Chapter VII: The First Days of Classes at ASFG

Monday was a day of extreme excitement among all our family members! The boys would meet their new teachers and their new classmates who would predominantly be Mexican. We had a hurried breakfast – I don’t think any of us had much appetite – and we set off for our “short” walk to the school.

We were allowed in by the two guards at the front gate. Each was carrying an automatic rifle and each had a revolver in a holster in easy reach on the hip. We excitedly greeted teachers we knew and we dropped off our boys at their respective classrooms. Patti headed for her Grade 5 class and I made my way to the other side of the compound to the high school classes. I was greeted very cordially by my immediate boss, Larry Steele and by my librarian friend Roberta Rehn as I went into the library to my carrel. There I met some new-to-me teachers, some Mexican and some out of country teachers. After greeting and establishing backgrounds, we headed back to the elementary are to the auditorium.

Patti’s first impressions were that the children in her class were friendly and eager and seemingly very conscientious. She thought it would be fun to get to know them. They were very talkative and enthusiastic. Another teacher, Martha Calderon, a Mexican, seemed to be a person with good humor and someone who would be an invaluable help to her as she got to know the ASFG system better.

In the auditorium we high school teachers had our first view of the students who might be in our classes. As my “experienced” eyes ranged around the auditorium and the 500 plus students there, I noted potential problems. Some students looked like they might be potential troublemakers by the way they were interacting with others. One young lady of about 15 years looked American and was dressed in torn jeans and looked like someone who did not really want to be there. I hoped she was not slated for one of my classes.

Eventually we made our way back to our classrooms. We would have abbreviated sessions. Each class as they came in were to give me their personal information and I would give them a brief overview of what they could expect in the coming term. It was as I expected. Because I was the most experienced teacher, I was assigned the majority of the students I had previously “book-marked” in the auditorium. Well, I knew it would be an interesting term. But I did note that the students were mostly polite, interested in having a Canadian teacher, and interested in the way I was going to teach my class. The students were mostly Mexican with a number of American, Canadian, and Japanese students mixed in. Each class was from 20 to 24 students in size. I could do this.

After classes, the boys swam while Patti and I did some prep work for the next day. After a later than usual supper, the evening was spent in doing homework with the boys, a portent of things to come.