So, Thursday, I walked to the secondary school from El Encino to Santa Rosa. It had rained all the day before, all night, and all morning, so instead of crossing a basin of rocks, I was actually crossing a quite large and running stream. It took some planning to decide which rocks I was going to jump on to get across. I arrived with a thick layer of mud on my sneakers, but relatively clean and dry, otherwise. I was feeling pretty antsy, so instead of going straight to school, I went over to the boys' host family's kitchen and ate some gorditas with a very spicy green salsa. Deciding I had no more time to waste, the 4 gringos headed up the hill to the school.
The other 3 came for a basketball rematch. Last time we played the middle schoolers in a pre-scheduled game, Mexico beat the US by a pretty good lead, so this time we had hopes of playing a bit more equally. Well, I actually had no intention of playing, and I didn't. I retreated to an empty classroom (since all the students were outside watching the game), and set up camp. After not too long though, it started raining, and the kids all retreated to different classrooms. I was worried the rain would come back and I'd have to deal with them being noisy, so I brought movies. I put in the 5th Harry Potter movie in one room and Mulan in the other. In Spanish of course. That kept them occupied and quiet. The teacher I had been working with most began sending over 3rd year students one at a time for me to interview. I went through the technical necessities before interviewing each student and then asked if it was ok to record the interview. Half said yes :) and half said no :/ It took some skill to get the hang of taking notes about what they were saying while still facilitating conversation, but I had it down pretty quickly. I think it's a really good skill to have if I want to do more research in the futuro.
I had some great interviews. I also had some rather mediocre ones, but I still got information and I think I'm going to be satisfied with what I have to work with in the post-field writing class. In case you're interested, here's the questions that I usually asked:
1. What are you going to do after graduation (usually work, or go to la prepa)?
2. Where will you work? With whom?
3. Why do you want to go to la prepa? What do you want to study? Do you want to go to college? Why or why not?
4. Do you think you'll study more English? Where? Why?
5. Do you think you'll use English in your future? How?
6. Do you know anyone who has gone to the U.S.? Who? How long? What did they do?
7. Do you want to go to an English-speaking country, or would you rather stay here? Why or why not?
8. Do you think it's important to learn English? Why?
During one interview, I got to question 6, and some trouble started a-brewin'. The student told me their father when to the States. When I asked for how long, they started to answer and then began crying. AHH! Yikes! I stopped the interview and apologized profusely. Then I asked if she wanted a sucker, and she laughed. We talked about some mindless things for a while, and then asked if she'd like to finish or go ahead and leave. She was a trooper and finished. This is why we have consent documents for them to sign beforehand.
Only 2 students told me they didn't have anyone in their family who has gone to the States, and all of the boys told me they planned on going just like their fathers, uncles, and brothers. A couple times, they told me this after I asked them the first question. A lot of the students who weren't going on to the prepa next year (which was most of them), said the prepa is expensive and they would just work with their families in the fields or at home or find a job in the city. For these ranchero youths, migration is a very real expectation.
I was talking to a 3rd-year teacher in the secondary school about what children do when they graduate. He said that of the 38 students about to graduate, only 8-10 will go on to the prepa. men will switch between working in the States and working in the fields here. Most girls will stay at home. A lot of times the students migrate or stay home because the family can't afford to send their child to high school. They want another set of hands to sow and harvest or wash and cook. He told me he's had conversations with fathers who told him that "the profession is not the woman's place," then he went on to explain that the girls are expected to get married and do housework. They don't need to go to school. He said the rest of the students will go on to get jobs in the city. A lot of them will earn their keep illegally in the city as pick pockets. A lot of girls will dance on tables. I can't say how much truth there is to all his words. It all sounded pretty fatalistic to me to be honest, but I did see some truth to it. I think the expectations and financial situations of families deeply influence, if not govern, these kids' futures. I suppose you could make the same argument for any culture, but I had never given it much thought until I came to these ranchos.
No comments:
Post a Comment