Week 3

This weekend was much more relaxed than my last two. On Saturday, a bunch of the volunteers went to waterfalls in the nearby national park Pico Bonito. We swam in the river at the bottom of the mountain, and then went on a 45 minute hike which brought us to a much more secluded area with a huge waterfall and cold water. The river and waterfalls were nice -- nothing special -- but the whole time we were there I was so happy to be spending time with people that I liked in a naturally beautiful place.

That evening, a few of the volunteers from our house had a movie night. We watched Hacksaw Ridge which was fabulous, and Sisters which was not as funny as it had been hyped up to be. We also ate tons of homemade popcorn and ice cream bars from the corner store.

After a week of training, we were all very ready to see the kids. Sadly for us, attendance had dropped. In my first class we only had two kids who ended up leaving after 15 minutes because they didn’t want to be the only ones there. The rest of the week was a bit better, but we had nowhere close to the numbers of kids we’d had before the break. I’m not sure exactly why the kids weren’t coming. Maybe it’s because they didn’t know when class started up again, or maybe after a week of not coming, they’d forgotten about class. Either way, it made class much more manageable, but it was also a shame. In the coming weeks, we’re going to do some serious outreach to try to get our numbers back to where they were.

This week I began to take on more serious responsibilities. During my first week here, I’d been mostly shadowing and sometimes bringing a random object or snack to class. After a week of classes and a week of training, I was deemed ready to take on a bigger role. I started by leading circle. In circle we ask the kids to say their names and ages in English and then answer the question of the day in Spanish. We also review the rules of the class as well as the three ways in which we never act (sexist, racist, sexual). This was a huge step for me because it involved remembering a lot of different things, as well as speaking in Spanish. By the time I’d led circle in a few different classes, I felt much more comfortable leading other activities and taking control of the class.

Being one of the youngest volunteers here has been somewhat difficult when it comes to teaching. Not only am I new to HCA and the rules, expectations, and norms, I’m also younger (by 10 years in some cases) than the other volunteers. This makes it difficult to feel equal, even though I am in so many ways. I think that it will take a while before I feel like we’re on a completely level playing field, but leading larger activities this week definitely made me feel more powerful than I had during my first two weeks here.

On Tuesday afternoon, I was at the furthest (and poorest) classroom location. We all arrived early to class and, once we’d reviewed the plan for the day, we went outside to play with the kids. Eddy, the manager, picked one of them up by their hands and started swinging them in circles. It wasn’t long before the other kids caught on and were running up to the volunteers saying “yo, yo!” I spun my fair share of kids, and got very dizzy at times, but it was worth it. Seeing the looks of pure joy on their faces warmed my heart. 

A few days later I was back at the same location (PEP2). As we left the classroom, we passed by one of our students who was about to get on his bike. “Adios Luis,” I said, giving him a little wave. I turned around and kept walking. A little voice behind me said “Adios Lila!” and my heart melted. It seems like such a silly, insignificant interaction but, even after working with the kids for two weeks, none of them seem to know my name. This is most likely because it’s a difficult name to say and remember but it’s still hard to see the kids calling the names of newer volunteers. So, when Luis (who also happens to be one of my many favorite students) showed that he knew my name, it meant the world to me.

Hopefully most of you are aware that this past Thursday was Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). Surprisingly enough, out of the 13 volunteers, five of us are Jewish. We decided that it would be a lot of fun to have Rosh Hashanah in Honduras, so we invited a few off our Honduran friends and had a little potluck on Wednesday night to bring in the new year. We had apples and honey, and an Israeli salad, as well as brownies and honey muffins. I’d wanted to make bread ever since I arrived, so I took this opportunity to make my favorite challah recipe. It didn’t turn out like it does at home, but by the end of the night, one and a half loaves had been eaten. I consider that a success. 

Word of the week:

Chocala: this word is one that I learned in school but had since forgotten until I came here. It means “high five” and getting the kids to give me a high five is a great way to bond with them.

Yamit quote of the week:

“That makes me so sad”