Today was my first full day in Guatemala City. I did not sleep much last night because of all the city noises. We are living on the roof of the school, which is four stories tall. We would technically be the fifth floor. However we live in rooms that open out onto the roof. Each room is separate. There is a bathroom, a kitchen, and a laundry area. They also have created a garden that is quite impressive given that it only has dirt as deep as a cinder block. They have many herbs, some flowers, and a few trees growing, including a mango tree! Too bad mangos are not in season! I will definitely take pictures to post later. Right now there are ten people living on the roof in four rooms, sharing one bathroom.
I awoke about five and my legs were really cold. I huddled in my blanket until people started getting up at 6:20 when the Rafinos arrived. They are a family with six children, four of which come upstairs to shower and eat breakfast everyday befo school. They do not go to the school where Amber works (UPAVIM) but a Guatemalan school nearby. I have heard that the children all have lice. All the people who live here have had lice except Amber. Hopefully, since I am here such a short time, I will likewise escape. I threw on a jacket and met the boys. I met Hilda when she came to say hi before I was even out of bed. After ey left, Amber and I decided to go down to the bakery and buy fresh bread for breakfast. I put on my skirt and away we went down four flights of stairs. We bought a variety of bread and soy milk flavored cinnamon and returned upstairs. We shared the bread with people and ate that and coffee for breakfast. We sat around and talked to people and made plans for the day. We watched a video about the school that they are making. It looks really good so far! We got ready and went downstairs to the English office to plan for the day/week. We are going to start with the story Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. After we planned, we went to make a copy of a note for the parents about a modified "Bear Day" that we are doing tomorrow. Then we went down to the Montessori English lesson. Aber sees two groups of preschoolers for 15 minutes each. The first group is younger 4ish and it is clear that their attention spans are much shorter and they do not know as much English even though they have had the same lessons as the group of students who are 5ish. We worked on positional words, numbers, and saying "My name is ..." Amber read them part of Goldilocks and worked on the word "perfect" for describing Baby Bear's oatmeal, chair, and bed. We also talked about the words rough, smooth, and soft, as well as singing five short songs. They are trying to keep the class really quiet so we had to speak and sing in whispers. The Montessori preschool takes place between 11:15 and 12:15.
Next we stopped by the kitchen which is also on the ground floor and picked up lunch for the teachers and volunteers. I carried a pot that had orange sauce dripped on the side. I did not realize this until after I had already held it against my light blue shirt to open a door. Oh, well! This is why I did not pack my Sunday best! We got the cart that Amber uses in her kindergarten class and then dished up our own lunches. We eat in the classroom while supervising the kids' lunch. I met Jazmin, Amber's Guatemalan English-speaking aide. I had heard so many wonderful things about her that it was nice to finally meet. We had a cauliflower egg creation in a triangle shape with the infamous orange sauce over it, salad with tomato, onion, radishes, and lemon juice squeezed on it, rice, and some sort of fruit refresco drink.
Amber's kids are high-maintenance. Many of them come from really difficult situations. There is a cycle of poverty and gang violence around La Esperanza (Amber's neighborhood). One of the other teachers showed us an elaborate architectural drawing that a fifth grader has made of a "druglord's house." UPAVIM also employs women to make crafts to sell in the states as well as here. There is also the bakery and a health clinic in addition to tutoring that is done in Spanish or kids who do not attend this school. It is a really neat organization. There is daycare for kids from newborn to preschool. UPAVIM employs 100 women from the community.
The afternoon was a little crazier than I had anticipated. It would be hard to share your class half day with another teacher who teaches very differently from you. We did circle time, conversation, songs, Goldilocks, and recess on a small concrete patio that is connected to the classroom. I played I Spy with a girl and then danced and galloped with Karla. The boys were tying people up with jump ropes. It was chaotic with not enough room to get their energy out. At the end of the day, Amber had them play a game using what they know about fur, scales, and feathers. Then it was time to line up and go home.
After they all had left, we went back upstairs and leaned up the classroom with Jazmin. Then she left and Amber and I talked about the rest of the day. Tomorrow is our turn to cook so we went down the road to buy vegetables from some ladies. The produce looked good and was very cheap. We bought tomatoes, red peppers, cilantro, parsley, four huge carrots, and five limes for $1.25! We then walked back and put the produce in the kitchen before heading to the English office to talk about Amber's independent study. She is going to work on mapping out the English portion of the curriculum to better help the teacher next year. We talked through the entire proposal in detail before heading up for dinner.
We had a delicious meal of rice mixed with lentils with stir-fried veggies and a curry sauce over it. It made my mouth burn, but it was really good. The cleanliness of the kitchen leaves much to be desired, but the food I have eaten has been good. After dinner a Spanish-speaking friend came by and we all helped him practice his English by giving examples of things we can do, could do, will do, etc. I left on "have to" by saying, " I have to wash my cup." I then got ready to get in the shower. The shower was good again. I started my laundry soaking in a bowl to hopefully get out he stain. I then checked my email. Amber shared a peppermint patty with Katie and I. Next, Amber and I attempted to watch a TED talk while giving each other massages. I got ready for bed and typed my blog entry. I went to bed (with earplugs) at 11.
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