So today we arrived at school to learn that after about an hour of lessons in the morning the students would go to PE for most of the time. The high school students would not have any English because they would be gone the whole time we are here. After planning a nice lesson for the day, we got to play games at the place where they have PE and watch the kids swim. It is amazing how the school can get such donations from people. The gym where we went has a huge open area with soccer nets and basketball hoops and then a huge pool for the older kids and a little bit smaller one that’s not as deep. It was just so generous that people are here to lend what facilities they have. That is how the school gets by, with many generous donations from people. If anyone would like to make a contribution to the school, they would be more than grateful. I guess then more history of the school and the kids should be mentioned. The school was started 6 years ago by the two people I mentioned before. They wanted the students that live on the streets to have a place to go to school. They opened the doors of the school to feed and educate the children. These kids are so smart, after one and a half days of learning they already greet us with Good Morning and My Name Is…! It’s amazing to see the progress already. The high school kids I have a feeling will be moving on to verbs and prepositions soon because they already know so much. I will post pictures of the work that we have done in class for examples. These students are so grateful with everything they have and don’t realize what they are missing, which is hard for us. As easy as it is to feel sorry for them it is better to sympathize with them, but still lend a helping hand. That’s why I encourage everyone to let me know if they want to help, rather by sending donations, such as school supplies and shoes, or monetary donations. Shoes is a big one because some of the students where shoes that are too small for them and they have big blisters on their feet. Another is health care, here the nurse (also the principal) pulls the rotted teeth out the of the mouths of students. In a society where if we have a tooth ache we can have it nicely removed and no pain afterwards, these students experience a lot of pain that hinders their academic performance.
Anyways, back to what we did at school today. I helped out with the elementary class again and we went over family and colors. The teacher had them play a matching game with family that was really fun. Then we reviewed the colors and did some more with those. Lastly, we taught them red light-green light, which was a big hit! Like I said I didn’t get to teach today, but the other teacher that is going to be in my room and I decided to split the class in half for the time that she is in there and then I can have the whole class once she leaves. With our personalities and styles I think this will work best. I look forward to my lessons on Monday.
Also on Monday, I think we are going to visit the homes where the students live. By homes I mean the places at the dump that the students and their families have made into their homes. The group that went yesterday said it left them speechless and they understood fully where their students come from. I think it will be an eye-opening experience. Tomorrow we are going to the history museum, the children’s museum, the zoo, and the mall! A busy day but it should be fun! Then Sunday I think we are going to the beach with the black sand. They say it’s only one of a few in the world, so that will be exciting to get some sun and relax!
Pictures!! Finally, I know! Sorry if they are blurry or rainy. It’s winter here and it rains EVERYDAY at 3, literally you can set your watch to it. But that is when we go on our tours, so it’s hard to take pictures, also we are in the car, thus the blurry photos. But most of the places are where we have visited. The large elevation map is of Guatemala and shows the mountains and volcanoes. The random buildings are just important places in Guatemala that we have seen along our trip! The gas prices are about the same as ours except here they look like $34 even though they are not. They have a lot of US places down here like all the fast food places and car places, even Chuck E. Cheese! I’m sure I will have more pictures after the weekend from the museum, mall, and zoo!
This evening we got a tour around the city again and visited the university that the girls in our family go to and saw the high school that the younger daughter goes to. It was a lot like our university actually, just a little smaller. We of course had to try something along the way, tonight was a type of milkshake but with cinnamon in it. It was good, kind of tasted like lobster though. Then we came home and had pizza from Pizza Hut, funny right? for dinner while watching The Wedding Date and then starting a scary movie. Due to our apparent fatigue we retired to our beds, got on our computers for just enough time to write an entry and now are going to bed! Busy day tomorrow!
High of the day: Figuring out with the co-teacher (other girl from my group) how we are going to teach for the hour that she is there. Seeing how many people are able to help the students be sponsoring the school. It was so nice to see such happy kids after they went swimming.
Low of the day: Just being lost in translation a little. I understand the concepts usually and am learning really quick, but still the details and full conversations I can't follow.
Funny moments: One of the kids today in the elementary class goes, "Oh my God, thank you!"I feel like there were a lot of other funny moments, but I'm so tired from watching movies and playing soccer most of the day!
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