Jeepney's, squatters and Pearls

The last week has been pretty crazy.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in school first having an induction. The way the timetable will work is for the first half term up until October break I will be working as a TA supporting in classes from year 1 all the way to year 6. I move to many different classes each day but I think this is a good thing as I'll get to work in a range of different classes with different aged children. The class teacher will give me something they want me to do. As there does not seem to be the same level of special needs here as there is in my UK school I think my role is general classroom support. The idea is that after I have got used to the American education system I then work as a supply or substitute teacher after the October break until I finish my time here. I'm really looking forward to this as I've only been TAing for 2 days so far and already am itching to have a go teaching myself. As far as I can work out the US system seems to be a bit less creative than teaching back home and there is more emphasis on things like tests and assignments. However the school is so well resourced that equipt that they have the capacity to do some things we could not back home (except they don't have an interactive whiteboard which breaks my heart!).

So after my 2 days in school I went to stay in the OMF centre over the other side of the city for 2 nights so that I could visit some of the squatter areas (this is what they call a slum where the urban poor live). This was really interesting and heart breaking at the same time. I visited a feeding programme run by a Church in one area, i'm not sure if this was supposed to happen but it felt like they fed me as much as the kids who came for the food (I had 5 meals that day). Then I went to a Muslim squatter area, the Muslims here in the north of the Philippines are a minority group and are not popular among the Catholics and so they keep themselves to themselves. I helped for the day at a school there, when they found out that I was a teacher they gave me this group of children, told me they were year 3 and said teach them spelling! This was kind of crazy, I had to make a spelling list up from the top of my head. We visited a lady in her home and then walked around the community which was really strange as everyone just came out of their homes to stare at me, I'm not loving that part of being here, it's kind of annoying being constantly watched.

After my short stay at OMF I came back to my home and this weekend I spent time with Jen (a lady who works for OMF) and Helena a German girl who is here for 9 months working with the urban poor. We went down town to look at Manila's main tourist site which is a centre for their national hero Rizal. We also visited this amazing pearl shop where you can buy loads of different real fresh water pearls for like 2 pounds a necklace, it was unbelievable!! We rode on public transport and so I finally experienced the Jeepney. A Jeepney is a US army Jeep pimped up the max with monster sound system and crazy art on the sides (a kind of Chav's dream if they wanted a mini bus).There are all sorts of rules you have to follow when riding on a Jeepney, it's a lot like driving around in a noisy tin can literally squashed against the person next to you. You have to know where and when to get off because you can't see properly out the front, this can be quite a challenge!!

Now i've visited the squatter areas I'm working in school full time. It will be nice to get stuck in with all the kids because I still feel quite on the fringe here. I think because I'm not teaching and just assisting at the moment I have more time on my hands than I would if I was teaching full time so I have time to write this very long blog!! I think this is plenty for now, catch you all soon