Catching up...
Hi everyone!
It's been a few days since I've posted anything so I am here on my lunch break to catch you up on my week. On Monday we worked with the same youth we have our AIDS charla to on Friday, and this time they took part in the charla we gave to a class of 6th graders. I was so proud that, 1. they showed up, and 2. they did a great job explaining AIDS and facilitating some fun activities for the class. Lauren and I plan to meet with our two youth that helped us on Monday this Thursday for ice cream so that we can talk more. I found I really enjoyed working with the 6th graders - they were energetic, cute, and loved the activities we planned. I think I have found a hidden talent that it's easy for me to facilitate a group of youth and teach things in fun ways, even in Spanish. So now I definitely want to work with a youth group in my future site - it's so fun.
I am more worried about my ability to give a charla to a group of older midwives. That intimidates me a bit more and that is exactly what I will be doing next week. Today I am working with a group of four - Karen, Ann, John, and me - on a charla about why breastfeeding is best and we are also going to work in some self-esteem activities as well. Not only the audience is intimidating (a group of 15 to 20 midwives and other Honduran community health volunteers that are mainly old ladies from the country and not known to be the most willing to participate in interactive activities) but the charla is also a two-day workshop including lunch. So we are figuring out the logistics of that and have to prepare all of our materials and figure out which non-formal education activities we want to us and what we want to cover. So it'll be a learning experience!
Yesterday it rained all day - it was heaven. It was a complete aberration from the usual weather here - hot and dry, this time of year. So the rain and the almost chilly temperature was a great break. The only problem was that it got very muddy (and one trainee fell and sprained her knee) and also that the internet connection was disturbed, so I couldn't get online yesterday. But other than that everyone enjoyed the rainy day :)
Today after class I signed up for a Spanish tutorial, which is a one-hour one on one session with one of the Spanish teachers. I haven't been able to have one before because they were reserved solely for the novice speakers before, but this week I was able to grab one. The language training here in the Peace Corps is amazing. I found out my new level in Spanish is Intermediate-High, which I am pleased about. I also received a list of suggestions of what I need to study and improve on in my language skills. I have so much work left to do though, I think it's gonna take studying a little Spanish every day for my whole first year to feel fluent. But at least now I can get my point across and give charlas in front of groups and express myself. Maybe before the end of training I will reach Advanced-Low, but if not I think I can improve once I have more time to study.
Well I hope you all are having a great week! I heard it has been snowy up there this week. Chris finally got an international calling option added to his cell phone plan and now it's 37 cents a minute for him to call, which I don't think is too bad. So he called me at my host house last night which was a great surprise!
Keep writing and emailing please! It makes my day every time I hear from one of you. Lots of love!
It's been a few days since I've posted anything so I am here on my lunch break to catch you up on my week. On Monday we worked with the same youth we have our AIDS charla to on Friday, and this time they took part in the charla we gave to a class of 6th graders. I was so proud that, 1. they showed up, and 2. they did a great job explaining AIDS and facilitating some fun activities for the class. Lauren and I plan to meet with our two youth that helped us on Monday this Thursday for ice cream so that we can talk more. I found I really enjoyed working with the 6th graders - they were energetic, cute, and loved the activities we planned. I think I have found a hidden talent that it's easy for me to facilitate a group of youth and teach things in fun ways, even in Spanish. So now I definitely want to work with a youth group in my future site - it's so fun.
I am more worried about my ability to give a charla to a group of older midwives. That intimidates me a bit more and that is exactly what I will be doing next week. Today I am working with a group of four - Karen, Ann, John, and me - on a charla about why breastfeeding is best and we are also going to work in some self-esteem activities as well. Not only the audience is intimidating (a group of 15 to 20 midwives and other Honduran community health volunteers that are mainly old ladies from the country and not known to be the most willing to participate in interactive activities) but the charla is also a two-day workshop including lunch. So we are figuring out the logistics of that and have to prepare all of our materials and figure out which non-formal education activities we want to us and what we want to cover. So it'll be a learning experience!
Yesterday it rained all day - it was heaven. It was a complete aberration from the usual weather here - hot and dry, this time of year. So the rain and the almost chilly temperature was a great break. The only problem was that it got very muddy (and one trainee fell and sprained her knee) and also that the internet connection was disturbed, so I couldn't get online yesterday. But other than that everyone enjoyed the rainy day :)
Today after class I signed up for a Spanish tutorial, which is a one-hour one on one session with one of the Spanish teachers. I haven't been able to have one before because they were reserved solely for the novice speakers before, but this week I was able to grab one. The language training here in the Peace Corps is amazing. I found out my new level in Spanish is Intermediate-High, which I am pleased about. I also received a list of suggestions of what I need to study and improve on in my language skills. I have so much work left to do though, I think it's gonna take studying a little Spanish every day for my whole first year to feel fluent. But at least now I can get my point across and give charlas in front of groups and express myself. Maybe before the end of training I will reach Advanced-Low, but if not I think I can improve once I have more time to study.
Well I hope you all are having a great week! I heard it has been snowy up there this week. Chris finally got an international calling option added to his cell phone plan and now it's 37 cents a minute for him to call, which I don't think is too bad. So he called me at my host house last night which was a great surprise!
Keep writing and emailing please! It makes my day every time I hear from one of you. Lots of love!
posted by Lauren @ 13:06
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