Well, life kind of slowed down for me since becoming pregnant. When we first found out I had 4 weeks left of teaching which I just about managed. I have had top put my nutritional studies on hold for the time being as I my ability to concentrate is almost next to zero and the intense tiredness that one feels when making a little person has meant that daily chores tire me out quickly. I have been limited to going to the market every other day, and washing up! Some days I have got out and about but that usually requires lots of rest either the next day or immediately after. According to everything I have been reading, my energy should be coming back now that I am into the 2nd trimester….. I await this stage eagerly!
However, my latest little project, that doesn’t involve too much thinking or walking around, is to record a book in Spanish on my laptop. Our friend A down in Chincha is still living up queer street with his personal problems and life decisions, so we sent him a 70 page document which would help to explain to him where one picks up personal baggage in life and what can be done about it. He has so far managed 4 pages of the introduction – fairly large type. We know he doesn’t like reading but had put it mainly down to laziness until recently. We have now decided that maybe he is just unable to read it. He can read and write, but probably only has to cope with gmail chat, facebook and email which is quite different to a book or document. We heard recently that Peruvians only understand 10% of what they read. They can read the words but they haven’t been taught reading comprehension. This is an alien concept to our culture, something we take for granted perhaps.
Anyway, my response to this issue is to record the book we gave him to see if that helps in any way, shape or form. If it does, this may give us a tool for the future.
That’s astonishing – but explains a lot too – I know Anna worked with people who would put tins of pineapple and tuna in the same stack, because they were the same shape… so not entirely limited to other countries!
Glad you’re doing something fruitful that doesn’t involve too much running around… if you get the taste for it you could contribute to the internet archive’s community audio project: http://www.archive.org/details/audio, where you can read out books that are out of copyright and upload the recordings for others to listen to!
Ah never heard of such a thing, but what a good idea! Not sure I’m that great at it though. It is kind of nice to hide behind speaking the foreign language as then all mistakes are understood in the context of a foreigner doing their best!! It is rather weird to listen to yourself when checking the recording… does anyone ever like the sound of their own voice??