The American Invasion

I am now finishing up my third week in Trujillo at SKIP... things are going well.. i have actually laughed more in the last three weeks than i have in a LONG time... taking a year off to volunteer has been really good on my soul...i love working with the kids(obviously) and i love all of my housemates/coworkers... and so far no one has really gotten on my nerves... thats good considering i am with them  like 24-7... hopefully soon though i will be able to meet some people outside the house .. and that way i can practice my spanish too! so far i have spoken way more english than spanish..
    A girl named Noelia from Argentina just moved into the house and she is determined to make me speak more spanish.. this is great! we are etching the primary group 3  (ages 6-7) together.. its hard because i have the teaching experience and she knows the language ... anyone ever tried teaching a class when you need a translator... ugh... gotta be patient though!  the kids for some reason do seem to understand my bad spanish.. its really funny.. i use a mix of sign language and verbs that have not been changed into their correct tense.. YIKES!
    in addition to group 3 i am also helping in the nursery, helping teach English at IndoAmericana Public School, and will be helping with sports next week!  The nursery is great because i am learning the language at the same time as the kids and the coordinator, sylvia, is AWESOME... she has just the warmest  disposition even though we don't speak the same language.. she has asked me to help tutor her son in english.. so we shall see.  Another volunteer, Danni, says she is like her peruvian mother! I hope she becomes my peruvian mother too! LOL
     Teaching at IndoAmericano requires its own paragraph!  It is the public school in El Porvenir and only a few blocks away from SKIP... so my first day there was on Tuesday and WOW..  not even sure where to start! when we walked in there were kids running EVERYWHERE... i mean like hundreds of kids running EVERYWHERE!  loud music was being  played in the courtyard right in the middle of all of the classes.. and of course of all of the classes have their windows open.. it was sooo loud...on top of that kids walk in and out of class without so much of a word from their teacher.. i mean some even run in 20 minutes late.. it is really hard to discipline them when their own teachers haven't set structure or rules....oh and all of the classes have approximately 35-47 kids.needless to say they are CRAZY!
      dogs run in and out of the school and also men come in selling ice cream.. i mean not unusual to see kids eating ice cream and soda at 9:30 in the morning.. so crazy!

       the other day at SKIP my friend Amy worked with a girl in the biblioteca (library) for two hours and at the end of class she totally pulls out a baby bird out of her hoodie! OMG! that made me laugh!  that poor thing looked like it was two steps away from its own death.. when i walked in the library another girl was holding this poor little raggedy bird and then she jumps on my back.. piggy back style.. so guess where her hands with this awful bird is... right by my mouth!! omg get this thing away from my face!!!!! soo gross!!!!
   
     The American Invasion..... as i sit writing this blog on the couch in the living room... i overheard a conversation between two brits about how americans are loud and are glad they moved out  of the house before the "American Invasion"... hahaha.. that makes me laugh! 4 of us americans moved in on the same day... kinda nice having troops with me!