Going to School

We were able to get the classes we wanted in the location near our apartment. It is summer here, so the schools are closed for break. There is an Armenian school where the Armenian kids learn a regular curriculum, but also learn about their culture and language. Apparently, there is a big enough Armenian community here to keep the school going. An interesting fact—all teachers in Argentina are paid by the state whether they teach in private or public schools. Another interesting fact about K-12 education here—teachers do not need a university degree. They go through a training program and take a certification test.

Anyway—back to our classes. Since the kids are on summer vacation, the University of Buenos Aires uses the Armenian school to teach language classes. I am in Nivel 2 and Helen is in Nivel 1b. Her class is huge with about 12 people. Mine is very small with only 5. We have two teachers for each class. One teaches 3 days per week, the other teaches two.

In my class, we have Nia from Russia, Gaia from Copenhagen, Villy from Stockholm, Sam from Damascus, Syria, and me.  In Helen’s class, she has two guys from Norway, a guy from Great Brittan, an Irish girl, a guy from Uzbekistan, a mom and daughter from California, a Chinese girl, and Israeli, two Russian women, a Turkish guy

Helen really likes one of her teachers, Rodrigo. One of my teachers, Andrea, was also my teacher when we were here taking classes in 2007 and remembered me. 

We are in school from 2:00 ‘til 5:00 Monday through Friday until January 30 when we take our exams.