The joys of teaching

There's a lot to like about teaching in Peru. For one thing, the students all call us "Teacher", or in my case, Teacher John. It's quite endearing. If the students are late to class -- and these are college students, mind you -- they knock on the door and ask for permission to enter the room. They also ask for permission to go to the bathroom, make a cell phone call outside the class, or leave early to deal with their ridiculously busy schedules (7 classes plus their English class with me.) For the most part, these students work incredibly hard and are very cheerful despite their workload. And when the female students get to know you, they greet with you a kiss on each cheek, like in complex and boring French movies. A lot of Peruvians greet each other that way, but it's girl-girl or boy-girl, never boy-boy. I do sense some homophobia here, and sometimes the topic will come up in class. I can tell some of the students are a little uncomfortable discussing it. I don't push it. I'm essentially a guest here. This is a Catholic country and I'm teaching at a Catholic university. I respect that. What I tell the students is that I don't feel I should be judging the actions or choices of others. We seem to have an agreement on that point.
I've been working quite a few hours, teaching and managing at the school. But it's OK. I like teaching so much because when I'm teaching, I'm not thinking about anything else in the world. I'm focused on getting the students to learn the material, and that's it. No problems, no concerns. The discipline issues are very minimal here. I've only had two or three students who were disruptive, and that's out of about 125 or so students I've taught. And as far as managing goes, my boss has been supportive, and we've got a pretty diverse, interesting and intelligent group of teachers. Our teacher coordinator is top-notch. No complaints on the job front.
Sometimes my inability to speak Spanish fluently can be extremely frustrating. People ask questions and many times all I can say is no comprende. I keep trying to improve at Spanish, but progress is very slow. But I am making some progress, and many times I'm able to bumble along with my Spanglish.
I was buying a cell phone Saturday, and the cheap electronics (hot electronics, if you know what I mean), are in a sketchy part of town. I've been down there before, but I've always been on the lookout for evil-doers. This time, as I scoured the streets for evil-doers, I also noticed a lot of prostitutes ... or ladies I was told were prostitutes. I also was told they turn tricks for 25 soles (about $8 U.S. dollars). Rough-looking bunch. It's kind of sad.
I'm going to buy some shoes today, or at least try to buy a pair. I wore down my other shoes walking so much. I've been told I'll have to go to a mall called Saga to find size 12. Looking to spend S/.90 (this is how to write your soles here -- 90 is about $30 U.S. dollars). Saga, or one of the malls, has a TGI Fridays, I think. Ugh. And I thought I was getting away by coming to Arequipa. I guess there's no escape.