Days of the Dead in Oaxaca! Fran's progress!

Fran in front of the church at Santa Ana Zegache, restored by the local people under the supervision of the artist Rudolfo Morales.

Fran at the Days of the Dead altar to artist Rudolfo Morales at his home in Ocotlan.

Sand tapete (carpet) in front of the Basilica de Soledad, Oaxaca

Fran and Catrina, after the performance of "Copijcha" at Teatro Macedonia Alcala

 

Hi friends,

Last week Fran and I attended a production of "Copijcha" at the Macedonia Alcala (see clip above), and then we went for a day trip with David to Velasco, Zegache and Ocotlan.  She hasn't seen any of the surrounding ruins or pueblos, so I am going to try and gradually introduce her to the rich heritage that surrounds her in Oaxaca.

Fran continues to excel in her school work and to impress her teachers.  She tells me she is among the top 5 or so people in her class in terms not only of grades, but of turning in her work dependably and keeping up with all the requirements.  She is putting a lot of time and energy into her calculus class and it is really paying off -- that includes attending evening classes at the Learning Center, participating in a study group several times a week, and disappearing into her room for many hours to study.  She seems to have a boundless appetite for learning.
 
I am leaving for the States on December 11 and will return on December 30.  Fran will be here except for a few days to visit her family.  Marisol will be going to Mexico City around the 20th of December for about 3 weeks, so it looks like Fran will have the place to herself for 10 days, minus the time she is with her family.  Leeann and Steven will be visiting during that time, and so Fran will not be completely on her own.  During their visit they will sit down with me to help work out a budget covering at least the next year.  We will let you know what Fran needs to get her through this period.

Fran gets 2 months off school, and I am trying to find an opportunity for her to spend the month of January learning English.  This week I will be checking if she can attend the English class at the Oaxaca Library 4 days per week, which would be the most reasonable (financially) alternative.  I have my fingers crossed that Jay, the teacher, will not be on vacation.  Fran still does not speak a word of English because she has been putting all her energy into her other classes. 

She is still enjoying her new glasses, and realizing how much she wasn't seeing without them!  Sometimes a little thing can change your life!

If you are new to the blog and would like to contribute to Fran's education, I have periodically posted information about the Oregon Credit Union where she has her education account.  Or you can contact me by leaving a message on the blog.

Until next time....

Many kinds of learning

Fran living in this house (apartment, rather) with me and Marisol continues to be a learning experience for all of us, one that will affect many others I imagine, like the ripples flowing out from a drop of water.

I am continually learning about Fran, her ideas, her understanding, her needs, her interests and goals across a complex communication barrier on both sides.  I do not speak fluent Spanish, and though she understands a little, she speaks no English.

But this limitation is more complex than it seems because Fran speaks in a speech pattern common to the villages, I am told by other Oaxacan friends.  It is not the custom to either ask or answer a question directly, using the fewest words possible (especially when the other person does not speak your language fluently).  The point is talked around and at lightening speed, taking many side roads and seemingly random tangents, and is frequently lost on me as I wait for clues about the the answer to my question, or the subject matter at hand.

Sometimes I try and get her to the point, when it is important.  Often I decide to be satisfied with the general idea in the interest of time.  Marisol, who speaks perfectly understandable Spanish, French, and English encounters the same phenomenon with Fran, but because both of them speak Spanish (remember that Fran is not a native speaker of Spanish -- she learned it only a few years ago) she can steer her to the point more easily.

Not surprisingly, though Fran is doing fantastically with numbers, she is not appreciating (and struggling, I think) with classes like Ethics, where she is expected to express thoughts and opinions both in front of the class and on paper.  I suggested to her that the more challenging something is, the more she should dedicate herself to mastering it.  The idea of professors at the school is that it is not enough to to master the technical skills of engineering; the student must be able to communicate effectively with bosses, clients, and co-workers.

This week instead of classes, all the IT engineering students are meeting and hearing lectures from various professionals in their field.  But their teachers are e-mailing homework assignments which they turn in all week.  So far, I really like the way this course of study is going for Fran.

Had an interesting conceptual event with Fran the other day that taught me something about assumptions.  She expressed a concern to me that her eyes may be getting worse from wearing her new glasses, not better.  I should have picked up on something right away, but didn't.  She said when she took her glasses off, her eyes were much worse.  What I learned later was that she somehow had the understanding that wearing glasses would improve her vision, literally.  Her dentist, who has become another mentor, cleared it all up with her.

The other night, Fran and Marisol had a long talk about Fran's fear that her excellent grades will draw negative attention from other students and make them suspect her of cheating.  Marisol talked to her about owning her accomplishment and sharing her secret (constant study, and attending night classes at the Learning Center) so that they will understand how she has achieved her grades.  Marisol talked a lot about being proud of her own accomplishments as they accumulate, partly because when she becomes a professional she can't expect to hear much praise from bosses or co-workers.  How to be proud without being arrogant.  These lessons are just as important as anything she is learning in school, of course!!

Once or twice a week Fran receives counsel from Marisol about things that have come up -- sometimes points on how to conduct research (academic advice) and other times situations with her teachers or other students.  Marisol is very busy with her own professional life, and she has been very generous and helpful to Fran.

This is just a taste of the rich garden of learning that we are all harvesting from in this house.  Thanks yet again to those of you whose contributions are making this environment for Fran possible.

October progress report

Hi friends,
I have been somewhat negligent writing the blog recently -- changing my artistic focus, building up new inventory, market research, and tying up loose ends has taken up time I don't even have!  But I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But enough excuses!

Here is one of my biggest heroines, Fran, in her new winter jacket and new glasses. Every day she comments on how they make her life easier! Fran is studying to be a computer engineer, and she is taking pretty much wall-to-wall math classes -- Calculus, Discrete Math, and Fundamentals of Programming, along w/business ethics and Banda Guerra (she plays the drum while marching), a required extra curricular class which was the only one left after the juniors and seniors had their pick!

Just for the record, Fran is near or at the top of her class. She has accomplished this by constant study and wise use of resources, including a study group, tutors, and hours and hours in her room.

This is the crucial year.  She must pass all of her classes in order to continue, and she is making sure that she does much more than that!

As some of you may know, here in the south of Mexico we have been caught between hurricanes on both coasts, and the constant rain is just beginning to flee the glorious months of October, November, December and January.  Fran checks with her parents by phone and to date I have heard nothing about mudslides or the road being washed out.  One or two of her fellow students made the mistake of trying to visit their village during the worst of the storms and were trapped there, unable to attend classes.  They may have had to drop out.  Her teachers do not accept any excuses, no matter how dire, for not attending class and completing all the work.

I still pinch myself that things are going so well.  We have enough money to complete this school year, but I am beginning to anticipate next year.  I will be in touch soon about that.  So far, among our few donors, we have those who have given once, those who have given twice, and those who have committed to automatic monthly contributions of between $25 and $50.  For those who have given once or twice, we hope that you will not forget us next year.  For those of you who give monthly, we can't thank you enough for the feeling of stability that gives us!

Fran just returned from her study group and went back to her room to study.  But she has a smile on her face!  Thank you.

New Glasses!

Fran is on her way today to get her first prescription for glasses.  She has been getting to school very early so that she can secure a seat in the front row of her class because of her vision.  She can see to read, but anything much beyond 7 or 8 feet starts to get blurry.  So this will be a very positive change for her!  I will of course put up photos of her in her new glasses as soon as they arrive in about a week.

Meanwhile, her studies are going well and she is busy every waking minute with them.  She is just in the middle of her first round of exams for all her classes and seems to have set up an effective system of solo and group study with a small circle of classmates who are equally studious.  The last of this round of exams is this coming Tuesday (she has Monday off for Independence Day) in calculus.  Of all her teachers, she likes her calculus teacher the best.  He is very strict and clear about his demands, and the students must step up or leave the class -- she likes that!

I continue to be amazed by Fran's determination, organization, and resourcefulness.  Not being particularly skilled in math, I am in awe of how confident she is in this subject, and how much she seems to actually enjoy it!

It has been very rainy here in Oaxaca for about a week, and we are expecting at least another week of the same.  The satellite image shows a huge storm system over southern Mexico extending from the Caribbean to the Pacific.  We are soggy!  Fran washes all her clothes by hand, but now she is hanging them on the covered part of the utility patio and they turn sour unless she uses my big fan to keep the air circulating.  I do look forward to the end of the rain so we can go out and appreciate the brilliant green reward in the landscape!

Can't believe that October is just around the corner!

First "real" week

For the two previous weeks, Fran was getting her feet wet at her school, along with all the other new students.  They attended one survey class 4 hours a day, 5 days a week.

But on Monday this week, they were all thrown into the official beginning of the semester, and Fran went from being an intrepid beginner to a long-distance runner.  Last night she was up until 3 completing assigned homework from 5 classes.  She said she was tired in the morning, but by the time I saw her at about 5 this afternoon, she was wide-eyed and energetically focused on her new regime. 

She said that her professors, especially her calculus teacher, said that he didn't want to hear any complaints about the workload, and that it was to be expected that students would work long hours and stay up late.  He said if he caught anyone yawning or drifting off he would send them home immediately!  No eating in class.  No trips to the bathroom.  Alert attention at all times!!! 

Fran said that the students at her school are not sloppy.  Their hair is neatly combed and cut.  No baggy pants or too much make-up on the girls.  The teachers are nice, but extremely strict.  A high level of discipline is expected...not like the students and faculty at Benito Juarez University (Fran's comparison).  I was glad to hear all this, and I think Fran appreciates the strict expectations too. 

She signed up for a math tutoring class at the Learning Center, 3 evenings per week.  And she attended for the first time this evening, taking along her calculus homework.  For now, she thinks that calculus is going to be her most difficult class, so I am glad she has found a way to get some extra help.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays she is in class from 10 to 5 with no break.  So I am trying to make sure she has some kind of snack in her purse.

Fran is very very happy, even though she is on the tips of her toes to meet the challenge.  It is a joy to see!

Fran's Schedule, First Semester, Start date August 26, 2013

There are 2 groups of students in the new crop of engineering majors, and Fran is in Group B.  Just last night she received her schedule for the semester, which she will begin tomorrow morning.  For some strange reason her first class (Mate Discretas) is listed last, starting at 8 a.m.  As you can see, she will be attending 4 days a week, and will have Friday through Sunday off, a great schedule.  She has been sizing up the other students for study partners and told me tonight that one of the most intelligent ones happens to live fairly nearby.  She is at the computer now, and it is 10:34 p.m.  Too excited to go to bed.

 

Panic! Miracle! A New Life Begins!

Last Saturday, Fran (upon my advice) decided to quit her job at the grocery store.  She was working long hours and getting paid so little it really wasn't worth the stress and the lost time for study.  Literally, some months she made less than $40.  That was a big turning point!  Now she can focus on getting through the first year.

She only had one more piece of paper to turn into the school before the start of classes, and for that she had to (and wanted to) to to her village for a medical checkup and to visit her family for the last time until Navidad.  So she left Saturday night and returned Wednesday afternoon -- yesterday.

PANIC!

When she checked the school's website, she discovered that her first class had already started on Monday!!!!  We don't know how she overlooked that, but it happened.  Websites here are not easy to navigate, and Fran just didn't click herself to the right place to find the announcement of the early start.  We all do things like this occasionally, at least I do!

Needless to say, neither of us slept last night.

MIRACLE!

I woke up at 6:30 this morning!

A NEW LIFE BEGINS!

With our hearts and stomachs in our throats, Fran and I took a collectivo to her school to try and straighten things out.  We got there an hour before class began and started walking around, asking questions, waiting -- and then repeated this regime several times until class began.  We could not find the director of the program, so decided to take our chances with the teachers...one of whom frowned and shook his head, but let her in.  I sat outside her classroom for 4 hours, and then we both went to find the director of the program to make sure she could still continue attending.  You can probably tell that it turned out well.  I think my presence helped.

And so, Fran's new life began with a BANG, about 10 days earlier than we had anticipated.

Her new regime starts very early tomorrow morning, and it involves a long commute, but the beauty and peace at her school are well worth the wait. There was a hand-painted sign in the grass, under 2 lovely shade trees in front of her classroom that said (in Spanish of course) -- "A school without green would be like a river without water."

Thank you so much for helping to make this happen.
More next week!