Sorry for the delay! Last day at the school today :(

It has been a crazy week! Because I couldn't work in the schools my first week down here, I did double-duty these last three days. Wednesday was by far my most difficult day here. In the morning, students in grades 1-3 are in session. The teachers only work half days. I started in the third grade classroom. After waiting a few minutes for the teacher to get the kids quiet and settle some arguments, I began with basic introductions and asking what they already knew in Spanish. Every seat in the room was full - about 35 kids. It was difficult to keep their attention and the teacher kept yelling at them. At one point, she left the room, and chaos began. I generally don't raise my voice when I am teaching, but I definitely had to with this group. I switched gears and had them drawing instead as I taught them different parts of the body in English. 

During recess, the teachers sat in a corner and chatted while the kids had free reign over the schoolyard. There were countless fist fights and arguments. At one point, I saw a kid with blood on his shirt chasing after another one with a rock. He was bleeding from his head because the kid had thrown a rock at him. I had to physically restrain them so they would stop fighting, and I brought them over to the teachers to tell them what happened. They said something in Spanish that I took to mean "it happens all the time" and went back to talking. After that, I became weary of walking around the schoolyard trying to break up and prevent fights. One kid chased another out of the gate and down the road tackling him to the ground. A nearby adult yelled at them. One of the kids came back, grabbed his backpack and stormed out of the school. I don't even think the teachers knew what happened. When I went in the classrooms, the kids were tackling each other, throwing stuff around, and just had no discipline. I can imagine the teachers get tired of yelling at the kids, but I think they would benefit from some good behavior management classes. 

After recess, I went to the first grade classroom where the kids were adorable and so excited to say words in English. I couldn't rely on writing words like I could with the other grades, so I switched to a strictly oral approach singing songs to learn the numbers and the days of the week. This teacher seemed to have pretty good classroom control, but she walked around with a ruler in her hand. She was, however, protective of her kids when the older kids were around. 

The second grade class was a bit of a challenge as well with a few arguments or "fights" during the lesson, but there were some really bright kids in the class who were catching on to the English quickly. The teacher stayed in the room, thankfully, and spoke to a few kids when they were misbehaving. 

After Rafael picked me up for lunch on Wednesday, his car overheated on the way home, and we were stranded at a fried chicken joint. A taxi driver friend of Rafael's came to help him, and I grabbed some food and lots to drink. I think I forgot to mention that it was the hottest day here yet, and there wasn't much of a breeze. 

I returned to school for the afternoon, already drenched in sweat, and had some great lessons with the kids where they acted out various action words. I also did a lesson with the 6th graders on question words. I witnessed an extremely unsanitary cleaning of the schoolyard, but all of the kids were helping out. Some were collecting trash. Others were scrubbing the bathrooms with the same brooms they use in the classrooms (including the toilets). Then, they rinsed their hands in this giant barrel of water that, as far as I can tell, had been sitting there for a while. None of the kids complained, and they all chipped in. It was great to see such teamwork. 

When I returned home, I met up with Stephanie at Dunkin Donuts with a new volunteer from Los Angeles. Logan is a med student and is volunteering at the local hospital. His Spanish is very good, so it has been nice to have him around to help translate. After dinner, Stephanie and I walked down to a supermarket to get some treats for the kids on my last day. I picked up a bunch of apples, bananas, and cookies. Apparently, the store is owned by WalMart, and I saw an RGIS inventory tag in there (the company my dad retired from and I worked for during college). 

Thursday was a long day as well. I started with an interview for the volunteer organization I came down to Honduras through. They videotaped me talking about my experiences in Honduras - including my host family, the Spanish classes, and the volunteer work. I headed to school after, and the kids were much better behaved today (although there were still several issues during their recess). I taught the kids how to talk about their feelings (happy, sad, angry, etc), and they learned words for the colors along with some animals. While waiting to be picked up, I was sharpening and handing out pencils to the little kids, and they were so excited! I headed back home for a quick lunch (which was still more than I am used to getting!). 

Logan decided to volunteer with me in the afternoons at the school, and he helped me with a "healthy living" lesson for the kids. We talked about all the important things to do to lead a healthy life, and I shared with them photos and sentences my students back home had done for extra credit about healthy living. They were excited to see my students and to find words they knew in English. The 6th graders were able to translate pretty well using the pictures as context clues. Of course, I played soccer again during recess. I get so tired and sweaty, but the kids love having me play along. 

When Rafael came to pick us up, he got a flat tire, so we found a nearby repair shop who took care of it in less than 10 minutes. Then, we headed up to the landfill so Logan could get a view of the city. Once again, we were swarmed by little kids shouting "Gringos! Gringos!" They asked us if we could return tomorrow with some treats for them. We told them to meet us back there at 4 o'clock on Friday. 

Then, it was off to a local supplies store where I spent the money that had been donated back home. I had 200 dollars left and got a ton of classroom supplies for the kids. I put together one bag for each of my afternoon classes and a general bag for the school. The store closed while we were in there, but the employees were all very helpful and thankful for the business. We also stopped to pick up chips and soda to bring to the kids near the landfill. 

When I returned home for dinner, Argentina had not come home yet, so Stephanie and I headed up to the mall to grab a burger, add minutes to our local phones, and pick up some drinks for Friday's fiesta with the kids. It was so hard to believe that I only had one day left working with the kids. I only hope they learned something from my time there and that they will continue to get instruction in English in the future. This has been the most rewarding experience of my life, and it will be tough to leave the kids after such a short time with them. 

Spanish phrase of the day - "prestame" which translates to "may I borrow that?" I hear this one a lot from the kids at recess time because I bring my bag of sports goodies every day.