Today was a really long day, the destination of the school was an hour and a half away. We left at 8:10 this morning. It was not a bad ride, we took a public bus to Soacha. I rode in a window seat towards the back of the bus, the length of the ride gave me time to think a lot. It was interesting how every five-ten blocks the scenery and types of buildings change drastically. We arrived half an hour ahead of schedule, which the other volunteers said was rare. The neighborhood we were is not very safe, we are required to wear green vests with the name of the school on it so locals know that we are there to teach children. There is no pavement and stray dogs everywhere. The malnourished and wild dogs made me sad. We walked for about 10 minutes before arriving at the school. We just hung out in this area before class...
At 10am, I joined Claudia to teach second grade. They began the class by singing all the songs they know in english. Then we taught them body parts from the neck down, after fist reviewing what they already learned. The kids were adorable, and some were rowdy. I was relieved to see another teacher was on hand to wrangle the kids that were getting a little hyper. All of the kids were warm and welcoming towards me, and they adored Claudia. As we were teaching the kids the body parts they were copying my drawing on the board and writing in the names of the body parts. Once we finished, they colored in their drawings and then we took pictures. The kids were so happy and proud of their drawings, they eagerly posed for pictures.
Afterwards we walked to another building that had the older grades, and I joined up with Terrene to teach 4th grade. The fourth grade class was smaller, and less rowdy. We began class with a really fun song and dance about bananas. Then Terrene initiated a review for a test she is giving them on monday. I was really impressed with all the english they knew. They were also really friendly and warm. Here are a few pics I snapped before my camera died...
After class we had an hour break for lunch. We went to a restaurant close by and I ordered a plate of food for 4 mill pesos (2$) it was huge and delicious. The other girls brought lunch, which I will probably do on occasion. At 1 we headed back to the school. Normally they do an english lesson for after school kids from both public and private schools, but every thursday they take the kids to the park.
The park was about a 20 minute walk over unpaved roads and through a construction site. On the way there I chatted with a few kids, both very eager to get to know me and very affectionate. Once there the kids ran around playing joyfully. I helped a young boy across the monkey bars, and then settled in with the other volunteers on the grass. Some kids came up to us and we all played a game with marbles. A dog was running around trying to get a ball some of the boys were playing with. He was painfully thin, and was scratching a lot. It made me sad, and we gave him some food. He was smart and sweet. I wanted to rescue him. On the way back I held hands with a few young girls and they asked me many questions. We spoke in english and spanish, to best of our abilities. They were really sweet, and everyone kissed me goodbye.
I got the sense that to teach the younger children, you need to be more fluent in spanish. Luckily for me, they are in need of teachers for 5th and 6th grade. I have decided that I would enjoy being there twice a week despite the commute. It took us almost 2 hours to get back to the apartment, where papa johns awaited. Here is a pic of me and my program coordinator, and most of the wonderful roommates I have...
Until tomorrow...
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