TEACHING IN GUATEMALA, DOWNTOWN NIGHTLIFE AND OTHER STUFF

View of Antigua Guatemala

Weather in the Capital City: Mostly rainy and in the 70s. It gets chillier in the evening. Lots of earth tremors and small earthquakes lately, typical of the season.

In this post I won't comment at length on the elections. The campaigns have become a boring telenovela and I am soooo over it I don't even bother reading about it anymore. The saturation of campaign advertising is sickening, and the end result of this process is predictable: no matter who wins, no real change will occur. Regular Guatemalans are screwed and it is their own doing. Even the communities of the Ixil region, which suffered the most under the military in the years of the armed conflict, are in their majority supporting General Otto Pérez Molina.

So what can one say? If the reports are true, all that is left is to accept that the people have spoken. And that people have the governments they deserve.

Saturation of presidential campaign, Guatemala City

So. Instead, lets talk about moi.

Last you heard about my working life, I had accepted a job teaching an intro class to undergrads at a local private university here. That did not last long!

It so happens I had posted on my course syllabus--approved by school authorities--that plagiarism meant the immediate failing of the course. I went over this with the students several times in the following weeks. I explained what constitutes plagiarism and that getting caught meant failing the course.

Mind you, this goes exactly as posted on the university's portal and Student Handbook. Moreover, I had already failed students in the masters program for plagiarism in the past--yes, grad students plagiarize too. Having said all this, I caught two students plagiarizing in their very first paper--moreover, both had shared the exact same paper and turned it in (as if one is not going to notice they turned in the same paper?)--and of course, I immediately failed them.

Very old baby chair I found in antique shop of Antigua Guatemala

What the administration had not explained was that, when it comes to undergrads, they "don't really mean that they will not tolerate plagiarism". So they sent them back to my class and instructed me that I was to let them return and continue with the course, and just give them a non-grade for the paper they had plagiarized.

Of course, I turned in my immediate resignation that very same day, and took copies of my resignation letter to the Dean, the Head of the Department, and several other school officials. I also sent a email to my students, briefly explaining that due to differences with the administration, I would no longer be their professor, and wished them well.

Narrow neighborhood street, Antigua Guatemala

I never imagined that it would cause the ruckus it caused. I received a great many letters from teaching colleagues congratulating me, stating it was about time somebody took a stand. Several told me they don't bother looking for plagiarism anymore, knowing it will only mean that administration dismisses their concerns and they are forced to allow the students to go on in class, almost as if nothing had occurred.

I fail to understand how a real sense of civic-minded citizenry and a transparent, accountable government and business sector will ever flourish in this country, if this is how they are formed even as students. But this seems to be how the cookie crumbles around here, at all levels.

Narrow neighborhood street of Antigua Guatemala

I also received letters from the course students supporting me and yet asking me to please return (that was very sweet), and my boss actually called to apologize and ask me to return. They even offered to transfer the students who had plagiarized to another classroom so that I would not have to deal with them. Clearly they could not see that the issue was not that I had a personal beef against those particular students, it was that I had operated under the assumption that the school administration took plagiarizing seriously--which clearly they don't.

In that particular program--and I hope it is not in all undergrad programs--what seems to go on is that they publish one set of principles but operate under another--more "pragmatic" as they see it--and once caught in a bind, they admit to the double standard. So I refused to return, and that was that. I have nothing against the program, I just cannot work like that. Let those that can or must, do. I don't want to play that game.

Woman wearing handwoven Mayan güipil, Historic Center, Guatemala City

Call me rigid, I just don't believe one helps plagiarizing students by just giving them a slap on the wrist, nor is it fair to the ones who do the work honestly. I met some really great kids in that class, and that was a pleasure.

In general, though, undergrad teaching is just not my cup of tea. I guess that I lack the so-called "teaching vocation" and am not greatly service-oriented or whatever. If I must teach, I prefer to teach adults in grad programs. To me teaching is a job, a job one has to do well, but not my vocation. I don't live to teach, nor make a living from teaching. Honestly, I much prefer the work I do in community-building and organizing for international aid, so all is well that ends well. It all goes into the bucket of lessons learned.

Moving on to recent things about Guatemala.

Detail of mosaic in Colonial House, Historic Center, Guatemala

Of interest: I need to seriously recommend you visit the post Troubled but Trying: Guatemala City in the international travel blog Trans-America Journey. It is very informative and the photos are really great.

And perhaps of interest: If you are living abroad and interested in writing, blogging, gender issues, etc. the well-known feminist blog Gender Across Borders published a call for writers, which you can read by clicking here.

Talking of feminism, but in a bit of a more celebratory way, Guatemala City has an annual Women's Arts Festival called Ixchel, Arte de Mujer (Ixchel, Women's Arts--Ixchel being a Mayan goddess and all). It started very small and has become fairly big and growing every year. It is fun and has some interesting stuff worth seeing. In case you are interested in attending any of their myriad events (poetry readings, performance art, etc.), I will post the flyer below.

Flyer for Ixchel, Women's Arts Festival

Something also very fun here (we're getting increasingly un-serious minded, aren't we?) is the Miércoles de Cumbia (Cumbia Wednesdays) nights. Mind you, as long as you are not very narrow in your understanding of cumbia, because I have been there and they play a wide variety of Latin, electronic-based music. See the flyer below, an interplay between the liquor brand Indita and the event.

Flyer for Cumbia Wednesdays

These events, headed by the No. 1 DJ and producer in the country, Básico 3, are free and open to all. They take place the first Wednesday of every month, at different places downtown, so you have to follow them on Twitter to know, on that same day, where exactly the party will take place. The event is so big that the #miercolesdecumbia twitter tag is one of the most followed in the nation.

The fantabulous nachos at Bar Central (if you go there, order 'em!)

You have to keep in the loop to know where it'll happen. Sometimes it is at any of the most popular downtown bars, such as the trendy Bar Central or the historic/bohemian Bodeguita del Centro. The last couple of times, it has taken place at the only parking tower downtown. It draws a mixed bag of locals and the more Bohemian expat crowd. If you are interested in what is happening in the world of techno-Latin music, this is the party to go to. Follow them on Twitter!

Miércoles de Cumbia (Cumbia Wednesday)

Downtown Guatemala getting more "hip". There are already 3 or 4 pretty decent Vegetarian restaurants downtown, and Casa de Cervantes has recently launched its new Vegan restaurant. Vegan not my thing, me being uninhibitedly carnivore, but it is an interesting addition to the already good and varied gastronomic fare available downtown.

Casa de Cervantes, fair trade store, vegan restaurant, art gallery and bookshop

Casa de Cervantes is a lovely Colonial era house turned into a coffee shop, gallery and book shop. By the way, the book shop, Casa del Libro, es very well stocked and the owner, Cristóbal, is a good guy to go to in the way of finding books. If he doesn't have it, he can direct you to where to get it or try to find it for you. Very personalized attention and lots of interesting material there, both in the way of books, music and art.

In short, Casa de Cervantes--fully wired for wi-fi--is a good place to go check your email, read newspapers, have a delish (fair trade) coffee and just hang out.

Cristóbal and the Casa del Libro Bookshop

Moving on to interesting expats in Guatemala, I would like to highlight the case of Andrzej Bobkowski. A Polish journalist and writer, Bobkowsky migrated to Guatemala after spending World War II in France, where he played an interesting role, and lived out the rest of his life in Guatemala.

During his years here, he continued to write and publish in France on Latin America and Guatemala, travel around and made a living from his store The Hobby Shop, established for years in what is now the Historic Center of the city. He is remembered here as the founder of all things airplane modelling.

Candy seller, streets of Historic Center, Guatemala City
(the "canillitas de leche" and "colochos de guayaba"--guava candy--are really tasty)

There seems to be a renewed interest in Europe in his WWII and Post-War activism and writings. Several of his essays and short stories were published in books from the 1940s to the 1960s, but he never published in Spanish or in Latin America. So some literary re-discovery going on there and what not. He died, in the 1960s, at only 48 years of age.

I will post two short films on Andrzej Bobkowsky, the first one in Spanish and the second one, silent. They are of interest for the richness of the images of WWII Europe and Postwar Guatemala.

VIDEO ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF ANDRZEJ BOBKOWSKY
(Great historic photo footage)

VIDEO ON ANDRZEJ BOBKOWSKY AND THE MODEL AIRPLANE CLUB OF GUATEMALA (Early 1950s)

Well that is all for now. I just wanted to add that the photos I posted on Antigua are not of the more touristy (kitschy) streets, but I like them better. They are more "real" to me than the Disneyland for US Retirees that most of Antigua has become. Hope some of this has been useful or of interest to you and will be back soon.