<rant>The building I teach in, here in Paraná, is referred to as La Pecera (or, The Fishbowl). We only have university classes there in the afternoon and evening because the building is used as a primary school during the morning. If it rains, it's literally unsafe for us to hold classes for fear of electrocution or flooding.
The desks are in poor condition themselves, but the fact that some doors have empty spaces where there used to be glass and many don't even have handles is saddening. There's no toilet paper in the bathrooms. No soap either, for fear of theft. And you have to make sure the water line is connected before trying to use a faucet.
The Profesorado de Inglés has tried to request switching to a new location but to no avail. For me, it's frustrating that students and professors here have to put up with these conditions when there seems to be other classrooms in other buildings available in the city. Even more so, it's sad to think that primary school kids are being taught in that building as well. How can children be expected to attend school in a building when you never know if another wooden plank or railing is going to fall off the wall in a classroom or stairwell, among so many other safety concerns in this ever-decaying building?</rant>
Okay, so now that I've gotten that out. I truly have enjoyed my experience here. That's one of the reasons it's so frustrating to see these conditions and see how frustrated the students and professors are here.
That being said, I'm still glad that I was assigned to UADER and Paraná. Now that I'm in my last 6 weeks or so here, I've reflected on my time here more and more. I just hope that I've had a positive impact on the education of at least some students here. I've learned a lot from them as well. It's been invaluable to learn more about how the U.S. is viewed abroad, and how our schooling system structure differs from Argentina's.
Published: October 5, 2014
