... Career Day Countdown

Today I experienced another miscommunication and yet this time I find it very difficult to bring any sort of humor to the situation...

As I have written, I am planning a Career Day and now we are only 2 days away from the big event. I am frantically trying to keep calm and manage the last few items before Saturday. I am meeting with my students for the very last time before C-day to give them last minute updates and see if they have any questions or concerns.

Well today I went to one of my schools and was confronted by a most unpleasant situation.
From the beginning I had asked that all students make an effort to find "professional" clothing (Slacks or skirt, and a button-up shirt). I told them these clothes could be purchased at the second hand store, or borrowed from a friend or relative, and I even went as far as to purchase some clothes and lend them out to the kids. Up to this point all the kids have been fine if not excited about the clothes they would be wearing for Career Day.
I had asked that the kids bring in their clothes this week so that we can make sure everything fits okay before the actual day.
When I arrived at this one school this morning, I came lugging a big bag of clothes to lend out if needed. I walked into the Tercero classroom, and the teacher followed me in and curtly said, "These students will not be attending Career Day because they don't have permission from their parents."
This seemed pretty shocking to me since we have been planning this event for the past 2 months and this is the first I was hearing that the students could not attend. I addressed the class and said, "When did you guys tell your parents about this event? I have been coming here every week for 2 months planning this with all of you..."
I had a feeling there was more to the story... Then finally the teacher told me it was because the kids had nothing to wear.
"You cannot ask these kids to go out and buy brand new suits to come to your Career Day." she scolded.
Clearly there had been a misunderstanding.
"I never asked them to buy brand new clothes. I told them they could borrow them or whatever was needed" I said calmly. "Look, I even brought clothes of my own for them to use" I said as I hoisted up the bag.
"The kids are not comfortable in those kinds of clothes," she said. "And you should not ask them to wear something they are not comfortable in."
Again, this was the first I was hearing about these clothing issues and I was a little peeved to be hearing about just 3 days before Career Day.
"Look, the professional clothes were only a suggestion. I would really like these kids to attend and it doesn't matter what they wear." I contended.
"Well we'll see... I just don't like that you are trying to tell them that they have to wear something they are not comfortable wearing," she admonished again.
"They can wear whatever they like," I said.
The teacher then had a semi-private conversation with the students and I was left trying to sort out my confusion. I figured it must have been about suggesting the girls wear non-traditional clothes. Sometimes the girls wear the Mayan corte and guipil but sometimes they wear jeans and t-shirt. Upon my first suggestion of wearing professional clothes, there seemed to be no qualms so what was this all about?
Finally the teacher said, "Okay, they will come but the girls will wear corte and the boys will wear their street clothes (jeans and t-shirt)."
I agreed but still felt very confused. I understand about one wanting to maintain their cultural identity and therefore the corte and guipil are perfectly acceptable. But this teacher was also advocating that the boys should be allowed to wear their street clothes... It could be about money, but this is the only school out of four that seems to have a problem. Also, 99% of these folks go to church every weekend and wear their Sunday best which is pretty much exactly the get-up I was suggesting for Career Day. On top of that, I was even offering to lend the clothes out...
After the strange episode I made a point to go up to both of the teachers and apologize. I told them that I was never demanding the kids wear these clothes and that if they had a problem they could have told me at any time.
At that moment, one of the teachers launched into a long lecture about how Guatemala has many cultures and each person has a right to express themselves as they wish. He told me that there are also laws protecting the rights of indigenous people to wear their traditional attire.
It seemed like nothing I said was getting through to them. To them, I had blatantly disrespected the kids' culture by denying them the right to wear their traditional clothes.
I tried to defend myself by saying that I had a great deal of respect for the culture but again my rebuttal seemed to fall on dead ears.

-Just as a side note, jeans and t-shirt are no more Mayan then a McDonalds hamburger so I still cannot see how the teachers justified their advocacy in that department...

I left the school feeling pretty dejected. The student agreed to come but somehow I am left with the feeling that they will not. I also feel like I have lost a great deal of respect in that school and maybe even the community. Whether just a miscommunication or not, the last thing I ever want to be is culturally insensitive. I never want to make people feel like they need to change in order for me to help them... Somehow, without knowledge or intention, I conveyed that message and I imagine it will take a lot of work to reverse it.

I guess I have learned a valuable lesson through all this which will definitely help me in the next 2 years. I must always be careful about what I say and do here. I must be very conscious of what I ask of people and their feelings and beliefs. I guess it was a good thing for me to learn, I only regret having lost face in the process...

On a more positive note: Career Day is in only 2 days and (most) everything is falling into place. We have nearly 20 professionals who have confirmed and the kids seem very excited. I will share the stories of the day and some photos as soon as I can...