Director's Cup

So, the second event mentioned in the previous post was the Director’s Cup. It is an annual tournament for the CEG (where I work) student’s that is put on and planned by the director (who is also my counterpart). As mentioned a few posts ago, the other professors were boycotting the tournament. These had caused quite the ruckus at my school earlier in the spring, but by now things had (mostly) calmed down. They still didn’t come to tournament, but I did and I had a good time!

The final match was between the 4e and 3e classes (4e=8^th grade, 3e=9^th grade), which were the two classes I taught this year!! I was Prof. Principale for 4e, which means that I was in charge of calculating their grades and I have to deal with them if there are any discipline issues, so I was cheering for them.

They started by having a few warm up laps, after which one of the 3e boys pulls out a wig and puts in it on! Funniest thing ever. I have to admit, while a small silly prank like that would barely draw attention at home, any show of personality is a big deal here. Students from a young age are punished for doing anything creatively or uniquely, meaning that by the time they get to my level a lot of them don’t even try to stand out any more. This mentality it so opposite the current US position on the subject, which I feel encourages adolescents to be themselves a little more.

The game itself wasn’t too interesting, just another soccer game. One exciting moment in the game was when a dog decided wanted he wanted to play, too! He chased the ball up and down the field a few times until they finally paused the came to chase him away. Pretty cute :)

(sorry for the poor quality, i had to zoom it in to show the dog!)

I forget the final score, but 3e won. They were pretty excited about it.

And even more important, 29 out of 42 of my 3e students passed their BEPC! That means they can go on to second cycle or they can get jobs as primary school teachers, nurses, or other medium level government jobs! Doesn’t sound like huge deal at home, but the students who didn’t pass will maybe try again but more likely start the life of a sustenance farmer.