similarities.

There is always the climate; warm year round with a rainy season and a dry season. I say that even as I remember that Mali is one of the hottest places on the planet. Some days there we dreamed of the temperature dipping into the seventies. Here, that is a regular occurrence and one which causes us to run for our long sleeves and jackets.

Then comes the lack of motivation on the part of the citizenry. This pervades all aspects of life here. I told you about the banks, well that attitude exists throughout society. No one is in a hurry to help and no one is in a hurry to get anywhere. No one is ever on time for anything in either location.

Customer service is the same as well. In this case it is the same simply because it is non-existent. There is not a counter person, waiter, cashier, or operator that is interested in helping you. Don’t even think about suggesting they smile!

Traffic too is similar. There are no laws, no street names, no sense of decorum. Drive however you want to. If you are too defensive you will be run off the road. I think it must also be an unwritten rule here that you have to have something in your hand while operating a vehicle. You can choose what you want; beer, phone, food, cigarette, CD, or all of the above.

These similarities strike me as so odd. Mali is a country living in the past. The people there have nothing, they have never been exposed to anything, and they have no expectations about receiving anything. The streets are dirt and the main mode of transportation is the donkey. When you travel to Mali, you expect that you will have to do without some of the conveniences of our modern lifestyle.
Venezuela, on the other hand, is “Socialism for the 21st Century!” One would think that life here is modern and updated. Instead it’s half way there and half way back. The roads are paved, but they are in terrible shape. There are speed limits and traffic laws, but they are not upheld. There are banks and ATM’s but they rarely function like they should. The electricity and water work most of the time. The infrastructure is crumbling and the line between rich and poor grows wider every day.

Venezuela looks modern, but operates in the past, all the while screaming for recognition as a first world country. It is this weird middle ground that constantly leaves you guessing.

In the meantime, we work for the very rich. The parents of our students have more money than I can even conceive of. They own most of the country and they are the Venezuelans we interact with regularly. This definitely gives us a skewed view of the country. These people have no idea what life on the other side of the coin is like and for the most part, they are terrified of the poor.

I have one student; I’ll call him Jack, whose dad is the CEO of a major bank here. I asked Jack one day how many cars his family owned. His answer was six. Six cars for three drivers; well, four drivers if you count the guy that works for them. Dad has to commute to Caracas every day, but it isn’t too bad because he takes the company helicopter. This in a place where 80% of the population live in poverty.

It is hard to rectify this in my mind. It is also impossible to try and keep up. Zachary and I went to a birthday party for one of his classmates. It was held at a local club. There was catered food, a DJ, a jumpy castle, a giant piñata, and a magician. There was also Chivas for the adults and a hookah if one felt so inspired. The kid was turning six. What ever happened to Pin the Tail on the Donkey and Gunny Sack Races? Zachary wants a small affair for his party in August. It’s a good thing, because I don’t even want to try and compete with that…

So we plod on, strangers in a strange land. And oh how strange we are, I mean it is, oh I don’t know, I’m a little confused. Only 33 days left until vacation…

MJR

I'm Back

April 6, 2008

I have long been absent from writing. It is not for lack of things to write about, instead I am guilty of procrastination and laziness. It’s so much easier to play Sudoku than examine my life and write about it. I have been thinking…does that count?

I guess I should start with Spring Break. We booked a trip to the Dominican Republic. It was one of those all inclusive deals; we paid one price for the airfare, room, food, and booze. We have never done anything quite like that before. We also got to meet our friends Cameron and Anne there.

I must admit that I was skeptical. I was skeptical of the package and I was skeptical that Cameron and Anne would make it all that way. In the end, however, both happened and they were both great.

The resort was beautiful. We had a spacious room with a king sized bed and Jacuzzi tub. Out the door and down the steps to the bar, the pool, and the buffet. There were several pools throughout the facility, each one boasting a swim up bar. We played mini-golf, watched some entertaining shows, and spent a lot of time on the beach.

There must have been some kind of storm out at sea because the third day we were there, there were these huge waves. The water came way up the beach, catching everyone by surprise. Beach chairs were washed out and there was great scrambling for clothes as they floated out to sea. One woman leaped off of her chair only to realize that her top was floating away. First she tried to cover herself and chase after it, but soon enough she gave up on modesty and ran.

It was great to see our friends. Cameron and I are having our fortieth birthdays this year so this trip was sort of to celebrate them. He works too hard at home so it was good to see him in a place where work was impossible. He could only relax.

In the end, I know nothing about the Dominican Republic. We interacted not at all with the people and the place. We stayed inside our little bubble and pampered ourselves. It was good and I do not regret it, but it is definitely not the type of vacation I am used to.

We returned to Venezuela well rested and ready to take on the final ten weeks of school. It should go by quickly. Friday we went to a nice farewell party for a woman who works in the office. We got home way too late because the next day we had to be back at school at 9 a.m. for “International Day.” This is really nothing more than a big carnival with lots of games, food, and dancing. It was fun, but completely exhausting; we napped most of the afternoon.

Today we had lunch with the parents of a couple of my students. They are good people and the food was fantastic. The good (albeit weird) news we got this week is: our car has increased in value! I originally paid ~ Bs 60,000,000 for it and now it is worth ~Bs 80,000,000. If we convert that at the standard (legal) rate, that equates to a gain of $10,000. My car has increased in value by $10,000 in the last six months! How does that happen? Now I am sure that when it is time to leave I will get my money out of it. I only hope that money comes in dollars as the Bolivare is useless anywhere but here.

That’s all the news here. We are looking forward to going home this summer. We have scheduled time in New York and time in Seattle before returning to the Twilight Zone. I can hardly wait. I will be drinking fresh milk every single day…

MJR