Last night I felt like a kid before the first day of school - I reviewed my train route, packed my snack, picked out an outfit and had butterflies in my stomach, all because today began orientation.
The trip to school takes about an hour. From my apartment to the metro it is a 5-10 minute walk. Then, I board the metro towards Cuatro Caminos, Blue Line #2, exit at Chabacano, transfer to Brown Line #9 towards Pantitlan and finally transfer to the Purple Line #A to La Paz and exit at Acatitla. The walk from there to my school is about 10 minutes and there are also plenty of “bicitaxis” if I don’t feel like walking. I could take a bus as well, or peceros (fish tanks) as they are called, but the trip is not as “comfortable” and I don’t like the unpredictable amount of time it takes to get through the traffic each day. So, I pass the time by listening to audiobooks on my Ipod - I started with Bob Costas' book on baseball - it's not going anywhere, so I've started to skip chapters. I'm looking forward to seeing if he has a conclusion.
About 36 staff members were present this morning - including teachers, “prefectos” (those in charge of discipline), the social worker and principal and assistant principal. All of the teachers seem very nice and ready to help make my experience a nice, smooth one. They also seem to be a very close group – as in Mexico it is uncommon for teachers to change schools and usually spend their careers in one school.
At about 9:00 a.m. orientation began and in 6 groups we reviewed the “Liniamientos” (regulations for the schools in Iztapalapa) and highlighted those that pertained mostly to our school, Enrique Beltran #293, and then shared these all together. It became a lengthy process; and we left at 12:30 p.m.
I was interested, however, to learn all of the standards and issues that are common for both the schools in Iztapalapa and for Wilmette Junior High School: Students may not use cellular phones; students say The Pledge of Allegiance and participate as a sign of respect; smoking is prohibited on campus; it’s forbidden for teachers to tutor students who are in their classes. Disparities between the schools are that in Iztapalapa, students wear uniforms to help lessen the inequality of social classes; students and their parents wear credentials when at school; teachers have to give an evaluation at the beginning of the year; at any moment teachers may need to show grades to those in charge, including inspectors; and during the first week of September, teachers need to turn in their plan for the year; at the end of the semester, teachers need to turn in their first two units; and finally, teachers must keep daily plans to turn in at the end of each semester.
