Monday, May 30, 2011

May 30th, 2011


May 30th, 2011

            Monday. As usual I was the first one up for breakfast, aside from Taki, the Japanese man who also lives with us while he improves his Spanish skills for his job. Our host momma makes a great fruit salad, which I quickly dove into and immediately host momma brings me a nice cup of coffee.
            Syeda, Natalie, and I usually leave for school around 8:30 am, maybe a bit later, for our 15 minute walk to El Sol. It’s nice now because we are starting to understand Lima and know our way around the city and it gives me a sense of accomplishment that I feel confident in a foreign city.
            School was the standard two hours of language, followed by an hour of culture and an hour of conversation. I was still feeling tired and a bit woozy today, and I definitely needed the nonstop coffee to help me power through classes, but I genuinely enjoy El Sol and intend to make the most out of my last week of classes here.
            After El Sol, the standard run to the Metro supermarket and then jump in cab and hope the driver can find the FAP Air Force School commenced. There was confusion about teaching groups upon arrival at the school, so a lot of us ended up with different people in our teaching groups than we thought, but we make it work. The teacher had the class that I was in spilt up into three separate groups, so Andrew, Kelsey, and I each sat down with a separate group to give them more focused attention. This group was a lot more difficult than the previous groups I had worked with, and I was feeling the language barrier. These kids were not as advanced in English as the ones that I had worked with during the past few days.  I stuck with the lesson plan and talked with the kids about American foods, holidays, shopping, manners, and things like that. At first I was a little frustrated because I had only experienced groups of very outgoing kids who spoke very sufficient English, and I was now working with much more reserved kids who only understood a little of what I was saying. But as the class went on, we broke down some barriers and the kids were absorbing some of what I was saying, and asking me questions in English. What I really learned today though was the power of a smile. It’s true that smiling is the universal language. Of course I was there to teach English, but at the times when we didn’t understand each other, throwing out a laugh and a smile resonated with these kids and we were able to share an experience of coming together.
            After lecture, I was pretty eager to get home and rest and do school work. And here I am writing my blog J

1 comment:

  1. Totally love this blog. Thanks for sharing your energy, insights and wonderful writing.

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