Jill gets a Job (times 3!)

After graduating my intensive TEFL course at the end of January the time had come to start the job hunt. I revised my resume and wrote a cover letter, and sent them out to over 30 teaching institutes around the city. Within a week I had several job interviews set up. I really liked the first place I interviewed with as the first question they asked me was "what are some of your core values?" The interview lasted an hour as I talked with the director about shared values, good teaching practice and how to see your student as a "whole person" and build a relationship with them. Any of you OCSLers and GCDers out there would know how appreciative I was for this kind of conversation. It was not something I expected to find here. I was offered the job on the spot and I asked for a week to think it over (as this was only my first interview!) My other interviews went relatively well, but no one else asked about my values- just for a summary of my experience, strengths and weaknesses, and availability. One interview actually didn't go very well. The whole thing from start to finish was less than 10 minutes long, and after two minutes of talking the director told me that I "spoke very closed" and that it was difficult to understand me. Then she spent the last 5 minutes giving me advice on interviewing with institutes :/ Such an awkward experience.

By the end of my first round of interviews I felt ready to say yes to that first institute. They immediately called me in for an orientation meeting that Friday, then I met with my coordinator on Monday and started teaching on Tuesday. Right now I'm teaching 7 classes (about 16 hours a week) for adult professionals. I have 1-3 students in each class and the levels range from beginner to upper intermediate. I spent my first week playing ice breaker games, getting to know my students, and setting course goals/expectations. I also did some reading and speaking activities with them to get a more precise feel for their level. It feels nice to have classes that I can plan creatively and effectively using my own style of teaching. Right now the lesson planning (time that I don't get paid for) is adding another 6 or so hours of work a week, but I think with time and practice I will be able to cut down on that time. But my previous ambition to teach 30 hours a week has disappeared- this job is a lot of work, and having to plan for those classes would take up too much time. Ideally now, I would like to take on a few more classes, maybe work 20-23 hours a week teaching.

My other job is babysitting. I babysit a little 2 year old love named Ella most evenings. Sara found a post on BAexpats.org from an estadounidense family here in BA looking for a regular babysitter. I got in touch with them and met them for coffee, and now I see them 5-6 nights a week. They are taking 6 months away from the states to learn tango and live in a new place. It's really convenient because they only live a 20 minute walk (a 4 minute bus ride) from my house. It's been nice to spend time with a little kid too, I forgot how much I like kids and it reminds me of my days teaching swim lessons at the Y.

So teaching and babysitting equal out to almost 40 hours a week (more if you count the lesson planning part). Job # 3 is not very time consuming nor profitable, but it's something I'm really happy to be involved with. I have taken on the role of Internship Coordinator for the Argentina Autonomista Project. This program is the very same program I interned with the last time I was in Buenos Aires in 2007 and ended up writing my undergraduate thesis on. It is a program that invites foreign students from all over the world to come and learn about the Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas (National Movement of Recovered Enterprises) by inviting them into factories that were part of the movement and allowing them to learn about it firsthand from the workers. In a nutshell, it's a movement that happened in response to the economic crash of 2001 in which workers occupied factories to keep them from being sold off, and then ended up winning ownership of the companies and rebuilt them as cooperatives- without bosses. You can read more about the internship here.

Anyway, it is work that is close to my heart and made a really profound impact on me last time I was here, so I am so glad that I still get to be connected to the factory and the workers, and advise other students so that they can have an experience as positive as mine. I went back to visit the factory I worked at, Chilavert (a printing press), to introduce myself in my new role and I had such a warm reception. It was good to see everyone again, and (as they all commented) this time my Spanish is much better :)