Day 19

Today I finally made it out to Matinga! After two weeks of failed attempts, I finally got myself in the back of a car and got out to the countryside. And when I say "the back of a car" I mean that literally. Like I was sitting in the trunk...with a dog. It was a really cute puppy and we became fast friends although I was still slightly paranoid about the possible fleas/rabies combination. I was actually more impressed that they fit 8 people in a normal sized car.

Once we arrived in Matinga, we immediately went to teach the 3rd and 4th graders ceramics. The kids are in two small rooms with a big table in the middle. The first class little clay tablets that are supposed to be hung on the wall. While Victoria explained to one class, I taught the other group "Happy Birthday" and the Alphabet Song. Then we practiced spelling our names, which proved far more difficult than I thought.

Honestly, it was a really awkward environment where the kids just laughed whenever I spoke Spanish and didn't really want to keep practicing phrases like "Hello" and "How are you?" Then I didn't eat lunch with the other teachers because I had brought my own food and just sat outside on this bench by myself watching the kids play. All they had to eat were these government-issued crackers and a cup of broth. Oh, and I think I saw a kid pee on another kid. It was about 20m away so I can't be positive but I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, I was feeling like the left-out kid at elementary school recess until some girls came and sat next to me and stared at my face for like 10 minutes. I really enjoy all the different levels of awkwardness I'm experiencing.

The second class was much better and much more enthusiastic about learning English. They were also making these little doll figurines out of clay to sell in some market. I'm not sure where, but they were pretty cute. The kids were really cute too. They kept shouting out the few words they did know in English...which consisted of "HELLO! HI!" We managed to learn a little more, but not much.

I think it's really interesting that these kids (10-12 years) have a class that teaches a life skill and that their products are already being sold, another huge difference between primary education here and in the states. It's too bad that I'm not here for very long. One of the problems of this internship has definitely been getting to a place where people feel comfortable around me. I guess one of the challenges of being in a new place is not having enough exposure and not being able to set up something sustainable in such a small amount of time. Still, I'm making a little progress and happy with what I'm doing.