Comportarse = To Behave Oneself
My classes are still like night and day - the morning class has continued to be awful for the last 2 days and the afternoon class is great. I even had good activities for both today and the morning class didn´t get to play the game I had planned because their behavior sucked. The problem with the morning class is partly that they´re at 2 different skill/ability levels and there are a few kids who are seriously ADD, so when they don´t know how to do something, they start hitting each other and everyone else follows. I have 3 girls who behave themselves in that class - Leyvi, Yessica, and Lesbia (which would be an unfortunate name if she lived in the States or if she decided to move there one day). They´re good. The rest, not so much. The other teacher, Rebecca, said she wishes we could teach on top of Volcán Pacaya and chuck in the kids who are misbehaving. Sometimes I agree.
I have one kid, Melvin Gustavo (I have 2 Melvins in the morning class and something like 4 Marias in the afternoon), who has some serious anger management issues. He´s really, really smart but I think he gets beaten pretty badly at home. Sometimes it´s hard being a social worker here. I asked what the child welfare situation is like and there really isn´t one - there are orphanages for kids who have no family at all, though I don´t know what´s going on with that now since all adoptions from Guatemala are currently closed.
What else ... still having stomach issues. I would love for those to stop. They´re rather inconvenient.
Not much else is going on. I´m officially more than halfway through my time here, and I have less than a month until I fly home (August 18). I´m starting to think about my trip after I´m done here, and I think I can do Tikal and somewhere else. I have 4 full days. I´d love to go to Livingston (which is on the bay in Guatemala), Rio Dulce and Semuc Champey. My understanding is taht I can do Livingston and Rio Dulce together and they´re on the way to Tikal, so I´m looking for a company that does a 3-4 day tour of Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Livingston. Most places that do a trip to Tikal include a flight to Flores, though ... eh, I´ll figure it out. I´m about 90% sure I´m going to go through a company rather than going on my own.
I just borrowed a book from one of the people on the trip called The Book Thief. It´s told through the perspective of Death and it´s about a young girl in Nazi Germany and her encounters with Death. I read 25 pages on the way back from Itzapa today and it´s awesome so far. I´ll probably have that done by Sunday, if not before.
I´m exhausted. These kids wear me out. I have to go home and draw different landscapes and animals that live in them. 5th grade is doing something about the independence of Guatemala from ... someone. I´m glad I have 1st grade.
I have one kid, Melvin Gustavo (I have 2 Melvins in the morning class and something like 4 Marias in the afternoon), who has some serious anger management issues. He´s really, really smart but I think he gets beaten pretty badly at home. Sometimes it´s hard being a social worker here. I asked what the child welfare situation is like and there really isn´t one - there are orphanages for kids who have no family at all, though I don´t know what´s going on with that now since all adoptions from Guatemala are currently closed.
What else ... still having stomach issues. I would love for those to stop. They´re rather inconvenient.
Not much else is going on. I´m officially more than halfway through my time here, and I have less than a month until I fly home (August 18). I´m starting to think about my trip after I´m done here, and I think I can do Tikal and somewhere else. I have 4 full days. I´d love to go to Livingston (which is on the bay in Guatemala), Rio Dulce and Semuc Champey. My understanding is taht I can do Livingston and Rio Dulce together and they´re on the way to Tikal, so I´m looking for a company that does a 3-4 day tour of Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Livingston. Most places that do a trip to Tikal include a flight to Flores, though ... eh, I´ll figure it out. I´m about 90% sure I´m going to go through a company rather than going on my own.
I just borrowed a book from one of the people on the trip called The Book Thief. It´s told through the perspective of Death and it´s about a young girl in Nazi Germany and her encounters with Death. I read 25 pages on the way back from Itzapa today and it´s awesome so far. I´ll probably have that done by Sunday, if not before.
I´m exhausted. These kids wear me out. I have to go home and draw different landscapes and animals that live in them. 5th grade is doing something about the independence of Guatemala from ... someone. I´m glad I have 1st grade.