It's Wednesday of the second week of class. I tried writing something over this past weekend, but it proved impossible as, well, the following happened:
After my first two days of classes went by on a breeze, Madre Cindy threw David and I (both second year vols) a curve ball by taking away his favorite boy's English class, me giving up time with Armando (my special ed student who will fill this blog most of all so far as I can see), and asking me to travel downtown everyday with no such break for lunch or the bathroom from 8-4. Had this been last year, I would have done it, but I have already grown attached to Armando and David's boys were HIS boys, not mine. It's hard to explain how we love these kids and how easily they sneak in, but sneak in they do! Plus, no lunch is a little inhumane, right?
The boys (12-14) were a handful for the 3 days I had them, but as apparently everyone was having scheduling problems, the new system was overthrown and we went back to what we knew, which seems better for everyone. Thus, I lost some of my gym classes that I had last week (thank you lord) and gained some art classes downtown and in Cotocollao. I have everything I originally asked for at the end of last year (baths, barrios, girls high school english, armando) but more art than I would like as well as a health class. Who qualified me to teach health in English let alone Spanish! We'll see how it goes with 2,3,5, and 7th graders coloring all over themselves I'm SURE...patience is a virtue.....
So, this past weekend, in addition to a trip to the other side of the city for a nice view of the valley and some canalazo in Guapolo, I trapped myself in my room and did a lot of planning and reorganizing. It's interesting the difference I feel for my students this year as opposed to last. Of course, I wanted the best for them last year and did what I could, but since I really didn't know how to do that until this year, I'm grateful for the opportunity to give them everything and more this year. Maybe this is because I know them so well, I know how hard everyone worked last year to get them where they wanted to be, but already I feel myself more pulled toward the work I am doing for their benefit as opposed to the community of volunteers (who are pretty cool, btw so far :)) It's incredible, just different. I want to be surrounded by children at all points...which is why I'm glad I got baths this year!
Being here for the 2 weeks I have now has been a complete roller coaster of emotions, personally. When I first got here for the first two days, I was really scared that I had made a mistake by coming back the second year. I was terrified I would have to be one of those volunteers who left early, and left more work for everyone. This all changed in an instant last Monday morning when I walked into the welcome assembly swarmed by my favorite kids from the year before, greeted with hugs and kisses from my adult students, and some of the adults I had gotten to know the year before. I was HOME, and a smile and an indescribable feeling of joy and hope has not once left me since that morning....okay, except when Madre Cindy changed my schedule...fair enough :))
Though the year has just begun, I'm already being pressured for an answer to the question, "What's next?" This has come from several of the adults and some of my students. After I explain to them that I can only be a volunteer at the Center for two years as is the Madres' and Padre's rule, I can't help but think about what the last year has meant to me, what this year has already and will mean to me, and how I can put it together and hopefully be able to give money back to the center and come visit in the future. I really haven't given myself, or been allowed to due to time restraints, the time to think about this and reflect on what I want next until the past few days...passing moments, yes, but I think I'll be thinking about my time here at the Center until I take my last breath. BUT, in the meantime, I am researching graduate schools as I am thinking something along the human rights-social work stream, just need to find a place that fits me. I've found a lot of really amazing programs in the states and abroad, so as time goes on, I hope the universe points me in the right direction.
In the meantime, I'm busy with work for my classes. Armando, my special ed. student, is already proving to be quite entertaining and really rather smart. I can't take credit for the later just yet as I know how far he came last year working with Julie, a special ed trained volunteer we were gifted with. I hope I can help him this year learn his lowercase letters, numbers 16-30, and maybe some life skills along the way. He's all love. To give you an idea of the chaos that insues with him, we (the psychologist who runs the program, Dr. Elizabeth, and Lourdes, who helps out in the room) were playing badmitten the other morning when the birdie escaped in the wind and landed on top of the roof of the bathroom. After discovering that there were no other kids to climb the wall to the roof, Dr. Elizabeth decided that Armando was going to do it, so the three of us hoisted him up the wall and he got on the roof. I've never seen him laugh so hard in my life. I on the other hand was so nervous that he'd lose his footing that he'd fall! Well, he made it, and I couldn't stop laughing.
That's it for now....until next time.... :)
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