Less than one week until departure to Uruguay!

A week from today I leave for Uruguay.  I've just returned from an amazing CE service trip to Guatemala to volunteer at Safe Passage, and am switching gears to prepare for my Educational Seminars Teacher Exchange in Uruguay.

It is winter in Uruguay now and their school year is in full swing. It's been a bit of a challenge to think about warm clothing during our current hot spell here in Maine. The Uruguayan winter temperatures range from low 40s to high 50s so it should be similar to a Maine October, but with no central heating.

I will spend a week in Montevideo, the capital, where the ten U.S. Exchange teachers will attend seminars to learn about the Uruguayan culture and educational system.  On Wednesday we'll go to a ranch resort to work with Uruguayan elementary and secondary English teachers at an Educational Immersion Day Camp. I'll be presenting a session entitled, "Active Student Engagement: Strategies for Engaging Students in Foreign Language Education", along with other U.S. participants.

After the week in Montevideo, I'll spend two weeks with Ana Rodríguez in Pan de Azúcar and experience life in her town and school.  "Maestra Ana", Teacher Ana, as the CE students called her, stayed with me in February 2013, for two weeks  and experienced life in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and the U.S.


Ana Rodríguez and Susan Dana at CEMS, Feb. 2013. Maestra Ana wanted to build a snowman but we explained that she had to wait for good snow-packing conditions, in spite of the blizzard snowfall. Some 8th grade students helped her build this snowman, holding a thermos of yerba mate, the Uruguayan national tea.