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Published: October 5th 2009
Ok. So first of all, I think an apology is in order! So I really do mean to write more often but life just takes over and leaves me with no time at all! Anywho, let’s get the update ball rolling!
I’m sad to report that I have been sick since Thursday. I think I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with my stomach on Wednesday night. Therefore, I missed classes on Thursday and didn’t go to my morning classes on Friday. Now that it’s Saturday afternoon, I’m finally starting to feel better. So all is well 😊
School - So I realize that I haven’t given any sort of update on my classes.
Cuna - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings I have been working with the two year olds at the center downtown (about an hour commute from where I am living). This has proven to be a giant challenge. I work there for 3 hours each morning with 5 two year olds. I have NO experience whatsoever working with young children and I’m really not sure that it is something I am equipped (let alone like) to do. However, it is neat (from a psychological standpoint) to see them develop and progress. Even in the month that I have been there, some of them have made huge strides. But, this assignment continues to be exceedingly difficult because the fact that not all of them are completely potty trained (and no one seems to use diapers here). So a lot of time is spent running back and forth from the bathroom. Additionally, it is difficult because these two year olds still haven’t developed a comprehendible use of language skills. So with me speaking a second language and them speaking “baby” Spanish to me, even communication has proved to be difficult. But we’re working on it 😊
Beginners English - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons I have a beginner’s English class with nine 6 year old girls. Again, things are just difficult (but what’s not, right? 😊 So far, we’ve been dealing with disciple issues (as the Ecuadorian school system in general just doesn’t have discipline standards whatsoever). Also, we’ve successfully learned the numbers 1-10 and are working on a school unit right now.
Colegio English - Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I have a girls English class. It is a Segundo Curso colegio class (what would be considered the equivalent of high school). There are some incredibly bright students in the class; however, again, behavior issues have been the primary concern thus far. There is one student who, on the 2nd day of class, punched another student. Not exactly the class I dreamed of 😊 But with some strict discipline strategies (coupled with starting the class by doing yoga 😊, things are starting to shape up !
Salud - Tuesday and Thursday mornings are filled with heath classes. These classes are taught in Spanish. WHoot whoot! I teach 6 classes, each divided by grade. (grades 1-6). These classes have both boys and girls. The boys are super fun to teach 😊 I think health classes (even though they will be a TON of work) will be my favorite.
Programa de Chicas - Monday, Wednesday, Friday afternoons I work with 13 girls grades 1-6. In this program, we make things for them to sell (and therefore, earn some more income for their families). My group has been in the kitchen lately. It’s been difficult to coordinate and organize quality activities for them to do that will actually make them a profit. But we’re working on it 😊 Thus far, we’ve made Salchipapas (a french fry and sausage thing that seems to be really popular here), jello, and we’re doing chocobananos this coming week. For all of this work… my girls have made an astounding $4. Not each… but in TOTAL. AHAHAh If you have any idea of something simple, fast, and cheap that we can attempt to make and sell, send them my way!
Adult literacy classes- Every night (Monday-Friday) I have two adult classes. One at 5pm with 4 women (3 who actually speak Quicha! One of the indigenous languages of Ecuador!)and one class at 6:45pm with one woman. It’s hilarious, because out of these 5 women that I teach, 4 of them are named Maria 😉 Right now, we’re working on basic literacy skills. When learning how to read in Spanish, we start with syllables (ma me mi mo mu, etc). So we’ve been practicing our syllables and constructing and deconstructing words in attempt to learn how to read! This is absolutely draining work, but so rewarding.
Marco Polo - Tuesday afternoons I work with one of the school directors with his English. It’s been going ok, and surprisingly, hasn’t been all THAT awkward yet! HA!
After 4 full weeks of school, (complete with power outages, strike threats, and crazy behavior issues) I have come to terms with the fact that I am just going to be tired. However, compared with other volunteers’ schedules (which consist of “dar banos” - where they sit and hand out towels to the people who are going to bathe or have other “office” related jobs which translates into just doing nothing or using that time to plan for classes), mine does seem to be a bit more packed than others. Which not only makes me jealous that others aren’t quite as sleep deprived… but more so that they have more time to prepare for their classes. I know that I can only do so much, but I can’t help but think that if I had fewer classes, I would be able to do a better job with the ones I do have.
OK, so enough with school! Here are a few other things I’ve been up to…
Boda - all of the volunteers were invited to an Ecuadorian wedding in one of the churches down in the historic center. The name of the church has escaped me at the moment… but everything in the church is covered with gold (just kind of gaudy if you ask me…) but all 15 of us got dressed up and took the Metro downtown last Saturday. However, what followed really kind of horrified me. The volunteers (along with Madre Cindy) just marched straight up to the front of the church and plopped themselves down in the pews. Right. That’s just what the couple getting married wants to see… a group of gringos (who they’ve never met) sitting right smack in front at their wedding ceremony. I was embarrassed and uncomfortable to say the least. But the wedding went fine and the reception was held in the downtown center.
Futbol game - Last weekend, a few of us went to the Liga vs. Barcelona soccer game. We actually live about 5 minutes walk from the Liga stadium, so we thought it was time to go to a game! Liga is a team from Quito and Barcelona is a team from Guayaquil. Supposedly, they are pretty fierce rivals. Late as always… we bought our tickets from a ticket scalper outside of the stadium and then attempted to find seats in the general seating section. Although we didn’t end up getting tickets for the southern side (where the crowd tends to be younger and a little more wild - complete with the opposing team section the level directly above them so lots of stuff gets thrown on you..) we did get tickets for a general seating area in the north. The game was full of insults, throwing stuff on the field (ie at the players) beer drinking (by everyone… even kids…) crazy cheers, and when a goal was scored, everyone ran from their seats down to the fence and ran back up. Ahahah that was fun 😊 Especially the first time when we got trampled 😉 Liga ended up winning, which was good, as we were told not to wear anything that would distinguish us as supporting either side (because, as gringos, I guess that would have put us at more risk to get hurt or beat up depending on the outcome of the game). Also, to prevent fights, Liga fans were required to exit the stadium first, while Barcelona fans had to remain in the stands. Interesting concept, no?
Last night, Sarah and I went back to our original host family’s apartment for a goodbye party for, I guess you would call her, our host sister. It was so nice to see our host mom, Patti, again. She is such a wonderful woman.
Hmmmm… so this has turned into more of a boring book than anything 😊 But, all in all, things are going well. As one of the volunteers said, ‘the days here are so long, but the weeks just seem to fly by.’ And, the way I look at it… when I have to come home and get an actual job (gasp!) it’s going to be soooo easy! What!!??! You only want me to work 8 hours a day?!??! What!!?!?!? I’m going to get paid for working those 8 hours!??!?! Ahahah. Always looking to the positive, right?
Hope all is well at home! I really am starting to miss the changing weather. I must admit, the sun, dust, and wind are already starting to get a bit old.
Feliz dia 😉
Oh! I forgot to say… My first grade English class has to do a little 1-2 minute play/sing a song in English for the end of the trimester “show.” Anyone have any good ideas!?!?!?
Ok... I'm going to try to post some pictures and a video... we'll what happens!
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Lynn
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Song
It's so good to hear from you!!! Songs ideas: I'm a little teapot You pull out some Barney... (haha) You are my sunshine Umm ok, nevermind, I don't know, wrong person to ask. I can give you inappropriate comments 8th graders would make to a song :p You'll have to consult Leslie. Miss and love you!!!!!