Back to School

WOW! There is one incredible thunder and lightning storm going on as we speak. It is one of the loudest and brightest storms I have heard since my childhood. We see lightning here every night but not typically the kind that lights up the entire sky. It also does not have the thunder you can feel throughout your body. I am so very thankful for having a roof overhead and four walls around me. Hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow morning.

I went back to school this week elementary school (ages 5 years - 11 years) that is. I volunteered each day at one of the schools in Girardota. I primarily volunteered in the preeschool classroom which is similar to our kindergarten. They had anywhere of 15 - 23 kids in the class (depending on absences and all) with one teacher. The one class for 9 and 10 year olds had about 35 -45 kids. All the kids/classes have a lunch/snack break outside in the courtyard at the same time, which I liked. There are a few children with special needs integrated right into the school. One of the children in the preschool has motor difficulties and can not walk on her own. She is cognitively aware, communicates well and has friends but is limited with her motor skills especially on her right hand side. The other kids help her and really seem to like her. She goes to another school where she receives some physical therapy. She understands how to walk and can take steps with me (and now the other kids as well) holding and supporting most of her weight. Gosh how I wish I had a walker for her! Where are Elaine and Jodi (my motor therapists at EC CARES) when a child needs them??? But it is great to see how open and accepting everyone (teachers and kids) are to her.

At one level these 5 year olds are perfect for me because they are learning to read. So the teacher puts up one picture at a time and the kids have to label it with only one word. But I also really loved teaching the 9 and 10 year olds English because they will ardently correct my pronunciation which is exactly what I need. They are really funny though because when we are out in the courtyard, they all will gather round me and primarily just look at me. They (a group of at least 15 - 20) are within 1 ½ - 2 feet away from me but are fairly shy and do not want to talk with me. Some will even hide behind someone else if I do talk to them. They will laugh, oneof those nervous laughs, when I do ask them something either regardless of language. So I sometimes can relate to what zoo animals must feel like. Now that I went into their class for more than just an introduction, I am hoping it will change.

There are 5 teachers at this school and I get along well with 4 of them. The last one I have a feeling does not like foreigners. When I was going around to all the classrooms and being introduced, she walked out of her classroom. Two of the teachers knows English fairly well so we can chat and go between English and Spanish. The one teacher, Alexandra, teaches English to the students the most and we have helped each other out with words in the other’s language. It has been fun. I like the teachers I have interacted with - one is just a wild woman - the other teachers call her crazy and mean it. She made all the kids sing a song for me - super loud and it goes on for at least 2 - 3 minutes with the only word being sung is my name. She also introduced me as the gringa. Pretty funny. The teacher I am with is awesome!! I love her - she is open, sweet, a fast learner and is definitely the hardest working teacher there. She also seems to spend the most time with the kids. After class one day, she asked me a lot of questions about classroom/behavior management. It was really interesting and challenging to consult with such a language barrier and funny how one's skills come into play wherever you are. But we seemed to make it work. Thank gosh I brought my Spanish/English dictionary with me. We both used it and figured out what the other person was saying ( or so I think). The next day, she had already made some changes. We were all hugging by the end of the week, saying goodbye because there is a vacation next week. I am planning on going back after the vacation. The kids are especially great huggers. I am accustomed to and somewhat expect it from the 5 year olds. But when I finished up a 40 minute lesson with the older kids, I was shocked that at least half of them girls AND boys came up to give me hugs/kisses. So sweet!!
Here are some pictures of some of the crazy beautiful looking bugs I have been seeing. They have tons of butterflies, moths, crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches and so many more.