This week I got to teach English with Rachel and Christiana in the morning. The school goes from 1st to 6th grade but we only taught fourth to sixth. It was definately a challenging job. We didn't have a lot of material to work with as we taught simple conversational things like "My name is", "How old are you?", "Where are you from?" and the answers. We also practiced the alphabet and numbers. Each class was taught the same lesson because that's the way the teachers normally do it. We would make each a little more challenging for the higher grades. It was difficult creating lesson plans that would cover the material we needed to use while keeping them engaged. We did teach them some fun games though like Bingo and Telephone. One of the things that surprised me the most was the condition of the classrooms. They have a very small space crammed with a ton of desks sometimes making it impossible to reach the kids in the back. It is sometimes very loud because of the class next door and they have very limited supplies. They each basically have a notebook and some pencils and pens. The teachers use the whiteboard and markers a lot and the kids understand this because if you don't put the cap back on the marker right away they will come up to you and tell you because they don't want it to dry out. They were all pretty eager to learn and it was the most rewarding seeing them practice with each other and say teacher,teacher! When they wanted us to come listen to them say something we just taught them. The teachers of these classes are amazing and I'm glad they let us come in and take their place for a week.
In the afternoon I worked in the pharmacy with Talia and the nurse Jessy. Everyday we had to count the medicine to make sure it lined up with the information in the computer. We would also get the medicine the patients brought to the window and do the paperwork associated with it. I learned about a lot of different medicines but my favorite part was working with Jessy. Whenever there weren't a lot of people we would sit and talk to her. We could practice our Spanish and she would correct us and also is an amazing hair braider. One of the things she told us was that here in Nicaragua, people believer having friends is better than having money. I thought this was very important and speaks to what we are doing here and how my thoughts have changed since being here. At first I wanted to come here to help a community and leave an impact, but now I realize how important the relationships I make with the people here are. I know I will always remember them but I want them to remember me.
After a long work week we left school on Friday for Estelí, a place about three hours north of Managua and more in the mountains. We stayed at a hostel and got to go a few places Friday night. Saturday morning we were up at five thirty and got a public bus to Somoto. It was a crowded 2 hour bus ride and some of us stood most of the way. Once we got to Somoto, we met up with our guide for the canyon tour. We took a five hour hike through a beautiful canyon. We walked part of the way and swam part of it. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. We had some falls on the rocks and slips in the water but it was an amazing day. We got to jump off some of the rocks into the water and just float along the river. We were done at about 3 and wandered around a little before getting the bus back to Estelí. We had dinner but everyone was exhausted from our long day. Today we will be going back to Managua and tomorrow starts another work week. Happy Mothers Day!
This week I got to teach English with Rachel and Christiana in the morning. The school goes from 1st to 6th grade but we only taught fourth to sixth. It was definately a challenging job. We didn't have a lot of material to work with as we taught simple conversational things like "My name is", "How old are you?", "Where are you from?" and the answers. We also practiced the alphabet and numbers. Each class was taught the same lesson because that's the way the teachers normally do it. We would make each a little more challenging for the higher grades. It was difficult creating lesson plans that would cover the material we needed to use while keeping them engaged. We did teach them some fun games though like Bingo and Telephone. One of the things that surprised me the most was the condition of the classrooms. They have a very small space crammed with a ton of desks sometimes making it impossible to reach the kids in the back. It is sometimes very loud because of the class next door and they have very limited supplies. They each basically have a notebook and some pencils and pens. The teachers use the whiteboard and markers a lot and the kids understand this because if you don't put the cap back on the marker right away they will come up to you and tell you because they don't want it to dry out. They were all pretty eager to learn and it was the most rewarding seeing them practice with each other and say teacher,teacher! When they wanted us to come listen to them say something we just taught them. The teachers of these classes are amazing and I'm glad they let us come in and take their place for a week.
In the afternoon I worked in the pharmacy with Talia and the nurse Jessy. Everyday we had to count the medicine to make sure it lined up with the information in the computer. We would also get the medicine the patients brought to the window and do the paperwork associated with it. I learned about a lot of different medicines but my favorite part was working with Jessy. Whenever there weren't a lot of people we would sit and talk to her. We could practice our Spanish and she would correct us and also is an amazing hair braider. One of the things she told us was that here in Nicaragua, people believer having friends is better than having money. I thought this was very important and speaks to what we are doing here and how my thoughts have changed since being here. At first I wanted to come here to help a community and leave an impact, but now I realize how important the relationships I make with the people here are. I know I will always remember them but I want them to remember me.
After a long work week we left school on Friday for Estelí, a place about three hours north of Managua and more in the mountains. We stayed at a hostel and got to go a few places Friday night. Saturday morning we were up at five thirty and got a public bus to Somoto. It was a crowded 2 hour bus ride and some of us stood most of the way. Once we got to Somoto, we met up with our guide for the canyon tour. We took a five hour hike through a beautiful canyon. We walked part of the way and swam part of it. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. We had some falls on the rocks and slips in the water but it was an amazing day. We got to jump off some of the rocks into the water and just float along the river. We were done at about 3 and wandered around a little before getting the bus back to Estelí. We had dinner but everyone was exhausted from our long day. Today we will be going back to Managua and tomorrow starts another work week. Happy Mothers Day!