BUSY!!!!

I love my students--they are insane, but great. Some of them are not the best at sitting still and not talking, but they are young and many have a difficult home life. The directors of the school are very strict about all the kids not talking, I understand you need order, but only being able to play and chat for 30 minutes out of a 7 hour day is hard, I know i would not be able to do that! Despite that, these kids are so loving, and they crave that. I get atleast 50 hugs a day, and they are so interested in America! It is amazing to hear their questions, and I love talking about it with them....Since I am here for a limited amount of time I want to make them so interested that they want to continue to learn on their own. I have come to the conclusion that my ultimate goal is not to teach them perfect grammer, but help them want more out of life and love them....and that is what they need.

This week I started to tutor after school....Well, I do help them with their homework but I talk a whole lot with my kids--which, we are not supposed to do, but I make them talk in English so I am helping them! haha. Anyways, I do not get back to my apartment until 5 now, which is great actually....as tired as I am I love it. This week we had Open House, and I had to get up and talk about me to all the parents who came...I made sense!!! My spanish is getting better and I am so excited!

I did learn that one of the boys in pre-k is autistic. This made me sad, because all the teachers know is to look him in the eye when talking....I do not know much about Autism, but I do know there is much more out there that can help him.....another project I am going to undertake!

This weekend my adventure was postponed, it was really chilly and cloudy early this morning, so I decided to just chill out today. I went to the mall to get some tennis shoes ( I was needing some) and for a few hours forgot I was down here working with poor children....this mall was similar to Lenox....many beautiful stores with many beautiful people walking around...just because i am volunteering in a 3rd world country doesn't mean my weakness for beautiful things has gone away! that will always be with me I am afraid, which is ok if I can put what is important first! I did try on a few things, and I am happy to report I think I have lost almost a dress size!!! Easy to do when you don't have all the processed food around! That is not even an option here.

I am learning so much that I do not even know how to explain it through my blog....It is all a little overwhelming to think about actually...But it is all positive. I am beginning to wonder if six months will be enough time!! I guess this is a good issue to encounter :)