June 9, 2014

Yesterday was a busy day so I didn't have a chance to post.  :-)

We went and toured a private school.  It had only been open for 7 years.  The ages/grades were from 3 years old-12th grade.  When we arrived, they were getting ready for an assembly.  It was an awards assembly so there were a lot of parents.  We took a seat in the back but a lady came and got us and asked us to sit up front by the principal handing out the awards.  We were then asked to write our names down and where we were from.  They wanted to acknowledge us.  :-)

Awards Ceremony

This school was also bilingual.  They start speaking English with the 3 year olds.  In junior high, the students also begin taking Chinese.  Several of them had won national awards for their Chinese.  In high school the students are more concerned with learning German because of the big VW plant here.

This school was more of a traditional school in regards to how they taught.  It was not nearly as wealthy as the private American school that we toured but the families were well off financially.  Both schools had the same philosophy regarding learning English--complete immersion.  When I talked to the administrators about the students having problems with being immersed in English, both replied that students didn't have any challenges.

When I told the administrator at the first private school about the students that we have in our schools that speak only Spanish at home and come to a school where only English is spoken, she replied that the children shouldn't have any problems.  They shouldn't need any extra support.  I thought about that for awhile.  Then I tried to explain that their is a difference in socioeconomics of our two populations.  She still didn't see that there was a difference.  So I asked her if her students were ever concerned about having food to eat, or if one of their parents might be taken away by the police, or if they were concerned about violence in the home or neighborhood.  She was shocked and said no of course not.  I then explained that many of the students that we work with are in these situations.  They may not have academic support at home.  They may not have access to books.  A child's environment does have an impact on their academics.  Because of these things, the students we work with do need some added supports.  I'm still not sure if I convinced her, but at least I gave her something to think about.

Back to the private school--one of the interesting things I saw at the school was not only did they have a garden but they also had a hydroponic garden.  They also had a kitchen where the teachers could do cooking activities with the students.  The technology that they used in the classroom consisted of iPads and white boards with projectors.  The teacher we observed seemed very comfortable using technology.

Hydroponic Garden

Preschool Class

Pyramid with Church

Pyramid Tunnel

After we left the school we traveled about 10 minutes to the town of Cholula.  It is surrounded by 4 volcanos but only one is active.  We toured a pyramid.  It was very interesting because it was a pyramid that had been built on the top of another pyramid.  When the Spanish came along they built a church on top of the pyramid.  When archeologists wanted to explore the pyramid they were told that they could only do so as long as it wouldn't affect the church.  The archeologists explored the pyramid through tunnels they made in the pyramid.  That's what we walked through.

Much of the pyramid was destroyed or was covered by vegetation.  However, there are pieces that can still be seen or that have been uncovered.

 I knew from previous studies of this era, that these people practiced human sacrifices.  However one piece of information was new to me.  This group of people sacrificed 6-9 year old children whenever they had a lack of water.  What was interesting was how they chose the child.  There were 3 options:  a child with 2 cowlicks, a child with Down's Syndrome, or a child that cried excessively.  A child with 2 cowlicks was seen as having completed a perfect life cycle.  A child with Down's Syndrome was seen as a perfect child that the gods had given to the parents, however when there was a lack of water, that child had to be given back to the gods.  A child who cried excessively was using up the water and had to be sacrificed in order to appease the gods.  I am so glad this practice no longer exists!!

After returning home and having a long nap, Brandi and I took a taxi to the Lucha Libre.  I am not one who cares a lot about sports, and I have never been to or even watched an event like this one.  It was interesting to watch the crowd and see how they reacted.  It was a very loud and lively place.  They didn't sell popcorn and peanuts but sold real food.  The vendors walked around with trays and you could pretty much get a meal at your seat.  This event seemed to be a family event.  Lots of children were there as well as both men and women.  What shocked me the most was the wrestlers coming out of the ring.  There were several times that I though one of them was going to land on me (we had ringside seats).  It was definitely an experience!!

Landed in front of me!