A Term With Plan Ceibal

I've been in Montevideo for four full days, and although my work doesn't start until after Holy Week (a vacation week for most Uruguayans), I've learned a lot more about the project and the city. I had coffee with Pablo, who has helped me coordinate my work here, and Gabriel, who works with Flor de Ceibo, the group from the university. They told me about a few specific projects I could potentially help with when I'm not actually in the schools. They're working on a game that teaches kids about human rights, and a program that allows students to automatically import material from the text editor or paint program to their blog. Thanks to CS 23, I think I'm actually capable of being helpful, which is pretty exciting. There's also a lot of material they want to translate to English, in order to collaborate with groups doing similar things abroad, so I could be useful there. On Friday, Pablo gave me an XO computer (the kind the students have) to use while I'm here. It's pretty adorable.



I've spent most of the past couple of days walking around the city (& hanging out on the beach). Most Uruguayans have light skin, and clothing styles are similar, so no one knows I'm American until I open my mouth. This is definitely a huge change from other places I've traveled, and I really like it--I feel like I'm getting a much more genuine view of the country. (Once I give myself away, they ask where in the US I'm from, and I was surprised by how many people had heard of Vermont. It turns out it's because Ross and Chandler from Friends took a trip there in one episode). There's a drugstore on almost every block, tons of bakeries with ridiculous numbers of different pastries, restaurants serving Uruguayan and Italian food (other international food is hard to come by), lots of McDonald's, and a concerning number of tiny beaten-up buildings advertising plastic surgery. I think my favorite thing about the city is that almost the entire waterfront is public. A walkway called the Rambla runs 17 kilometers along the Rio Plata and it's usually full of people walking, running, biking, or just sitting and enjoying the view. In many areas, there's a public beach on the other side. This one is Pocitos Beach, the one closest to my hostel. You can't really see the beach, but it's right behind those people.



By far the most frustrating thing is that I don't feel like my Spanish is improving very quickly. People at the small hostel where I'm living are from all over North and South America and Europe, which is great except that English is definitely the closest thing to a common language, so it's not great for practicing Spanish. When I talk to someone in a store, they often speak English and will switch over as soon as they hear my accent, even if I'm making sense in Spanish. They're trying to be helpful, but in the long run it makes it harder. Right now my Spanish is fine for getting around town and casual conversations, and I can read and write pretty comfortably, but once someone starts speaking quickly I usually get lost. No one enunciates and speaks slowly in real life like Spanish professors do! I've been using Dartmouth's free Rosetta Stone and reading the newspaper in Spanish, but neither is too helpful for understanding fast speech. I might take formal lessons if things don't improve, because I'll be much more useful to Plan Ceibal if I can actually understand what's going on around me!

I haven't gotten to Montevideo yet, but I've been giving most people a pretty sketchy explanation of exactly what I'm flying to Uruguay to do, so here's a better description of the project:

One Laptop Per Child is the international organization that has developed cheap laptops for children in developing countries (for example, the laptops are difficult to break, and the screens can be seen in sunlight if class is outdoors). The goal is to “provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration” to students whose schools are often lacking. In the long term, the idea is to provide developing countries with a population better able to innovate and compete in a global market. (As you might imagine, this can get controversial--the critics say it's more about creating "One Consumer Per Child," and that a laptop doesn't necessarily help a six-year-old learn.) Uruguay has made a larger commitment to OLPC than any other country. Plan Ceibal, a government program, began buying OLPC laptops in 2007. By December 2009, almost 400,000 laptops had been distributed to every public primary school student and teacher in the country. Uruguay has only about 3.3 million people, so the density of distribution is pretty high. Projects for secondary and private schools are underway. The plan is farther-reaching than just free laptops, though. It also involves an educational TV channel and installing wifi in community centers, and to many people, it's more about societal transformation than just education. The tasks of teaching students and teachers how to use the laptops, developing ways to integrate them into the classrooms, and troubleshooting largely fall to volunteers.

The main volunteer group is called Red de Apoyo de Plan Ceibal (Network of Support for Plan Ceibal). I'm going to be working with two offshoots of this organization. The first is Blogging Desde Infancia (Blogging Since Infancy), which runs blogging workshops across the country where volunteers show kids how to use blogs and other social media tools. The second group, Flor de Ceibo, is based at the Universidad de la República, Uruguay’s largest university. They provide more general support by helping out in classrooms, organizing events for parents, and providing tech support. The specific details of what I'll be doing are a little unclear at this point, despite the fact that I've been planning for months, but I guess I'll find out!

I left Boston yesterday evening, but the flight was delayed and I missed my connection in Miami (despite sprinting from one end of the terminal to the other...). The next flight wasn't for 24 hours, but American Airlines gave me hotel and food vouchers and I've been hanging out by the pool all day, so it actually was a pretty sweet deal. I'm currently debating whether to walk the 3 miles to the nearest Ben & Jerry's, because I feel like I'll be a little less of a Vermonter if I miss Free Cone Day. I arrive in Montevideo tomorrow morning, but I don't officially start work until April 6th, so I've got a while to get settled, explore the city, and hopefully discover that my Spanish is adequate!