Wow. There’s a lot I could say, but given the limited time I’ll just catch up on a few highlights…
So after getting settled in Mariona, we began teaching our afternoon English class to a small group of kids from the area. There are about 10 kids (depending on the day), which for three of us is cake—the only more difficult part is that the ages range from 3-11, which is obviously an inconvenient development gap. Although we planned to split into groups, we find that the kids really have the most fun just being together, and taking part in the kind of creative learning that they don’t get in schools here. Last week I was tickled at how much they enjoyed our “parts of the body” class. After many, many thrilling renditions of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” we played a game where the kids got to label the parts of the body with post-its. Given that we had a small white board, but no marker for it, we opted to use student models instead. The kids jumped out of their seats when they recognized the English word, and giggled at they put post-its on their friend’s faces. Upon completing the exercise, the orange post-it covered kid would stand grinning as everyone rushed up to take them off so we could start all over. After class they run off smiling, but no one leaves before giving me a “high-five” (which I taught them the very first class-I still have my priorities straight)…my heart gets all warm and fuzzy every time I see them run around yelling “HI-FI!” and slapping each other’s hands.
Spontaneous soccer games with Casa students and the Salvadoran bacarrios usually happen on Thursdays, but I had been so busy (slash maybe a little too timid) to go until last week. I was exhausted, and hesitant to give up my one free weekday afternoon, but I thought “when in Rome” right? Well, when in El Salvador-you play soccer. As the game started I quickly realized how much I missed playing this sport, I was feeling more bonded with some of the Salvadorans in the first half hour that I had in the past month (sports are so universal). Not surprisingly, the afternoon sky started looking a bit ominous, but no one else seemed to take notice. Neither did anyone seem concerned as the rain came down, and I smiled to myself thinking “oh, El Salvador…” But within the next ten minutes the afternoon sprinkle had turned to a downpour, and soon after-a legitimate storm. The game went on. We kicked the ball through puddles, then Rivers in the middle of the field…I rung out my hair and made nervous jokes in broken Spanish about how maybe we should call it quits—but no one was leaving…So I just stood there in a puddle of mud laughing and hoping to God the bolts of lightning kept their distance. It was the highlight of my week.
A while back a group of us discovered a nearby bar/restaurant called “La Luna” that can best be described as a Salvadoran hipster hang out (about as counterintuitive as it sounds) with live music of different genres. Having scoped out their calendar on our first visit, we spotted “Beatles night” and no more needed to be said. So last night we ventured out and took our rightful place as the overly enthusiastic American’s in the front row. Despite the fact that even the band members themselves (all wearing matching Black Beatles t-shirts) pronounced Beatles in phonetic Spanish “BEET-LEZ” they really did justice to a number of great hits. They were more than thrilled to have some gringos in the crowd, and even humored us-upon request, playing the most comical “happy birthday” for two of our friends, with personal shout outs to “Chela y Kati.” We were bummed to leave before they finished (it isn’t a good idea to stay in the city too late) but made a dramatic exit, waving to the lead singer who grinned proudly and said “See-you-later!” into the mic.
This country is full of surprises…
So after getting settled in Mariona, we began teaching our afternoon English class to a small group of kids from the area. There are about 10 kids (depending on the day), which for three of us is cake—the only more difficult part is that the ages range from 3-11, which is obviously an inconvenient development gap. Although we planned to split into groups, we find that the kids really have the most fun just being together, and taking part in the kind of creative learning that they don’t get in schools here. Last week I was tickled at how much they enjoyed our “parts of the body” class. After many, many thrilling renditions of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” we played a game where the kids got to label the parts of the body with post-its. Given that we had a small white board, but no marker for it, we opted to use student models instead. The kids jumped out of their seats when they recognized the English word, and giggled at they put post-its on their friend’s faces. Upon completing the exercise, the orange post-it covered kid would stand grinning as everyone rushed up to take them off so we could start all over. After class they run off smiling, but no one leaves before giving me a “high-five” (which I taught them the very first class-I still have my priorities straight)…my heart gets all warm and fuzzy every time I see them run around yelling “HI-FI!” and slapping each other’s hands.
Spontaneous soccer games with Casa students and the Salvadoran bacarrios usually happen on Thursdays, but I had been so busy (slash maybe a little too timid) to go until last week. I was exhausted, and hesitant to give up my one free weekday afternoon, but I thought “when in Rome” right? Well, when in El Salvador-you play soccer. As the game started I quickly realized how much I missed playing this sport, I was feeling more bonded with some of the Salvadorans in the first half hour that I had in the past month (sports are so universal). Not surprisingly, the afternoon sky started looking a bit ominous, but no one else seemed to take notice. Neither did anyone seem concerned as the rain came down, and I smiled to myself thinking “oh, El Salvador…” But within the next ten minutes the afternoon sprinkle had turned to a downpour, and soon after-a legitimate storm. The game went on. We kicked the ball through puddles, then Rivers in the middle of the field…I rung out my hair and made nervous jokes in broken Spanish about how maybe we should call it quits—but no one was leaving…So I just stood there in a puddle of mud laughing and hoping to God the bolts of lightning kept their distance. It was the highlight of my week.
A while back a group of us discovered a nearby bar/restaurant called “La Luna” that can best be described as a Salvadoran hipster hang out (about as counterintuitive as it sounds) with live music of different genres. Having scoped out their calendar on our first visit, we spotted “Beatles night” and no more needed to be said. So last night we ventured out and took our rightful place as the overly enthusiastic American’s in the front row. Despite the fact that even the band members themselves (all wearing matching Black Beatles t-shirts) pronounced Beatles in phonetic Spanish “BEET-LEZ” they really did justice to a number of great hits. They were more than thrilled to have some gringos in the crowd, and even humored us-upon request, playing the most comical “happy birthday” for two of our friends, with personal shout outs to “Chela y Kati.” We were bummed to leave before they finished (it isn’t a good idea to stay in the city too late) but made a dramatic exit, waving to the lead singer who grinned proudly and said “See-you-later!” into the mic.
This country is full of surprises…
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