Back

Alright, so we had a week of training. It was fun. Hmm... A lot of time spent with the other trainees, which was nice. Got to get to know people that I didn´t really know before. We spent the first half of the week in Totonicapan, and the second half in Tecpan. I know that means pretty much nothing to you, but that´s the logistics.

We spent our time in schools for the most part. On Tuesday since it was Marti Gras, there was a festival at school instead of class, so we kind of just watched and had confetti thrown at us by the kids. They were a little aggressive with some of it. One trainee ended up with her face covered in silver paint, and her hair filled with confetti and glitter. A girl in a different group got a real egg smashed on the back of her head... It was a little crazy, but it was all in good fun (I don´t think the egg girl will appreciate that I wrote that, but it´s the truth).

We got a lot of information about what we are going to be doing, which I would explain now, but I don´t want to spend the money to write it while I´m in this cafe, so you guys can just theorize, and then see how close you can get.

That´s all for now, have a great week.

Big Week

Alright, short post. This next week is Field Based Training, which is the most important, and exhausting week of training. Thus I won´t be posting.

I forgot to mention that a couple weeks ago we watched El Norte, so that was weird...

Today a butterfly landed on my hand while I was cutting my finger nails, that was also pretty weird. Then my madre told me that cutting your finger nails when you have a cold is bad luck here (I have a cold, by the way), and butterflies are actually a bad sign too, so we´ll see how the day goes. I´m optimistic about it...

I gave my presentation on Friday, and it was fine. I forgot some things, and I said some thing incorrectly (for example, I tried to tell them to raise their hands when they had an answer, but I didn´t quite get it right, and they all raised their hands at the same time).

I guess that´s all for now.

Happenings

We started working in schools last week. It was a little crazy. I felt kind of at home during recess, though. The boys played a nice game of full-contact basketball that involved somewhere in the vicinity of thirty boys, all under the age of 11. There was one kid with an orange hat who all the other kids deemed "the one who will be destroyed if he has the ball." And he liked it... I guess there's something enjoyable about being tackled onto cement by a group of ten large boys. Anyway, for my old 8th grade crowd, this type of game is old news. I wonder if any of those kids will get a scar as cool as the one that I got from the large Korean guy during that game.

Last weekend we got to watch a traditional Mayan ceremony in Iximche, which is a Mayan ruin. It was really interesting to see all the symbolism and things that they still have. Plus we got to put stuff on a fire, which I always enjoy... In realidad it was a wonderful experience, and left me feeling peaceful and pensive, which I like a lot.

This week we have to do 30 minute presentations to a class during school about something health-related. I'm probably doing mine on hand-washing. It'll be interesting to see how much Spanish I can speak when I'm standing in front of a class of 25 kids...

Next week we're going on a trip for the whole week, starting Sunday, that's called Field Based Training. We're going to be working in schools with volunteers who are currently doing our project. It'll be the first time that we really get to see what we'll be doing for the next two years. Plus it's a field trip...