College in Action!

Buenas tardes! (Good Afternoon)

Sorry for the slow update time. Our internet was out yet again…and has been for almost a week now. There is still internet in the main office, but it is scary to go over there at night when all the lights are off and everything. Think about not having a cell phone or internet...in the States, a month ago, I don’t know how I could live without them. It makes your world smaller, but I guess it does lead to better direct communication because you have no other option!

The coolest story from the last week, or at least the most prominent in my mind, happened Monday. I got to see something I learned in college actually put into action. I took Child Psychology last semester, and we watched this video about these street kids in Brazil that were so quick with doing practical math, but had no idea how to do a written math problem. I wrote in my last update about how I have “special ed” in the afternoons, but with no teacher…just me and another volunteer, Sarah. Last week we started with Jasson who had never been to school before and this week Arsenoa also started school for the first time at about the same age (13).

Yesterday, I started going over vowel sounds with Arsenoa and basic reading from that (ma, me, mi, mo, mu, etc). After an hour and a half of reading, I decided to see what he knew about math. I tried to start easy, a simple subtraction problem. I asked Arsenoa to write in his notebook 10-6, but he didn’t even understand how to write a subtraction sign. So I decided to back track a little bit, knowing that all the kids here work on the streets, I asked him what he did. He said he washed cars and that it cost $8 to wash a car (I guess it must be a really good wash ). So I asked him if people ever give him a $10 and he said of course, so I asked him what the change would be, and he quickly replied $2. I told him to write it as a subtraction problem, but he couldn’t, so I showed him how. I was so amazed, so I wanted to see if something similar was true with basic multiplication/division. I asked him what he buys when he goes to the store, and he told me he always buys bread for 10 cents. I asked him how many pieces of bread he could buy with 50 cents, and he quickly replied 5. I was hoping to keep going on this theme, so I asked him how many he could buy with 30 cents….and his answer was 1 piece of bread and 1 yogurt! I just couldn’t stop laughing; his response was so honest and cute. We had to work through how many pieces of bread that would be, but he knew that was exactly enough for bread and yogurt.

Another highlight from last weekend was enjoying lunch over at the Arguello’s (my host family) and then hanging out with them for a while. With them I also discovered the best deal in town (and also possibly my demise), a 2 scoops waffle cone from Crepes and Waffles is $1.45 – and it is delicious! I got a scoop of brownie ice cream and a scoop of caramel! Other than that I am starting to figure out this teaching thing a little bit more and am enjoying knowing more of the kids and hearing my name called all the time. I am still having some rough times, but I appreciate all the prayers and emails and continued support. The plan as of now is to go to the beach with some people this weekend, which I hope will be refreshing and I can enjoy a delicious batido or two!

Amor y paz (love and peace)
Taylor