Why am I Here?

Why am I here? Most of you are probably thinking, well of course, you are there to teach English. Over the past two weeks I have quickly realized that yes I am here to teach English, but also for so much more. This past Tuesday I went to my section for the first time to hang out with my group of girls, who are between 11 and 15. The children here all live in sections/groups, which are divided due to sex, age, and grade. There is a babies house which has sections from 15 months to 8 years old and boys and girls houses which have sections between the ages of 8 and 16/17 years old. Every volunteer elects a section of children/teens to eat dinner and hang out with at least two times a week. This provides the children with a positive role model, a friend and a person to talk to who is not their direct caretaker.

On Tuesday when I went to have dinner with my section of girls they were all asking me to sit next to them and that was eagerly followed with... are you coming to our section tonight?? Please!!! We enjoyed a delicious dinner of rice and beens and I walked down to the house arm in arm with some of the girls, while they asked me how to say different words in English. Once we got to the section the evening began with a quick dance lesson by some of the girls, followed by a jump roping contest, coloring and braiding each others hair. The evening went quickly because the girls head to bed around 8pm so they can wake up at 5am and do some of their chores before school starts. As the evening rounded up and the girls began getting ready for bed we sat on the floor with their heads in my lap talking and laughing like we had known each other forever. Well more them talking and me listening due to my spanish skills! I headed back up to my house as the girls were crawling into bed and all I could here from behind me was...good night and please come back tomorrow!!!

As I walked through the grounds of NPH from their house to mine it all hit me. This is why I am here. I am here for these girls and these children. I am here to laugh with them and to cry with them. I am here to help them with their homework and hold them when they are upset. I have dedicated the next 13 months of my life to living in another country, speaking another language, learning another culture, meeting new people, and taking on new challenges, but most of all I have dedicated the next year to these girls and these children and being all that I can be for them.

P.S.-- I am going back to my section later this week and my camera has been requested...so pictures to come!

And the School Year Begins!

Planning lessons in the English Department!

Today was the first day of classes for Molly, the other English teacher, and I. Our two-week orientation has come to an end and now it is time to get our feet wet in our jobs. The old volunteers are starting to leave and have passed the torches on to us to take over in their positions.

Girls from my Tercero Basico class!

In true Guatemalan style we learned that our 7am classes were canceled for the week after we had gotten up at 6am and gotten to work in time to teach our first class. I will not be teaching my Primero Basico (7^th grade) class until next week, which has given me time to plan and get accustomed to the new schedule and teaching five different grades. My second class, Tercero Basico (9^th grade) went really well and the students were happy to see me after my guest appearance last week. They seem like an eager group of students and they all really want to learn English. Some of the students live here at NPH and some of them are from the surrounding area, which means they have varying levels of English. We started the day off easy with talking about how to answer the question, how are you, we played a game, and then I took pictures of all of them with their nametags. There are so many students and so many names! All in all I would say it was a good first day! I am nervous and excited to get to know these students and to see what the rest of the school year brings!

When you go jogging in Guatemala you...

-Can’t breathe very well because of the altitude 

-See more horses then cars

-Jump over more horse poop instead of dog poop

-Pass by acres and acres of farmland

-See small kids ride by on horses with machetes in their pockets

-Are passed by jam packed Camioñetas (chicken buses) full of women and man returning from a full day of work

-Pass by women carrying their groceries on their heads

-Say “Buenas Tardes” (good afternoon) to every passerby

-Look up at the most beautiful skyline of mountains

I think I like jogging here! 

I am Really Here!

It wasn't until yesterday when I got thrown into teaching my classes a week early that I realized...wow I am here and living in Guatemala for the next year. I am really doing this. The past week and a half has been such a blur. Our days have been filled with meeting new people, learning about NPH and talking about what the year ahead holds for us. Yesterday when I stood up in front 17 students in my tercero básico class (the equivalent of 9th grade in the states) and introduced myself as their teacher for the next year it all became very real.

Overall I would say my first class went fairly well. As far as I know nobody used any bad words (I would know because the other English teachers gave us a list), they did not try and talk while I was talking and they seemed generally interested in what I had to say. So we will see if that continues! I will begin my other classes this coming Monday. I will be teaching a primero básico class (7^th grade), a Segundo class (second grade), Etapa 1 (which is a special education class for students ranging from first to third grade), and one preschool Montessori class once a week! I am excited, but nervous to begin all of my classes, but I have been told being a teacher is one of the best jobs here. I have no doubts that it will be very difficult, but I am can’t wait to see how the year progresses….I am really here!

The Meaning of Home

NPH Guatemala, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, is a home for over 330 children ranging from 15 months to 16 or 17 years. NPH provides a home for orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children and provides them with food, clothing, medical care and an education. Children are raised in this environment through the principles of love, security, sharing, work and responsibility. Everyone that lives here, from children, to tíos or tías (the people that live with the children and care for them), employees and volunteers are welcomed into this large family with open arms. Here are some pictures of the home!

Bienvenidos a Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos--the main entrance

The main office

The medical clinic

The school where I will be teaching!

Comedor--dinning hall

Casas de los niños--the houses for the boys, girls and babies

The farm

Vistors and Volunteers houses

Guatemalan Time

Since getting to Guatemala (almost a week ago) I have quickly learned that being on time is not exactly a priority here and mañana does not mean tomorrow…it just means not today.

On Wednesday we took the Camioneta (aka-the Chicken Bus) from Parramos to Chimaltenango, which is a town about twenty minutes away. Here we went to an amazing street market with any fruit or vegetable you could imagine. There are families selling their produce from dawn until dusk. After visiting the market we went to see the Bachilleratos—which is the high school for students from NPH. After ninth grade and a year of service students come and live and attend school in the city. We arrived at the boy’s house around 6:30 and we were told dinner would be ready in a few minutes. We were scheduled to eat at 7, but it was not until two plus hours later we enjoyed a meal of rice and beans with the boys.

On Thursday we started work, which consisted of meeting the English Department, being introduced to the students and sitting in the English office chatting with Sam, the volunteer that is leaving.  We have begun to get a handle on things, but we are waiting to find out what grades we will be teaching and when English classes will begin.  Molly, the other English teacher volunteer, and I helped give and correct the placement exams so we could divide the students by English ability/level. When we eagerly ask what classes we will teach and when classes will begin the usual response is….mañana (which means tomorrow in Spanish, but not here in Guatemala!) Can you imagine a teacher in the US waiting until the day school starts to find out what grade(s) they will be teaching…life here just moves a little slower, which has its positives and negatives.

Tonight we are off to Antigua for a group dinner and to see the city and tomorrow our first weekend in Guatemala begins!

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I am here! I arrived safe and sound in Guatemala City Saturday afternoon with no delays due to weather!!! Erika, the volunteer coordinator and her husband, Sandro, picked up myself and another volunteer at the airport.  Here, unlike Logan Airport, there is only one area to pick people up and everyone anxiously awaits their family and friends outside. It is very overwhelming to walk out of customs and be greeted by hundreds of faces. Luckily I was able to quickly scan the crowd and find Erika holding a sign with my name on it.

We tossed our suitcases in the back of the pick up truck and started winding up the roads to NPH. We made a quick stop in Antigua to pick up another volunteer and continued our trek up the hill and arrived at the NPH gates about twenty minutes later. We were warmly greeted by new and old volunteers alike. Sandro helped us drag our suitcases down to casa 2…where we will stay until the old volunteers leave. The house is full, with three girls from the US, myself included, six girls from Europe, and two lone boys. We got there just in time for dinner, which consisted of tortilla chips and beans. Beans for every meal...will have to get use to this. After dinner we all sat around and learned/played a German card game until we could not keep our eyes open. Sunday was a day to explore/learn our way around and the fun begins on Monday morning!