Trajectory

Somehow it is already mid/ the end of November, and I don't really know where the time went. In the last month a couple big PC things took place. During the last two weeks of October I traveled to Surabaya for our In Service Training (IST) and just this past week I had my site visit with a Peace Corps staff person. Although there are still more to come, it does seem like a majority of the major PC benchmarks have passed us by. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the office is much more hands on with you during the beginning of your service, but still time is flying by.

There isn't a whole lot of specifics to report on IST. I had a great time living in a hotel for two weeks with 26 other great American friends. It gave me the opportunity to get to know some of the volunteers that I  wasn't close to during PST (literally because of distance) and we were able to enjoy the comforts of western living for a bit. Its not like we are living in mud huts or without running water, but my house does lack a hot shower, sitting toilet, and actually something as basic as a sink. Movie theaters, malls, and Italian food are also a very nice treat.

Contrary to my host family's belief though, this was no vacation. We spent hours a day sitting in a conference room talking about our experience sand absorbing new information. Information, which I am pleased to report, that has been very helpful since returning to site. All in all, good times!

I think that the best  benefit of IST had little to do with being in Surabaya though. In fact the biggest benefit was just being away from site. Sometimes you need to be missed for you and others to understand the changes that have been taking place. Being away for two weeks was a significant amount of time and one of three things happened during that time.

1. Its true what they say, when you are too close to something it is hard to see the changes. You don't always notice when a friend looses weight if you are around them everyday, but the second you look at an old picture it is all too obvious. Maybe my students were slowly opening up to me and gaining confidence in my teaching style and I just wasn't able to see it until I stepped away for two weeks.
    
2. While I was gone my students recognized the difference between my teaching style and the way other teachers teach. They realized that I am trying to make their learning experiences more interactive and that they are actually learning something during the silly games and songs.

3. It was a combination of 1 & 2 (the most likely explanation).

All I know is that since I  have returned to school, my students have been more engaged in their classroom activities than they had been before. They are now following directions within a minute of me giving them instead of staring at me, and now they are asking more questions and looking for approval. It is great!

So just a few days ago I had my first site visit. After the first one they aren't too scheduled, but they usually occur when someone from DC is visiting, when someone form Jakarta is visiting, or when an event is happening at the school. This first one though was just a check in. Aside from occationally getting overwhelmed with the number of things that people want me to do (usually teaching English) everything at my site has been going swimmingly.

My relationships with my CPs has steadily been growing stronger and we are even embarking on a major project to write our own English workbooks for next semester. We are getting better at lesson planning together and we have finally started English department meetings. Clear goals have been set for the remaining part of this semester, and it looks like we should be able to start off strong next semester.

Life in the community has also been going well. I continue to love everyday that passes with my large host family (8 adults in one four bedroom house). I have also joined a women's volleyball club team, so I get a more competitive (not college level, but not jv either) practice in twice a week. Its just good time for me to chill with some women and girls in the community.

I do recognize, however, that my forays into the community have been pretty limited. I am not great at using my free time to get out of the house and meet people. I hesitate oh too often because it is probably one of the hardest parts of the job. We are constantly being watched and called out at and to put myself out there and meet people in the community usually means times filled with awkward conversations and a pretty strong language barrier. This is something I need to get over though. Integrating myself into the community was my number one goal in becoming a PCV and so far I have avoided it like it is the plague. Once I make first contact things will be fine, but I just need to get up my courage and do it.

At seven months in country though, I am happy with my progress and my trajectory. Hopefully I'll stay on course and just gather more power along the way.