HIV taller

Ruins

Camora

God is good...all the time. All the time...God is good. Today was good. It started off with me going to one of my schools to pìck up the stories that the primero students had created. I´ve just skimmed over the stories but they already look very promising. A couple of my students came up to me asking me for their agendas (planners) because, as the y told me, they needed to put down their homework and know what classes they had the next day. Say what? They are actually using the planners I made them make. I told Profe Juan that if all I take away from my two years here is that students become more organized, that would be enough. I´m only partially serious in saying that but I am so happy that they are actually using them. We have gone from maybe a tenth of the students in each class using planners to more than half using them. Another student named Cristian always asks how I´m doing and for me to be careful. This boy has an extremely special place in my heart. His mom abandoned him and his sisters when they were small and he was in a gang for a little bit of time. He is extremely hyper but a good kid. He is going to help me with some projects at that school. Ok...going back to my day, I hop on a bus to go to my other school, I get off and I wait for the other bus, and I wait and wait some more. Get to my Instituto and work with my 2B students. Communication taller went so well. It was great. Then I moved on to Tercero. Now the reference to the title...camora. Camora is like a nuggie or when kids beat you up for your birthday. Someone shouts camora to Jose. And everyone goes and hits or smacks Jose on the head. It can be somewhat playful and innocent, depending on whose doing it or it can be violent. Today some of my tercero boys did camora to one of their compañeros. This boy was crying so hard he could hardly talk. I was livid (to use Perla´s words). The principal came in and threaten them and what not (hes really not fit to be a leader of a school) and then I spoke to them. I basically told the whole class that I didn´t know what had happened but school was a place where people came to better themselves and a place that they could feel safe. They shouldnt feel threatened. I told them they needed to support each other. Everybody has other stuff going on outside of school but that school should be a haven. I don´t know if they took it to heart. I then went on to play a Juanes song called La Vida es Un Ratico and we talked about Juanes and what he was trying to convey to his audience through his lyrics. It went well and we´l l continue next week with another Juanes song that talks about not giving up, and persuing your dreams. Then we will go into decision mkaing. God knows some of them need it. Or all rather. The school day ended well with my Primero babies as I did a little communication skit where I brush the teeth of an alligator. It takes awhile to explain it so I wont but the students really enjoyed it and were extremely attent. Lastly, I went to one of my teachers house to help her with her English. She made me delicious homemade pizza. It was leet.

I just bought some jobos. Its a little red and yellow fruit. Its good but I think the ones I bought might be bad. Of course.


Besitos a todos!

Semana Santa, Huehuetenango

I´m kind of drawing a blank. I haven´t updated in awhile. I just got done giving a taller on VIH. I was freaked out that it wasn´t going to go well but I think it went well. The teachers least favorite part was the condom demonstration. Pero no se puede complacerlos a todos, verdad? I haven´t really been teaching, teaching in the past couple of weeks because of conferences, meetings, bimester exams, special activities, etc. My kids told me yesterday that they missed me. There´s this one student, Levi, who whenever he seems me, shouts ¨Señoooooooo¨so damn enthusiastically. It makes me feel good, what can I say. And then there´s these two really shy girls at my other school that when they see me, their eyes seem to light up and they run to give me a somewhat slobbery kiss on the cheek. Is this my imagination making me think that I am cherished (in the words of Rab) more than I really am? Saber. This week I didn´t teach at one school because of a security meeting and a taller and having to turn in grades at another school so I left them homework. They had to use some really random words to create a story. Some of the words included: cucharacha, yegua (one of my personal favorites in Spanish), Tortrix (guatemalan Fritos), regocijo, canica, chapin (nickname for guatemalan), amigo del alma and chipichipi. GREAT words, if you ask me. So I´m very excited to read these stories. I told them whoever had the best story would get a prize but Im not sure what to give them. A nice set of pens or maybe make a little book out of it and have it published. If you guys have any ideas, pass them along. Another thing that Im starting is a school newsletter/newspaper with the student council. I had told Roy about this when he came here. I got the idea from the Health Center at NCC. Everytime I´d go to the bathroom, I´d read those darn papers taped to the bathroom stall doors. So...they won´t be entirely based on health related things although it is very important for these kids specifically (many don´t eat breakfast; just like in the US right? But it takes a bigger toll on youth here. We have way more vitamin-packed food in the states). But anyway, other stuff that will be in this newsletter include vocabulary words (in Spanish, many say they want to ampliar their vocabulario), English phrases, world news, trivia, and student work (stories, drawings, poems, etc.). I´m really excited. And lastly I have to get my butt in gear for all the teacher trainings I have to give and parent trainings. I´m also going to have English study dates with two of my teachers that are clearly dating. They said theyd make me pizza. Can´t turn down that offer. And...I need some paint to make some murals. Oh and I printed off a bunch of good, motivational quotes that I am going to stick up in my classrooms.

All good things. Only really bad thing that has happened to me lately is that I am poor, again and that the babarua (Aunt Cruz´s postre) didnt turn out well.

Love u so much. Besitos!

Señorita Deportes

I´m hot and sweaty. I just judged a 4 hour beauty pageant at an institute there was potential for me to work at. Alas, I am at my two lovely schools. Rewind to this morning. Crap! I didn´t finish grading for my 300 kids. But I didn´t stress. I played soccer with the teachers team instead. My friend/school´s account and I got there late, by then the teachers were losing 10 to 0. My goodness...We got there too late. But we played against some little Primero girls and beat them 2-1. Pathetic. But very fun. My face was red, red, red. Probably because I haven´t done real exercise in ages. Actually, not true. I did 20 squats in my room last night while Bebes watch me with a confused look on his face. So after this mañana deportiva I ran my ass to the Teatro Municipal to judge this beauty pageant. It was cool. There was a little bit of slutty and inappropriate dancing. Some bad answers to good questions. And there was this one girl, extremely shy, wouldn´t smile, couldn´t walk that went off talking about women´s rights. I was like, YEAH! That´s right. She didn´t win. But she will always have a special place in my heart. Who did win? This cute girl that smiled the whole time. I could not go up there with a bathing suit on as 300 male peers looked on. More power to you, ladies. I know I´m rambling and don´t make sense. Last thoughts...tell me why the two former beauty queens that were part of the judging panel refused to go up and present the winners and make a little speech, but me, señorita gringa from the Chicagoland, had her big booty all up on the stage like no ones business, cracking jokes, speaking in English and dancing. Huh? Tell me what that´s all about.