May 22 & 23

5-22-12

On Tuesday we went back to the school and suggested a new room arrangement.  It was very successful.  All students faced the front of the room and were paying attention to their teacher for a while.  It fell apart once students started getting out of their seats.  One student got out of his seat to talk to the teacher and erased the words on the board that some students were still copying down.  One little boy started to cry because he was still trying to copy the words.  There was no consequence for the student that erased the board.  We left the school early to go buy supplies to create a classroom rules poster and a behavior management system to keep students in their chairs.

In the evening we went on a walking tour of churches.  The first church is only a couple of blocks from the house I am living in.  This church was built for 2 daughters that were nuns.  Nuns no longer live here.  They live 3 blocks away. 

These walls have wooden structures that are screwed to the wall.  They are covered in a sheath of gold. 

By 1780 the style changed.  They took out the old alter and burned it in the street as a symbol that that period was over.  The Neoclassical period is less elegant, more intellectual. 

The gate was there to keep the nuns away from the general public.  Once they entered the convent they never again associated with the outside world.  In fact, the gate was covered by a black curtain.  They could hear the service, but they could not see it. 

 

This Christ statue is made with real hair.

 

In 1840 the state changed the law.  Nuns can no longer be fully separated from the public anymore.

We also visited the art museum of Queretaro.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside.  The museum used to be a monestary.  The change of the periods was reflected in the artwork.  At the same time churches stopped using so much gold, the artwork became more Roman in style and less religious. 

After the museum we toured another church.  This statue of Jesus has arms that move.  They put him on a cross during Holy week.  Some of the statues are so realistic that when you lay them down their eyes close – CREEPY!  When the church officials left the room, we raised his robe to take this pic.

Pretty disturbing images for kids at church!

After our tour was over we went to La Casa de la Marquesa.  Here are the highlights: It is one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in Queretaro city.  In 1756 Don Francisco Antonio Alday, The Marquis de la Villa del Villar del Aguila, built this beautiful home. 

The architect was the leading expert in baroque style of the 18^th century (the golden churches are in baroque style).  The legend is that The Marquis fell in love with a nun.  She wanted to be loyal to her vocation and refused his advances; however, she asked him 2 favors.  1 – to build an Aqueduct to bring water to Queretaro.

2 – to construct the most beautiful house in the city.

One of the employees took a liking to us and showed us rooms that are generally off limits to the public.  They host weddings here.  You can also rent a room for 4000 pesos.

Finally, Andrea and I stopped off at a hole in the wall place for a beverage.  We chose this place because they were still serving botanas (free food – lots of dishes/choices).  We should start this trend in the states.  Free food is very nice.  I had a taste of home.  I ordered chicken nuggets.  The nuggets were nothing special but the ketchup was delicious.  It is a bit lighter and sweeter.  Like Coke products, it is made with sugar cane here instead of high fructose corn syrup.  We should start supporting the sugar cane industry of Louisiana.  Everything tastes better and is better for you. 

The very nice man behind the bar brought us a gift from the house.  How can you possibly refuse that kind of hospitality??  We squeezed lime juice on the worms and it looks like they came to life for a second.  It scared us!  These worms live in the agave plant. 

 

I absolutely love birds.  They let me hold the parrot for a while. 

Another full day!

 

5-23-12

Brenda and I were back at the school before 8 a.m.  We brought a seating chart.  The students segregate themselves boys/girls otherwise.  The students were not at all fond of the seating chart, but they complied none the less.

We also brought index card sized colored papers.  One side was red and the other side was green (we cut colored paper and glued it together).  The teacher explained to the students that they were to stay in their seats.  If they needed help, they were to turn their cards to red.  If they did not need any help and did not have any questions, they would leave their cards on the green side.  Finally, if the teacher did not see their card turned to the red side, they could raise their hands.  This system was partially created for the students and partially created for the teacher.  The teacher did not move around the room prior to this system.  The seating chart and the cards worked wonders.  The students remained seated, the noise level was dramatically lower, and it was the first time we observed students raising their hands. 

Once this was all in place, Brenda and I left to create a poster of classroom rules.  Brenda and I drafted the rules together in English.  Brenda translated them to Spanish, and I wrote them on the poster – truly a team effort.

We aren’t sure how receptive the teacher was to the rules. 



We will see on Friday if she has them posted on the wall.  One of the rules we came up with was that balls were to be played with outside of the classroom.  We weren’t too fond of ducking balls the last time we were there J. 

Our afternoon activity was to go to the town of Hercules.  Our host was a retired doctor who loves to cook.  We went to his outdoor kitchen and made guacamole and enchiladas.  His wife made us sweet breads for dessert.  I ate WAY too much food.  Muchas grasas (a lot of grease!).  Check out this amazing cooker thingy – the canola oil goes in the middle and when the tortillas are moved to the side, the oil drains to the center.  Genius!

Looks yummy, right?!  That is not sour cream on top.  It is creama.  It is rich, not sour.  Very good.

He has a small backyard but so much growing in it.  It was beautiful.

His dog made me jump clear off the ground when he growled at me.  He was scary.  He calmed down when given tortillas.  Elmo is definitely a Mexican dog.

The rest of my day was spent in front of a church typing my blog and enjoying the fountain out front.  On my walk home I talked to Ryan and Ras on the phone.  My host mom said I glowed with happiness after talking to my family.  My host mom and I visited for a while.  I asked her about the TV in my bedroom.  She thought I didn’t like TV.  Honestly, I didn’t ask her about it for a while because I thought it was broken and also I enjoyed a week and a half with no TV.  Turns out the TV works perfectly.  It wasn’t plugged in and I thought it was.  Oops!  I turned it on and caught the last hour of the American Idol finale.  I was one very happy girl.