Location, location, location!

In other news, I had to turn my first kid away from English class tonight. We have a lot of kids that are already coming regularly. But, I had to draw the line with a kid that can’t read yet. He’s still young, so I didn’t feel quite as bad. If he can’t read, he won’t follow the worksheets we’ve created—and ultimately will drain attention from kids who might actually learn.

In an effort to try to remain as inclusive as possible, we moved our class this week. We used to hold the classes in our house. Then kids from families we didn’t know started to knock on the door and ask when the next English class was. We had a conversation about this with two of the farmers. I expressed concerns about security—kids that were showing up have older brothers that hang on the corner. I trust the older brothers as far as I can throw them—which isn’t much.

So, in this conversation, we talked about moving the class to the church or the municipal building, or even borrowing a hallway at the school. We planned to go with Filiberto and Timoteo to talk to the folks at the church to arrange space. Then the next day they came back to us with a different plan—we would hold the class at Filiberto’s house and that way he could take note of which kids were coming and help out if we got any rowdy kids. Personally, I think he wanted to stick around for the extra English class.

Our first English class at Filiberto’s went fantastically. We have a lot less light there, but there were enough seats for everyone and we sat around a table. At our house, we were all in a circle on the floor.

More structure breeds better attention. We played a game this time and they were leaning forward in their seats the whole time.

It is so refreshing to be in a teaching situation where kids are there to learn. Unlike soccer, these kids show up without us having to round them up. And when they see us in the street, they are constantly asking when the next class is, even if they already know. Although, even for soccer, the kids have been rounding us up lately.

English Classes and the Bourne Ultimatum

Ok, so Monday and Tuesday this week were not so so interesting. Not much happened on Monday. Coffee cooperative meeting, and the farmers' English class.

On Tuesday, we worked during the day, and then went downtown to Antigua for a lecture that Franklin was giving on As Green As It Gets' development philosophy. To read it, click here, and then click "Development Philosophy." After the lecture was over, we went to Reilly's, an Irish bar in downtown Antigua and ate dinner. After that, I got dragged to a salsa club called La Sin Aventura (Without Adventure). The name of the place is apt--because it was full of tourists--and I wasn't so interested in hanging out with them.

Then on Wednesday, we held our first English class for kids. We had about 10 kids, and did the basics "Hello, my name is...", "How are you? I am fine, thank you." They had a ball. Most of them were Timoteo's, Filiberto's, and Daniel's kids. So, given how quickly they seemed to learn, we aimed to step up the pace of this class. Not all that surprising, the kids learn much faster than their parents.

After English class on Wednesday, Oriana and I borrowed four of Filiberto's children: Maria Benita, Vicente, Cristobal, and Esvin. We took them downtown to Antigua and treated them to a movie. There's a cafe called the Bagel Barn that shows movies once a week. Well, the movie was free, and we actually treated them to a bagel, soda, and a cab ride. The movie was The Bourne Ultimatum. The boys were completely enthralled, the youngest, Maria Benita, fell asleep toward the end. They were not all that impressed with the bagel and cream cheese. But, given that this is Guatemala--the bagel and cream cheese wasn't so bad!

Then on Thursday, we had another English class. From now on, these kid's English classes are going to be on Tuesday and Thursday. If anyone has ideas for super-easy songs, etc. That would be helpful. We were very impressed with their response to "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes!"
On Thursday night, we had fifteen kids, we're the most popular people here!

So, it's Friday evening. I spent most of today with Maria Benita, who is working on her cosmetic creams with As Green As It Gets. We had some trouble with following the recipe. She didn't measure everything correctly. So, we did a lots melting down and filtering beeswax--and her lip balm still had too much beeswax by the end of the day.

More later! Stay tuned for the next chapter in my adventures below the equator!