Under the sun and palm trees on the "Island of Beautiful Waters"

     After my second year abroad in France last year, I decided that even though I love living in Europe, it was time for me to step out of my comfort zone again and try something new. So in September, I packed up my sunglasses, bathing suit, summer clothes, and mosquito repellent and flew to the French overseas department, Guadeloupe - an island in the West Indies.

     October to May I'll be teaching English in two Junior High Schools in Pointe-à-Pitre, 6th grade through 9th grade. Not only will this year be a challenge because I will need to adapt to another culture and lifestyle, but also because it will be my first time teaching in a Junior High. To add to that challenge, the schools I've been assigned to are "REP schools," meaning that the students are typically more difficult. As one teacher described it, a lot of the students are immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Haiti and come from poor families, or they were sent to the school after being expelled from their previous school for violence. But...challenge accepted.
     Guadeloupe is made up of five islands, and Grande Terre is the one on which I am living and teaching. There are around 470,500 habitants in Guadeloupe, and even though the official language is French, Guadeloupe people speak Guadeloupian creole, which dates back to the time of colonization and slavery.

     Ever since my plane was about to touch down and I thought, "We're landing in this jungle?!", all five of my senses have been adapting to this new environment - from feeling like I'm constantly walking through the rainforest exhibit at the zoo with sticky skin, to smelling the salt water, algae, and fresh caught fish in the morning, to tasting the local specialties and the spices of creole food, to seeing the sun every day and some of the most beautiful landscapes and beaches, to falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves, crickets, and frogs.

     To give you a better idea of the culture shock I experienced my first few weeks, here is a list of my first thoughts and observations:

1) "I'm living in the jungle!"
2) "How did these cockroaches get in my apartment?"
3) "I feel like a princess under this mosquito net."
4) "Oh hey lizard, what are you doing hiding in my towel?"
5) When night falls at 6pm, all the insects start singing and I can't help but feel like I'm camping.
6) When I passed a goat standing on a parked car and got cut off by chickens, I started to realize that almost everyone seems to have goats and/or chickens.
7) What time does the bus come? Nobody knows...
8) I discovered a new feeling of disappointment: When you can't find a certain food at the grocery store and realize you have to wait for a new shipment to come in from France.
9) People take their time for everything. If you want to take 10 minutes to pay and bag your groceries, nobody will have a problem.
10) People start saying "Good evening" anytime after Noon.
11) When children are punished in class, they are told to stand behind their chair or to stand in the corner of the classroom. I learned this one day when I was standing in front of the classroom ready to introduce myself to the class and the teacher told me, "Sit down, you look punished." It took me a while to get used to that, so I was told to sit down quite a lot. Apparently there is a saying in France that if you stand too much, it means you want to grow taller.
12) I discovered Gwo ka: their traditional dancing and drumming that one can often hear during the weekend. 
13) Never, EVER, forget your umbrella. And even if you remember to bring it, people will advise you not to walk in the rain. But, I'm a Seattleite and I can't help it.
   
To get a better visual of what Guadeloupe is like, I put together a video that you can see by clicking here :
Video : "Welcome to Guadeloupe"

Stay tuned for more stories and videos about this paradise that Christopher Columbus named "The Island of Beautiful Waters."

We Made the Paper!

As I mentioned in my last entry, a journalist in Le Mans interviewed me and another assistant about our jobs, our opinions on language learning and French culture, and our aspirations for the future. Below is the newspaper article I translated from the original one published in French.

Adam and Rachael teach English to Sarthe schoolchildren

Two Americans came to Le Mans in October and intervene in Pre-school through Fifth grade classes

One recognizes them from their accent, but their French is almost perfect. Rachael, 23, and Adam, 29, are Americans. In Le Mans since October, these assistants are discovering what it's like teaching foreign languages in France.

Monday through Thursday they teach English in the schools where they have been assigned. And Fridays, with seven other assistants, they roam the department to host English day in the schools (read below). "We teach them the culture of our country, while basing it on holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or essential aspects, such as the New York metro, and associate it with the vocabulary that goes along with it," explain the young Americans.

Learning in High School
"Here, foreign languages are taught early, even if it's only an introduction. In the United States, we learn French when entering High School," indicates Rachael. "Americans can be centered on themselves and not very open to the outside world," Adam analyses as he tells about when he announced to his mom that he was going to France, after having studied in Spain and taught in Columbia, and she responded to him: "But why do you travel so much when we have everything here?" "I started by learning Spanish. With the immigration, it's the second most spoken language in the United States. It was important for me to be able to understand it."

Rachael confirms: "When one knows other languages, they are more open-minded. It allows us to have another vision of the world and of life, to better understand other cultures."

In their professional life, Rachael and Adam don't see it any other way than being surrounded by people coming from all horizons. Rachael would like to return to the United States where she hopes to become an English professor at a University..."but for international students." Adam also wishes to teach his native language, but in Europe. He doesn't know exactly where yet. While waiting to find his Eden, he signed up at the University to take classes... of Japanese.

A Slower Culture than in the United States
What the young Americans particularly appreciate is the French rhythm of life. "It's a much slower culture than in the United States. Here, you always take the time to eat dinner with family, for example. And for lunch, the kids have a two hour break... It's a lot! Americans are always in a rush," recognizes Rachael.

In Adam's opinion, Le Mans has "the qualities of a large city - notably with the public transportation - even though it's a pretty small town after all." But what surprises this young assistant the most, is that "Sundays, Le Mans no longer exists! I like this idea, but the reality is a bit more difficult to live," he said with a burst of laughter.

English day: learning while having fun
"This day is so cool! All we do is play games!" Evidently, English Day proposed to schoolchildren from Suzanne-Bousson this Friday was a plebiscite.

Dressed in dark pants and a white top, resembling the English uniform, the students played along, some of them making a tie out of paper to complete their outfit.

After an assembly about the assistants' citizenship, the children left in groups of mixed ages to participate in workshops hosted by their teachers, parent volunteers, and the English assistants. Numbers, colors, ingredients, utensils... "We leave behind the textbooks and whiteboards and they don't realize that they're learning. They just have the impression that they're playing," observes Marie Gueusset, educational advisor of modern languages. "It's a break from their class routine," continues the director of the school, Gilles Papillon. "They are confronted by students that aren't the same age as them. The older ones are welcoming towards the younger ones, while helping them voluntarily."

And it's not the young Lina, in First grade, who will contradict it. One wouldn't even know what to say this young lady preferred that day: the making of jello - a colored and gelatin dessert "that we're going to eat at snack time" or the moment where she assisted in a workshop "in the big kids' class." This "privilege" seems to have been enough to embellish this young lady's day! 

When Work and Play Collide

My Students:
Are you married? Do you have kids? Are you going to have kids soon? Did you come here on a boat? Why do you have a different voice than us? Do you like bananas? My mom's name is Rachael.

Those were the first questions I was bombarded with when I presented myself to my students the first day of work. Even now, they are still curious about me, my country and my culture, and are eager to learn my language. This makes my job even more enjoyable. The first day I went out to recess, three children gave me bouquets of leaves and one gave me a Pokémon card to keep so I "wouldn't forget her." Already feeling a bond with the children, I knew I would love this job.

Some days at work, I walk past a window where the kids outside at morning recess are pounding on the glass yelling, "Rachelle!" Otherwise, I'm usually greeted with groups of children surrounding me and yelling "Hello!" at me repeatedly. It's definitely their favorite English word. Other days I can't help but feel like I'm in a zoo when the kids peer through the windows and play peek-a-boo with me while I'm in the break room. But I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, because it's not everyday that I will go to work feeling like a celebrity. 

It hardly feels like work when you're playing games, singing songs, doing crafts, and reading books all day. But my favorite part is "Question Time" after I talk to them about American culture and holidays. The kids always surprise me with questions I never expected. Why is the Indian not wearing very many clothes? He's going to get wet if it rains. Are Santa's elves black? Does Santa speak English too? Showing kids something foreign always provokes their curiosity and I love that. 


Comparison of school systems:
After having experienced working in schools in America and Mexico, it has been interesting to work in the French school system and be able to compare the three. Here are some differences I have noticed so far:
1) After being used to having 30 minutes for lunch in the US, I feel really spoiled having a 2 hour lunch break in France.
2) ... especially when the teachers serve you wine during this break.
3) Some of the formalities in the classroom still do not cease to amaze me. The obsession with rulers I find to be amusing. "Use your ruler to underline the title and date."  "Use your ruler to properly cross-off the words in the word bank on your test." My first mistake in the classroom was not using the giant ruler to underline the title on the chalkboard.
4) Students raise their finger, instead of their hand, to answer or ask a question.
5) Contrary to American kids, French kids are taught to write in cursive and write this way all the time. Pen and white-out are usually required for writing. Emphasis is often put on neat handwriting.
6) For teachers who stick to former rules of courtesy in French classrooms, students will stand when you enter the room and say, "Good morning, Rachael" and will only sit when you tell them to. It doesn't seem to be that common anymore, but I still see it occasionally.
7) Students or teachers must knock before entering the classroom and wait to be told to come in. Like I experienced in Mexico, students who are late must ask to enter the classroom.
8) There aren't any "recess teachers," but rather it's the school teachers who observe the kids at recess. The playgrounds at my schools don't have swings or big toys, but just a blacktop where the kids run around and play games.


English Day:
Most Fridays I go to a different school with four other English assistants where we have an English Day. Different workshops are run by either an assistant or teacher and the kids rotate through the stations every 30 minutes. The activities consist of playground games, story time, cooking, singing songs, crafts, card games, etc. - all in English, all day long. The kids are having fun while simultaneously learning English - whether it's from understanding a story from my gestures and the pictures, or attempting to sing along to a new song and do the motions. It's a fun day for everyone involved.

During my most recent English day, there was a journalist who visited the school, interested in writing an article about it. The following week, she invited me and another assistant to her office to be interviewed in French about our job, our life in France, our opinions on language learning, our future plans, etc. The article will soon be published in the region's newspaper, so stay tuned! It was a good experience and fun to talk about topics that interested me (e.g. culture, language, teaching) and a job that I enjoy.

It is very motivating for me to see the kids who refused to learn English at the beginning of the year eager to participate and excited for English lessons. My goal is to continue to spark their interest, ignite their potential, and not let their flame of enthusiasm diminish.

Holidays Already?!

If I were to tell you in the US that I had two weeks of paid vacation after only two weeks of work, you wouldn't believe me.  But if I were to tell you I had two weeks of paid holiday after working two weeks in France, then it would make perfect sense!  Everyone in France gets five weeks of vacation, or eight weeks plus Summer if you work in a school.  This may be shocking to some Americans, but if you understand the French culture, it does not come to much surprise.  In France, along with other European countries, they value leisure time, with more holidays and shorter work weeks, and in a sense, choose to "buy" this free time by sacrificing pay - contrary to American society, where money holds a higher value of importance.  Personally, I value having the time to spend with friends and family and to travel, more than prioritizing money. So, I am going to embrace and appreciate this French mentality while I am here.

I began my holidays with a trip back to Angers, which cured any homesickness I might have had at that time.  Le Mans is great, but could never take the place that Angers holds in my heart. A town, an experience, where I truly fell in love with France.  I got to see some familiar faces, making my trip back "home" even more special.

A few days later, a train took me to Paris, where I got to visit my French family, feeling at home once again.  After a couple days, we flew to Warsaw, Poland, where we stayed for five days in the heart of the former Jewish district.

One of the magical qualities of traveling is that it not only allows you to discover a foreign culture, but often also allows you to travel back in time.  If you are like me, then you probably do not remember everything you learned in your History class from that dry History textbook or that one monotone professor. Learning about events that felt so far away and so irrelevant to your daily life that in a few months you forgot those dates you memorized and the minor details of major events. But with traveling, you become closer to those events...  It's like jumping into a History textbook and learning first-hand : standing in the very spot the event took place, seeing the destruction or creation as it has been for hundreds of years, and truly feeling the emotions rooted in that piece of the past.  This way of learning is a sure way of never forgetting details of past events that shaped our present.  I invite you to jump into my photo History book below and imagine yourself living the History lesson as I did.

                                       ~Highlights and History of Poland ~
                              (Click on photos and videos to view them larger)
                                    My History Book

And So It Begins...

Often associated with her role in the film Sabrina, Audrey Hepburn says, "Paris is always a good idea." I agree and can relate to her reasoning behind the quote, but for me it applies to France as a whole. In the movie, Sabrina (Hepburn) goes to Paris to find herself and returns a confident and inspired woman who longs to go back one day.  Sabrina - The letter from Paris

"I have learned how to live - how to be in the world and of the world, and not just to stand aside and watch."

My last experience in France had this effect on me, so when I decided I wanted to teach abroad, it was obvious where I would go. Because for me, France is always a good idea.

After two years of longing to return, I am happy to be back in this country which I call my second home, doing two of my favorite things: teaching and learning... (and also eating baguettes and croissants, but that is beside the point). I was hired to teach English in three Elementary Schools, but I am also excited to continue learning how to be independent, adapt to another culture, speak French, and simply, as Audrey Hepburn said, how to be in the world.

My learning experience began with finding an apartment within the first week I arrived. This was a challenge because in order to find an apartment, you need to make calls to landlords, but in order to have a phone plan to call, you need a French credit card, which you can only get if you have an address. Silly me for thinking it would be easy. After a week, I moved into a house with a mom and her 17-year-old daughter and another High School student. They are all very welcoming and nice, and it is a great way for me to practice my French.

I want to do as much as I can to integrate myself into the community here, so I have been seeking babysitting and tutoring opportunities and have joined a handball team. (For those of you who are unsure of what handball is, click here: Handball ). It is a great way for me to stay active, meet new people, and speak French. However, I also get a lot of French practice thanks to random people I meet on the street who ask me where certain streets are, or how to get the library, or post office, or train station, or which tram to take, or how much a Camembert costs at Carrefour. At least now I know that I don't scream tourist! I also continually get mistaken as German, but as one individual informed me, my white teeth give me away as an American. Can't wait to tell my dentist that one!

Town center

My first week of work consisted of training, but this week I will start working in my classes. I will be in three different schools and have 3-4 classes at each, with students between 6 and 11 years old. In the meantime, I have had a lot of free time to explore the town and attend the events that seem to happen every weekend. 

Last weekend I visited the secret gardens and courtyards of the old town in Le Mans, which are only available to the public once a year. Most of them were private gardens of either hotels or houses - all very quaint and charming, giving me the impression that I was in a book or film.
















As I am writing this entry, I am sitting at an outside café, sipping on a chocolat chaud, watching people leisurely wander by, holding hands with their loved one, walking their dog, or taking a stroll with their children; not one person in a hurry to get somewhere. And I can sit here in this café and take my time to write, without the worry of being booted from my table. It is almost as if the Earth is spinning slower, allowing moments together to last longer. Oh, how I missed this lifestyle and Sunday afternoons in France.