1st Semester Favorite Moments

Well with the school year effectively over, I’d like to share my two favorite moments of teaching in Nicaragua thus far.

The first: I was teaching my students about variable costs.  The book example that we use are pillows so I had them list off the things you need to make pillows: cloth, string, feathers etc.  So to find the unit cost of each pillow we need to know the quantity and price of each of the components.  While I was filling in the chart on the board, I asked a student what unit size you buy feathers in.  He responded, 100% serious, “Well, it depends on the size of the chicken”.  In Nicaragua, if you want a feather you go into your back yard and take it from the chicken.  Students: 1, Professor Pedro: 0.

My other favorite classroom moment was at my rural school.  Their product for the competition was potatoes wine (no, I never tried it.  I’m disappointed too.) and I was helping them come up with a slogan for it.  What they came up with was: “Probalo y llegar al cielo” (Try it and arrive in heaven).  Unfortunately, my super advanced Spanish abilities heard: “Probalo y llegar al suelo” (Try it and hit the floor).  Clearly not a good saying for a product with alcohol so I repeated the incorrect version and received much laughter.  Students: 2, Professor Pedro: 0.

Overall, I’d consider my first semester as a highschool business teacher in a foreign language a success.  Therefore, time to celebrate!  This weekend I’m off to Ometepe (a large island in Lake Nicaragua).  It is their fiestas patronales so 7 of us are making the trip.  My hostel has been described as “colorful with a bar and pet monkeys”.  Is this real life?  Talk to you next week!