For the last month or so, I’ve been eating dinner with the people every night at the downtown Center in my break in between classes, and it has been such a blessing. In the beginning, I thought it would drain me, and granted I am tired by the time I get to 6pm, BUT it is definitely one of my favorite parts of the day. Tonight, I sat with a few of my first grade girls and some other kids. One of my first graders, Evelyn, had a lollipop ring on her finger and was sucking on it with a smile [View Full Entry]

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One of my biggest responsibilities right now is being in charge of this business for the oldest high school girls of sales. We’re working with the girls work program in the escuela, helping them make quality products, helping them sell, going out and doing publicity in Quito outside the Center. Girls program is truly one of my favorite things in the Center. We’re teaching the girls the value of work and responsibility, helping them earn money for themselves and their families, teaching them how to make cool things (from chocolate covered bananas in the kitchen to sewing to m [View Full Entry]

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So today (Tuesday) I told one of my adult women that her birthday was on Thursday, and she had NO idea that it was her birthday, that she was going to be 44… I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she had no idea because she had never celebrated her birthday before. I told her that I was going to take the whole class out to dinner. The smile on her face throughout this whole conversation was priceless! Then Thursday rolled around and the birthday girl didn’t even show up to class! I saw her around 4 [View Full Entry]

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I would have to say that the thing that sticks out most in my mind from this past week would be teaching adults. It BLOWS MY MIND that I am teaching these women (three Marias) how to write and recognize their names. They write so slowly, so carefully, so timidly. On the third day of class, two of the Marias were asking me about their daughters because I have them in art and first grade English (and it just so happens that their daughters are my smartes/quickest students in English), and we ended up talking about how it is so easy [View Full Entry]

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So I thought since I am just two weeks into the new school year, I’d reflect on some of the things that I’ll be teaching for - my goals, what I’m looking forward to, etc. ART Well, the art teacher quit 4 days before school started, so I became the new art teacher for the downtown Center. I am starting from scratch, completely. There are no plans, no materials, nothing. This has definitely been, and will continue to be a challenge for sure, but what I’m most excited about for art is teaching the kids creativity. Normally, no matter what project [View Full Entry]

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I know that families leaving the Center is part of life here. Life goes on when that happens. I’ve lost a ton of kids in my classes throughout this year, and it’s gotten way easier and it feels pretty much normal when it happens. But recently, I lost 2 girls in my English class (so I only have 2 now), and it breaks my heart to lose this family. These two girls are twins, 11 years old, and they had never been to school before this year. In just a few months, they jumped from 1st grade to 3rd grade because [View Full Entry]

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FINALLY!!! For the first time all year, I heard students complain about how all they do is copy! All the volunteers know that’s what they do in all their classes (even music!), and we complain about it because our students have no clue how to think, but I have definitely never heard a kid here, in the elementary or high school, complain about it, until today. I kind of feel bad about it though because of how it happened but… I teach half of the 7th grade girls (~12-15 years old) for computers. The other half always asks me for help [View Full Entry]

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Last week I was helping one of my high school girls with her religion homework, and the question was, “Why do you want to follow in Jesus’ footsteps?” I got her to realize that basically the question was asking that Jesus did good things so why does she want to do good things like Jesus? She immediately responded, “SO MY MOM WON’T KILL ME,” kind of jokingly, but she changed her answer to “so my mom won’t hit me,” and I knew that was true for her, as well as for so many of the kids here. Also, right before Easter [View Full Entry]

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I think I’ve written about the generosity of these kids here before, but this experience is definitely worth sharing. I mentioned in my last entry that my boys English class won their English skit. That was amazing in itself and such a victory, but I wanted to continue the celebration with a pizza party for our last class before Easter. This was the first really nice thing I’ve done for them (as in I haven’t taken them on a field trip or anything yet) because they have been such a tough class and really haven’t earned anything with their behavior. I [View Full Entry]

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Well, it has been a long, long time since I have written, and I can’t explain why, except that maybe I am so immersed in my daily life that it’s hard to write about specific experiences. I really don’t know what to tell you. I could go back and write about things like Easter or something, but I’m just going to write about some of the beautiful little moments that make up my days here. That’s really what I focus on now - these beautiful little moments. *Today I went to Mass and sat with a first grade girl next to [View Full Entry]

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