School in the time of Covid-19

 Week one of in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year is in the books!

On Monday I was ready to collapse from exhaustion, but it turned out to be mostly dehydration. The weather continues to be very hot in Albania, and we are required to keep our classroom windows open and wear masks at all times indoors. We can turn on the A/C in the classroom, but it isn't very effective with the windows open (although it helps). 

I forgot to drink water, and since we biked to school and back, I got home with a massive headache and just kind of fell into bed.

The rest of the week went better, although by Wednesday I actually thought we'd been in in-person school for two weeks already!

About a month ago, when staff meetings began, I discovered this card on the whiteboard in my classroom, under the date: March 9, 2020. That was the last day we were in the building until this fall. It was a poignant moment. I left the date un-erased, as a kind of marker of the massive transition that happened that day. 

As far as school itself goes, there have been no major disasters, no huge problems, no massive snafus. It has been a surprisingly uneventful first week back in the classroom. I absolutely love being face-to-face, despite the masks, despite the heat. I love getting overly dramatic while reading out loud or explaining concepts. I've always had a bit of a diva in me (I loved acting in plays or performing music, even though I'm at best mediocre in those areas) and it's really fun being in front of a classroom again. 

The students have been mostly cooperative, and also glad to be together again. Everything depends on their cooperation, so that's encouraging. 

At the same time, I am deeply tired. I have very little down time for planning since we have to cover more study halls (keeping class cohorts separate) and more stringently supervise lunch time and down time in general. As an introvert, it's wearying to be always "on stage." I like being on stage, but I need the backstage time to recharge and rest. 

Hurray for weekends! 

A hot minute

Hello! 

It's been a hot minute since I've posted here, actually more like 1 million thirty thousand minutes (give or take...). Basically I spent a year after that last post processing a lot of "life stuff" internally that I wasn't really comfortable making public, and then this past year I've been super busy teaching. Plus, the kids are at an age where they're a little more aware of what gets posted about them on social media, so I haven't felt as free to talk about them as much here. 

But here we are, and I thought it might be a good time to rev up the ol' blog again. 

We have started school online this year!

We had hoped to begin in person on the 20th, then on the 24th, and then got word that permission to open face-to-face was denied by the Albanian Ministry of Education. But, we could start online, and then transition to face-to-face once all the Albanian schools open on September 14. 

It seems like everyone connected in any way, shape, or form to formal education is struggling with the pandemic and all that implies for the ways that we do school, at all levels. It has been a learning curve, for sure, but I've felt a lot of confidence in our administration - the thoughtful planning, consultation, and decision-making that has gone into preparing for this year gives me a great sense of optimism.

And, so far so good! There have been tech issues and glitches, to be sure - on Tuesday, four of my 9th-graders living near each other lost power! But students, teachers, and families have shown themselves to be adaptable and resilient. The four 9th graders got together at one home and used 4G to connect on one laptop to their class. It looked to me like they were actually really enjoying doing school together. 

We have had our own little family "pod" as well. 

Over the summer, our kids have had regular playdates with a couple friends from their respective classes, and so when school started we decided to keep the friend-pods going and invited the other kids to join us at our house. We hired a recent high school graduate to look after them while Terry and I work, and so far it's been going really well. 

COVID-19 stats in Albania have not been great this summer. We are up to 101 deaths per million, which is lower than the global average, but not by much. After lockdown lifted on June 1 (after a whole month of *no deaths*), people seemed to feel quite free to do whatever and also seemed to be trusting in the summer weather to knock out the virus. Daily cases soared - and are only now just starting to come down again as people seem to have realized the consequences of their actions. 

So, we will see how things go. That's all we can do, really - prepare and plan, but be ready to flex at a moment's notice. 

First Day of School

Summer has drawn to a close for us although it is still pretty hot; we're back in Albania and the kids have started school again. Yesterday was their first day back - it's a new school for them, although there are some kids there they know from church. 

En route to school

Some changes - uniform days are MWF, otherwise they wear regular clothes; start and end times are almost the same, but they get two recesses (one midmorning with a snack, one after lunch); all the kids pack their own lunches; they have Bible class three times a week and chapel once a week; we take taxi or bus partway there and back instead of walking the whole way. Class sizes are similar but the ratio of girls to boys is much higher.

At the end of the day

What Val said: "It was like a day at camp!" (Not sure how she would know that, but I think she meant she had fun)... got a book from the library, and said that the girls in her class were really nice to her (a welcome change). 

Gabe learned all about dolphins, visited the library, noted that I did not put enough salt on the rice I packed for his lunch, and when I asked him what he calls his teacher (she is Albanian, so I thought her name might be tricky for him), he said "I call her Excuse Me!" 

Such a joker.

Anyway, they both said they like their teachers and classmates and had a really positive first day.

The day before, the three of us sat down together to organize their backpacks with the list of utensils we'd been asked to purchase; as I handed them their items I said a little impromptu blessing with each one.

Eraser: May you learn from your mistakes. 

Pencil sharpener: May your mind be sharp and clear

Pencils: May you write good words

Markers: May your days be filled with color and friendship

Crayons: May you enjoy the smell of a new box of crayons!

Later that evening there was a back-to-school meeting for the whole family; each child received a packet of seeds and a personalized card, going with the theme for the year which is "Growing Together." The kids were SO excited to plant their seeds in empty yoghurt cups; we asked our landlady for a little dirt from her compost pile and she helped us plant and water the seeds. It will be excited to see what comes up! In more ways than one. 

Warm October

I've been back from DR Congo for a couple of weeks now, and after a brief cold spell October has turned warm again which has been great for weekend family outings. 

Catch the rainbow!

The artificial lake and big park in the city are as much a bucolic haven as they ever were, with some cafes and restaurants much built up and improved, and the addition of a huge play area for kids of all ages - including a climbing wall! 

 The national park on Mt. Dajti is still a fun excursion, if Val had her way we would go every Sunday after church (we have been attending the International Protestant Assembly for the English-language Sunday School, and have also run into several friends there). They still have horse rides although they are shorter and more expensive than I remember, and have added new playground equipment and a bounce house (which is free). And instead of chickens in this hutch there are now rabbits! I'm not sure what they are fed because they went wild for the dandelion leaves we fed them:

Taking the cable car down the mountain

From the cable car, we can easily see how low the water levels are in ponds and reservoirs along this are. Apparently Tirana had a very dry summer - three or four months with zero rain - and even as we move into autumn there isn't as much rain as I remember from before.

But the days are just beautiful. Sunny and clear, with the lower angle of the sun lighting up the city so beautifully.

We are still staying at the flat we organized temporarily, while we decide whether or not to go back to the (more expensive but closer to school) apartment we lived in last time. This place is really nice too, it's just a full mile from school and the kids get tired of walking back and forth. It's probably good for them, I just get tired of hearing the complaining. They are enjoying school though. Writing and spelling in English is a new challenge now, but they really like their teachers. So far so good!

Arriving home from school

Resilience

I was pretty worried about how the beginning of this year would go, especially for Bug. After three years at the same preschool, he would be starting kindergarden at a new school. After three years in the same apartment - the only place he really remembered living - we'd be moving. The move was scheduled for 2 weeks after school started.

Last year, Valerie's second year at the elementary school, was very hard for her. She struggled with the food, with rude boys in her class, with increased expectations for what she should be able to produce (especially writing was a big challenge for her). She was throwing up at school from anxiety. We started packing a lunch for her and working on Spanish at home. Eventually things got better.

This year has been incredibly smooth in comparison. Val is so happy to have her little brother at school with her, and having her there to explain things to him has helped him tremendously as well. The school itself has settled into a good rhythm after some major administrative upheavals last year (which I think contributed to Val's anxieties at the time - there was just a lot of underlying tension in the air). Gabe adores his classroom teacher, and Val is thrilled with new classes like Laboratorio (science).

After we moved to the new place, our walk to school changed dramatically and I was worried that the kids would complain a lot, get tired, need to use the bathroom mid-route - but it has been fine. They play "obstacle course" through the apartment complex, and then I Spy all the way to school. Or we talk about different interesting things - what are angels, where do babies come from, etc. :-) The walk to school has evolved a new ritual.

Last year Val's Spanish improved dramatically, as did her drawing skills. I was blown away by the work she started to bring home. It's really interesting to me to hear the differences between the two kids as their bilingualism develops. Val speaks Spanish much more correctly than G, but he is much more inclined to code-switch fluidly.

So I'm breathing a small sigh of relief, for now.

First Day of School!

Today Valerie started 2nd grade, and Gabe started kindergarden! They are excited about being at the same school together again, and G asked a thousand questions before they went in this morning. They were nervous, too, with all the unknowns ahead of them - who would be in their classes? What would be for lunch? etc.

We're also planning to move to a new apartment next week, so there are a lot of changes happening right now. Things to celebrate.

I'm celebrating the first anniversary of defending my dissertation. Yay!

Grad

This is a totally self-indulgent post (but then, aren't they all?)

I just got back from a week in the US to celebrate my PhD graduation!

It finally feels real... 

9 years, 3 continents, 2 babies, 1 degree.

Looking back, it seems like a crazy thing to have undertaken. But when I look at each separate decision along the way, I'm not sure I would have chosen differently at any of those points. I do think, though, I was very naive going into the writing stage as to what that would take to finish. 

This looks like individual achievement, but it depended on support from so many people in absolutely critical ways. My parents, my in-laws, Terry, Rosanne... friends in the department, Shpresa.

My grandparents got married in this very room! 

(Most of the photos above are from the commencement ceremony on Sunday the 24th; the last one is from the Anthropology department reception recognition ceremony.)

Finished. Finally.

Teacher's Strike

This was what we saw on the way to our office yesterday, all the way down to the university. 

I have to admit I feel a little apprehensive whenever I see riot police around, particularly because this street is just a couple blocks from our kids' schools, but everything was peaceful in the end.

The public school teachers have been on strike for a few weeks. They are severely underpaid, and the infrastructure is severely underfunded. This is particularly frustrating when government officials in the ministry of education make exorbitant salaries.

This morning while walking Gabe to preschool we passed a bus and a group of people standing around; I heard two women address each other as "compañera" ("companion" or "comrade"), and based on how they were dressed and other cues I figured they had been part of the strike yesterday; so I asked one of the women if they were marching again today. "No," she said. "They sold us out yesterday so now we're going home."

Everyone who can afford to here sends their kids to private schools. As do we. For those who can afford them, there are incredible schools in this city - schools with links to the top universities in the world, fully bilingual education, equipped with baby grand pianos and ballet classes. It's sobering to see the vast gulf between those elite institutions and the bare cinderblock walls and overcrowding of the poorest schools.

It seems like the main aim of the police yesterday was to protect the Transmilenio system and keep it running. I was thankful that when I went to pick up Gabe from school there was no tear gas to contend with. I fully support the aims of this march. Inequality in education just reproduces inequality in society, and traps people in unjust systems.

Work in Progress

In January, when we were on home leave, I defended my doctoral dissertation. It's been a long and winding road to get to this point. I did have revisions to do but didn't get to them until this week. So that is what I have been spending Holy Week doing. The office is very quiet right now!

Dissertation week

This week has been fun for me because I took the whole week to sit around drinking green smoothies and working on my dissertation! I hope to do this about once a month so that there could actually be a chance of finishing someday... Thanks Terry for covering at the office!

Granja (Farm)

The kids' school owns a farm some ways outside the city (I believe I have mentioned this before...!) and a few Saturdays ago they had Parents' Day there. Just parents, no kids, so not everybody was able to come due to work or not having other child care. Terry stayed with the kids and I joined the van caravan out of the city.

This area is just gorgeous.

 They have a llama! Named Pepe!

And a dog! Named Luki!

 Poultry!

 After touring the property, we were put to work in small groups - two groups built foot-bridges to go over this small creek running through the property, two groups planted heliconias (aka false bird-of-paradise), one group created a tile mosaic, one group tied up bean plants, and another painted signs to label different kinds of compost and plants. (I painted signs)

 The kids have a field trip to the farm about every two weeks throughout the school year, except when it's very rainy - then they take them places in the city. But the school really invests a lot in the farm, with gardening and reforestation projects. I'm guessing it's around 40 hectares? of reclaimed pasture (although some of it is still kept as pasture for the two cows and llama).

It's so nice for the kids to have this quiet, fresh, green place to spend time. At the same time it was really strange to me to be there with this group of city people - they were so enraptured with every green leaf it was almost comical. If you've spent any time around farms and farmers, you tend to lose that romanticized notion pretty quickly (am I right, Vince?). It was also strange to be in this group of upper-middle-class parents who are so insulated by their wealth from the violence and displacements going on in this country, the fierce battles over land... one couple casually took down a phone number listed on a "for sale" sign for the adjacent property, talking about how they'd like to build a weekend/vacation home outside the city. So separate from the people that we support through our programs here, yet it's all connected.

I think it's incredibly valuable for our kids to learn about where food comes from, to interact with the "natural" world, soak in these quiet green spaces. The air was so fresh and clean. I'm glad I got to see it so I can ask them better questions about what they do and see there. About all I got before was that there's a rooster that goes "Kok! Kok!" In September there will be a family day for us to go with the kids, too. I'm really looking forward to that!

New Things

So I'm hoping the cuteness of my subject matter will compensate for the poor quality of the photos... maybe I can get a new camera for my birthday next month :-) (This is a test to see if anyone is still reading this neglected, abandoned blog!) 

 Yesterday the kids had their first school excursion, to a farm the school owns just outside the city. I had to send them off with their special-ordered sweatsuits, complete with the school logo and embroidered with their names on the pockets. I also had to buy them rain boots, rain ponchos, and pack it all up with a change of clothes and shoes in a backpack.

 There was some ambivalence about all the newness, sort of dread mixed with excitement.

 Valerie asked me never-ending streams of questions the two or three days leading up to the outing.

They both cried when I dropped them off that day, but I think they ended up having a really fun time. They came home exhausted, full of stories about a sandbox and a white cow and a llama and how the farm was dry, and it didn't rain!

I think next time it will be easier to get them into their outfits than it was this time. I hope! New things are hard, the second time is usually easier.

School!

 The first two days of school, parents and other caregivers were instructed to come with the kids in order to get them acclimated. My mom was able to come with the the first day, too!

There are lots of murals painted all over the building. We liked this one a lot. (The photos where Valerie is wearing a blue shirt and Gabe has green stripes are from the first day. Pink shirt and grey hoodie are from the second day.)

The blocks are in the workshop area where the kids also help sand boards to refurbish their own little chairs.

The indoor jungle gym is Valerie's #1 favorite room in the whole place! Behind it is a toy room that they both like.

Facing the slide is this carpeted area where they played Bowling.

Snack time!  The school has a no-sugar policy. Gabriel liked the fresh fruit juice. V wouldn't touch it!

 Drawing room upstairs. The mural on this wall depicts the school's farm where they go on field trips once or twice a month.

More soon - someone needs me!

Tomorrow...

... is the first day of school for my two littles! I will take lots of pictures.

Their preschool has a process for easing in kids the first year.
Day 1: The children (just the new kids, not returning) come for 1 hour, with their parents, and explore the place.
Day 2: The children come with their parents or caregivers for 2 hours, with a little more structure - snack time in the middle.
Day 3: The children are dropped off for 1 hour. (We were asked to please keep it simple when we drop them off, assuring them we'll be back soon, and to be PROMPT in returning)
Day 4: The children are dropped off for two hours.

* weekend *

Monday: Toy Day! Each child is encouraged to bring a clearly marked favorite toy from home (not too big and not too tiny). They are dropped off for four hours.
Tuesday: Regular schedule commences (some kids are half-day, some are full-day, etc...)

I'm staying home from work Tuesday and Wednesday, and working limited hours the other days to support them in this transition. They're really excited about it though. Yesterday Valerie asked me "is it Tuesday yet?"

~ :: ~

My parents are also leaving this week - Thursday morning - and I'm glad that they are here for the first few days of school; I think it will make the transition less abrupt, perhaps, on both fronts. Maybe. I could be wrong. In any case, it's been great having them here and I don't know what we would have done without them, during the month our babysitter was on vacation! Well, worked less, probably!

Home, Sick

Well, I'm back in Bogota, with some kind of bug - sore throat and bone-tired. Hit the ground running but then took the day off yesterday to just be at home with the kids. It was good. And only coincidence that it was Thanksgiving! We ate noodles, canned beans, peanut butter and jelly, yoghurt. It was a quiet and peaceful day that I think we all needed.

This morning we walked to a private preschool nearby where we're thinking of enrolling Valerie for the coming school year, which starts in January. I have to meet with the director soon to learn more. After that I took the kids with me to the office for the weekly Bogota-staff lunch we share together. It was fun for them, and apparently the whole adventure wore them out because they both fell asleep around 7 p.m.! Amazing.

Off to bed myself.

Sojourner

It was crazy-strange, less than two weeks after landing in Bogota, to get back on a plane and fly to San Francisco via Houston. By myself. This is the longest I've ever been away from Gabriel. Terry's been sending me nightly updates. I have to say that I've been vastly enjoying my time at the conference, just soaking up all this intellectual and social energy. But it's been tiring too and I think I'm beginning to get sick. My presentation is tomorrow so I should probably get some shut-eye.

Less than 48 hours til I'm back in Colombia again!

little pieces of random

These are our fish. Technically, I guess they're Valerie's, since they were a birthday present for her from Shpresa's family - handpicked and carried to our home by her 13-year-old son. We haven't named them yet, although a few ideas I've had are: Picard and Riker; or Bob and Bob (from a Sandra Boynton book). Any other ideas? We have no idea whether they are male or female or one of each.

I think I almost killed them tonight, too - our water was out for a few hours this afternoon, and then later on I cleaned their tank and the fresh water I put in looked a little cloudy. A few hours after that I noticed one of the fish lying half on its side at the bottom of the tank (well, it's really a big glass jar with holes poked in the lid) so I immediately changed the water, using water that we buy to drink and not tap water. They perked up right away so I think they're going to make it.

~~~

Welcome to my office! This is a cafe near our apartment building where I often go to work. I sit at one of the two tables pictured here since there are two outlets handy for plugging in the computer. There's no wireless access, but there is an internet cafe next door if I do need to check e-mail or something on one of their computers.

I like this place for its indoor/outdoor feel, and it's off the main drag so it's usually fairly quiet. It doesn't get too hot, either, except in the middle of the day. They don't serve food, but I usually get a macchiato or juice to drink. The height of the table is not ideal for typing but it's ok.

The photo below is from another place I go to sometimes, a cafe called "Camelot." No wireless here either, but the service is very friendly and they do serve food which is nice if I decide to stay through lunch. The tables are bigger which makes it a good place to spread out if I need to. It does get very hot, though, since they get direct sun all morning long.

There are one or two other places I go to regularly but I don't have pictures of them yet.

~~~

Terry bought a second floor fan for our apt. today, and Gabriel was completely fascinated. He was not very happy when we took away the screwdriver, though. How cute is that pudgy little guy though? (Gabriel is pretty adorable, too, don't you think?) :-)