Getting Settled
I have finally arrived in my home for the next several months, in a town called Las Norias de Daza, which is in the greater area called El Ejido, which itself belongs to Almeria. I haven't yet figured out what the divisions are called, but they roughly work out to municipality, county, and province/state for English speakers. The picture above is from my trip here, on the bus. I could see that from my window, and in the opposite direction the Mediterranean Sea.
Thanks to Google Maps, we can see where I am in Spain:
I’m living with one other sister, near to
the center, called Bantaba, where we have classes for migrants. We have a larger community of
five, but we don’t all fit in the same house! So we share meals and prayer,
along with daily mass and ministry, but we sleep in two different houses. I
wouldn’t say it’s ideal, but it’s working so far (it hasn’t even been a week! But
I trust it will keep working!).
I have been asked to take on someone else’s
Spanish class while she has some time off, and we are working on building
vocabulary. This week, it’s about the rooms of the house and the different
things in them.
I’ve also been given my very own class on
computers. It starts Thursday—and I’m looking forward to it. I have no idea
what it will be like, I’ve been told that it’s in high demand (which makes
sense) and that I will have to start at the very beginning. So, day one will be
vocabulary about the computer itself and the different pieces. We have seven
desktops for students to use. Day One will continue with “how to turn the
computer on” and “how to use the mouse.” Also, the “mouse” is called a “ratón,”
which is the Spanish word for “mouse.” :D The good news is that I will be able
to learn the words for the different things along with my students. (Also, if
you google “games to learn how to use a mouse” you get some results! Who knew!)
A word about our students. All are
immigrants from Africa, coming from Morocco or other parts further south. It
seems the majority are from Morocco. They have different levels of education,
ranging from none at all to a little bit. Some apparently speak French, and if
they do and are literate, they know our alphabet. Others know how to write
Arabic, and others have never written at all. I can imagine this makes teaching
a bit complicated. Fortunately the classes are pretty small, and the students
are very motivated.
I posted the article about the work
migrants do here. Mostly it’s “intense agriculture,” where fruits and
vegetables are grown in greenhouses. They can be seen in the satellite images of
the area: all the white spots are greenhouses.
I have a hard time imagining what this has
done to the land here. Apparently, there are some man-made lakes of the water
that emerges from the land as it is used this way, salt water that seeps out
from the sea. I’ve been told also that there are different birds that have made
this area their home because of the way things have been changing. I’m sure
there are other things being affected that have not been considered.
I don’t know how to evaluate these
environmental changes. We are in a world that is highly populated, and this
area brings much-needed vegetables to the countries of Europe. It is a very
profitable business, which brings money to a region that was previously very
poor. It also brings work to migrants who have no other resources and few
skills. To my eyes so far, and with the information that I have from others, it
seems to be a good system, though of course there are people who take advantage
of people who are in vulnerable situations.
That’s it for today. Blessings to each one!
Comments