A High School Teacher?!?

Waking up today was probably the easiest it's been for me in several weeks, which is strange result after a 2 day bout with a fever. Yet, today was the day that I went back to San Pedro High School, where I was to meet with the Principal.

My friend Javier picked me up and shuttled me for the approxiamently 20 minute drive to the school. Along the way we came to two gates. Think something like a gated community except there's a guard that manually lifts the lever. We went through these gates without rolling down the window or flashing any type of identification, which reminded of the last time this happened and asked the question: what's the point of these gates, if we just drive through? The answer helped me to better understand Peruvian culture: "not everybody gets through without being stopped. If you're a cholo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholo), or if you're a cab, they won't let you in."

I couldn't believe it, despite all the culture here, despite all the diverse backgrounds, Peru is still a very racist culture.

Peruvian Lesson: if you have lighter skin and you look like you know what you're doing, don't stop.

We arrived at the school and after a brief wait, met with the Principal. He was very much you're quintessential Principal: a strong presence, very fatherly-like, level, measured speaker, thoughtful, and analytical.

Our conversation touched on general school topics: how old is the school (8 years I think), how big are the classes (15-22), are there any current American teachers (no), what's the grading system (AD-C), how many students go on to college (all of them!), etc. We also discussed how I could fit into the scheme of things. He positioned teaching an economics seminar modeled after a college type course that would meet once per week and have a 7-10 page paper for a final grade.

This sounded good to my considering my other committments (and my failure to get my head around the Spanish word "llevar"). I have also heard that some of the American teachers have not lasted too long at the high school, not because the academic environment isn't rigorous, because it is and they claim to be the best school in South America, but because the Americans cannot handle the teasing and pestering from the students. Apparently, Peruvian teenage boys will test you until they find your weakness, and then they will just drive you nuts. I'm wondering how many teachers are taking bets on how long I will last...