It was a 6.5 hour bus trip to Rosario. I left at 6:00 AM and arrived at 12:30. Mirian was at the Terminal waiting for me. Mirian did a Fulbright Exchange the same time as Marcela. She was with an elementary school principal in Skokie. Because she had become friends with Marcela through their preliminary Fulbright activities, she visited Volta and went out with us a couple times. This led to her inviting me to spend time in Rosario when I came to Argentina . We got in her car (a Fiat!) and drove to a Normal School (teacher preparation program) where we would be sitting in on final exams for a course on Professional Ethics. Final exams are administered orally with a team of professors led by the course instructor interviewing the student.
When we arrived in the school’s office we were greeted by a number of teachers who were coming and going. One instructor Mirian pulled aside and introduced to me as one of the best instructors she knows and how she wished she would apply for the Fulbright. The instructor snapped back that she would never participate in any exchange program with the USA. All the USA does is exploit Latin American countries. She would only participate in an exchange with a Latin American country. That was my welcome to Rosarino higher education.
Mirian took me to the classroom where the exams would be given. I was introduced to five other instructors who would be involved in the evaluation. They were much more welcoming. Three young ladies would be tested and an instructor named Maria would lead the process.
Maria was brutal. The first two women were eaten alive by her. As they began to respond to her probes she would put her head down, shake it, and say “No, no, no. That is all wrong.” Once that happened, it was all over. The women lost their nerve and confidence. The first two failed. The third young woman did much better and was passed. The one male instructor in the group was more interested in showing me card tricks. He was a magician on the side. Mirian said that he has a history of passing all of his students.
From the Normal School, Mirian took me to a meeting of professors who were working on a project related to teacher preparation. They had received a grant to do the project and were in the planning phases. I was introduced to the group and spent a short time talking about my school and the Fulbright Exchange. A short time into the meeting, Mirian signaled that we had to leave.
We went to another evaluation at another profesorado. This exam would be on The History of Modern Philosophy and Mirian would be the principal evaluator. Two women were tested. The first one knew the material but had a difficult time synthesizing it. The second one was able to demonstrate knowledge of the material and was able to think beyond what she had memorized. Mirian was much gentler with her students. She passed the second woman, but I’m not sure what she did with the first one in the end.
After the exam we hooked up with Mirian’s husband, Victor. We went to pick up their friend, Elda, a district administrator (sort of an AIO) who had done a Fulbright Exchange in Nebraska. We went for dinner at a small restaurant near Elda’s apartment.
After dinner we dropped Elda off at her place and I was taken to my hotel. I would stay at the Hotel Vienna, near the city center.
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