Thursday, May 15, 2008

IPC

The past few days I’ve been sick with stomach problems. This Monday we had a whole session on diarrhea at the PC training center and I kept convincing myself throughout that every single worm that the nurse was talking about was inside me but I think it’s pretty unlikely. My host mother snuck in some herbal things (garlic, apazote, and something else) into my chamomile tea without me knowing this afternoon and I kind of feel better which is so nice when your day is filled with studying Spanish, adapting to a culture, integrating into a new family, learning about development, etc. Today we went to the middle and high school which is an Instituto por Cooperativa (cooperative because the school is funded three ways; parents, municipality and national government). I am working with 3o Basico which is the third and last year of middle school with children ranging from 13 or 14 to 18. All the kids were really nice and wanted me to sit with them in class. I was with them for a few hours, spanning two P.E. periods, Social Studies and Math. Physical Education was interesting. The kids played basketball, did some wheelbarrow racing and person on another person’s shoulder racing. The last two were very dangerous. They were racing across a concrete court. Some of the kids were banging up their knees and elbows. One girl fell of her partner’s back onto the floor. It was painful to watch. Social Studies was alright. The students were instructed to bring a copy of a map and ¾ of the class didn’t do it. Tsk tsk. Then Math came and the students seemed to like that better. But I think they may have liked it better simply because the teacher postponed their test since I was there making observations. I’ll be working with these kids for the next two months once or twice a week.

On the home front, aside from being sick, everything is good. I made crepes for my family and they liked them. I gave some to two of my host uncles too. One lives next door and is named Rodolfo. He comes over everyday to play with the baby. He sounds like Winnie the Pooh. Same laugh. My other host uncle is Juan and he lives across the street. He has come over twice since I’ve been here and I think he has been the easiest one to talk to in all the family. I get to meet the rest of the family and part of the town this Saturday. It is my little brother’s birthday and about 100 people are invited to break the piñata.

I miss everyone. Love you. Shout out to GB whose birthday is coming up this Monday. Love you, papa!

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