Thursday, July 28, 2016

Mary's Typical Day


My favorite work day is Wednesday, because there is so much going on. I love to travel during the day and go to different classes and appointments. I have had the opportunity to work on many different projects during my internship (in addition to teaching), which include writing a children's book, conducting teacher observations to improve our observation sheet, recording classes for teacher training videos, and conducting an intern recruitment plan. I love the responsibility I am given working for Elevate!


Here is what a typical work day for me looks like:



8:00- Wake up, get ready, make myself look presentable for the day...
9:00- Travel to the ASU "local" (Where Elevate English/Business classes are held) to film!
9:20- Make a quick run to Mas Masas to get some breakfast treats (I love pepa cookies)
9:30- Get the classroom ready for filming, and prepare Alegria to be filmed
10:00- Take notes on Alegria's class, so we can edit the best parts for the training videos
11:30- Hurry back to the house to eat lunch before my class
12:20- Travel to the ADM (a large agriculture company in Paraguay). I saw a man play the guitar and sing a Columbian Cumbia on the bus today.
1:00- Greet my students at the ADM and start class with Claire! The lesson today was about being direct with your coworkers, and we had a good conversation. We also had candy and played Apples to Apples at the end of class.
2:20- Travel back to the house to work on projects. There are a lot to choose from.
3:00- Work on intern recruitment; specifically the monthly hashtag contest that we have started. Interns post pictures with the hashtags #elevateinternships #Paraguay #IknowIcan and they compete to get the most likes and votes in order to win a big, fancy cup of ice-cream!
3:30- It's time for my weekly meeting with Rebecca, co-founder of Elevate and director of pedagogy. We talk about the children's book we have been writing-there are only 2 lessons left to write!
4:45- Rebecca and I walk to the house to talk to the filming team about how the teacher filming is going. We have some nice footage.
6:00- Add up points and announce the winner of the hashtag photo contest on Facebook! Congratulations Alegria!
6:30- I am done for the day now. I eat dinner and then me and my husband go to a fancy "chuchi"* salon to get his haircut.


I work hard and I love what I do! Someone once told me that it's dangerous to come to Paraguay because you can never forget it; it stays with you. I wholly agree. Rohayhu** Paraguay!








*Chuchi-the word for fancy in Guarani (a language widely spoken by Paraguayans)
**Rohayhu-another word in Guarani that means "I love you"



Meet the Author:

Mary Morton




Mary is a TESOL major at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. She loves teaching English, reading, dancing, traveling, and trying new things. She is currently an intern teaching English and writing content, and this is her second time working for Elevate in Paraguay (because it is so awesome).

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Meet Clarita

My name is Claire Hague. I’m 21 and I’m an intern at Elevate. I'm a senior at BYU and I’m majoring in Latin American Studies with two minors: one in Communications and the other in Global Business and Literacy. I chose to come to Elevate because it was the only internship I could find that encompassed everything that I have been studying.

On a typical day I teach three or four classes. Most of the clients that I have are corporate clients. The corporate clients are people whose company needs them to learn English. Most of my students need English to be able to advance in the workplace. The best part about teaching for me is getting to know my students. As a Latin American Studies major I’ve always enjoyed learning about the people and culture of Latin America, and teaching gives me the opportunity to do that first hand. They are such great people and helping them to reach their goals is what keeps me going to class. 



I also get to teach a kids class on Saturday morning and it’s so much fun. I really love all my students, and they pick things up so quickly it’s amazing. It’s easy to be proud to be their teacher. They are super cute and I even got to go watch them dance at the San Juan Festival. 



I also get to work on Elevate’s social media. For me this is fantastic because it allows me to use some of the skills I’ve learned in my communications classes as well as my international business classes. So most days I teach and then I work on content creation as well.


I love my students:

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Intern Trip to Iguazu Falls!



This week our intern group went on a trip to the glorious Iguazu Falls! Iguazu Falls is one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. The falls are in three countries: Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. We went to see the falls on the Brazil side. We love Brazil! It was exciting to travel to another country.

It took us about seven hours of bus rides to get to Iguazu Falls. But what great quality time spent together...



As you will see in the pictures though, it was totally worth it!!

When we got to the falls, herds of Quati (opossums) rushed to greet us. But those cute cat rodents were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to steal our chipa*. It´s tempting to set your backpack down in order to get the perfect picture of yourself for your mom, but those little rascal Quati will literally leap on your bag and then it´s bye bye forever.



I was an eye witness to the event of a Quati fleeing the scene with a bag clutched in its teeth, its pack running madly behind. Beware of the chipa theives!


My first view of Iguazu Falls was magical. The water falls are massive, powerful, and graceful; and you´ve never seen anything like it unless you have been there. There is a rainbow that is constantly next to the falls, and adds to the wonder of the place. The walk down to the falls features several more beautiful views, but the best part is getting to the falls themselves. There is a bridge that goes over the water where you can stand right next to the falls. It is amazing! I wanted to stay there forever. I could not get over my awe of this natural work of beauty.





After an inexpressably exquisite afternoon at Iguazu Falls, we went to a Brazilian churrascaria (barbeque). The food was so good! There were about 10 different types of meat to try, and of course, Brazilian Coke and Guaraná**. But really, who can turn down South American Coke? I. Love. It.





After the glorious meal, it was time to go back to Paraguay. And so, we had another seven hour bus ride... We arrived back in Asuncion around 10pm- just in time to get a good night´s sleep before going back to work the next day.


-It was another amazing day as an Elevate intern-





*Chipa: Small, baked, cheese-flavored rolls that are a popular snack in Paraguay and Argentina.
**Guaraná: A soft drink flavored like the South American Guaraná berry, originating in Brazil.




Meet the Author:

Mary Morton



Mary is a TESOL major at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. She loves teaching English, reading, dancing, traveling, and trying new things. She is currently an intern teaching English and writing content, and this is her second time working for Elevate in Paraguay (because it is so awesome).