Sorry I seem to be writing once a week...I feel like I don´t have enough stuff to write about sometimes, so I´ll wait until I have more things to write about. Week two was great...working with the kids is a lot of fun...kindgartners are exhauting no matter what country they´re from! I have 19 kids in my class...they´re all sooo cute...there are two I want to trade in, but I guess I´ll have to cope...ha...one runs away from school, starts to walk home, and once you chase her down and physically bring her back to school, she kicks you in the shins...a real peach...the other one called me a gringoe and is the nastiest 5 year old I´ve ever met...other than that they´re all great...ha! In all seriousness, the children are beautiful and are so appreciative to have people to pay attention to them and care. The day usually consists of shapes (mostly squares for some reason), colors (mostly red), writing their names (which none of them can do), recess, maybe a rivetting game of duck-duck-goose or patto-patto-ganza in spanish (yeah, try teaching 5 year olds that when you don´t even speak their language...it was like rocket science), and then snack. I had to help out with 1st grade one day...that was scary...I´m definitely in the right place with the Kindy kids!
I´m adjusting more to the culture and all of the differences; some of the major differences are that you can´t flush TP down the toilet (you have to throw it in a bin...ewww); there´s no TP or paper towels in any bathroom, so most of us carry a roll in our backpacks; Peru is a very starch-heavy country, so every meal includes rice, potatoes, and bread...by lunch I´ve had 3 pieces of bread (thank goodness I can switch to a salad for lunch for the next 2 weeks or I´d be the size of a house); and the cars don´t stop at intersections, so I fear for my life while in a taxi as well as when crossing the street...just a few for now. You don´t realize how third world this country is until you visit it...it´s tough, dangerous, and really dirty...I´m very thankful to be experiencing it because it definitely makes me appreciate the states and my life so much more...it´s truly eye opening.
On to the title of this post...every Friday night we have a BBQ with all of the volunteers at the Casa (our homebase), so last night we cooked up some goodies and got to drinking. A few Americans and I thought it would be a good idea to teach the Europeans beer pong...it went well until we got our butts kicked by newbies...ha! We then went out to a really cool bar called Montreal...as soon as we walked in I heard live music...but it wasn´t just any live music...it involved a tambourine! For those of you who went to college with me, you´ve witnessed my bizarre attraction to the tambourine, and for those of you who didn´t, I successfully collected/stole 3 tambourines in college...don´t ask me why I choose that instrument when I´ve been drinking...but for some reason, I dig a good tambourine after a few glasses of wine! Without hesitation, I went over and started playing the tambourine with a local band...who spoke no english and were wearing Shakespearean-like clothing...I don´t think I ever got a clear answer as to why they were wearing that, but my friend Carly did borrow one of the guys´cloak for a bit...ha...random drinking stories from Peru! Gabriel, a very nice and handsome Peruvian guy helped teach me how to keep rhythm on the tambourine...apparently I lack the appropriate tambourine rhythm. Then we headed to the cheasiest discoteca I´ve ever been to called Deja Vu, where I requested some Michael Jackson and danced the night away (sans tambourine...bringing a tambourine back from Peru would have been my life´s greatest achievement). We´re going out again tonight, so we´ll see if there are more stories to tell after that! We all go out in a big group so it´s lots of fun and safe (for all you worriers).
Apparently the teachers are going on strike next week, so I may potentially be with 3rd and 4th graders...ahh...so I´m sure I´ll have intersting things to report back to you guys about that. Obviously the song of the moment is Bob Dylan´s ¨Tambourine Man¨. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Chat soon!
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3 comments:
just died laughing at your greatest achievement. haaaaaaaaaaahahahaaaa...
It's great to know that things haven't changed! I have full faith that you will come home with a tambourine!
Hill, it's Chess. You are changing the world one tambourine and ping pong ball at a time. Way to bring out the joy and laughter to brighten up a dirty place :)
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