Today was my third day of work at the comedor in San Martin here in Huancayo. Here is a quick recap of what a day at the comedor looks like for Hannah and I. We arrive at around 9:30 am or so and teach a short English lesson to around 4 or 5 young kids. So far we've be studying really basic things - the alphabet, numbers, greetings, introductions, etc. The English teaching is going well so far, but it's pretty slow. Right now the hardest part is teaching pronunciation - it isn't until you learn another language or try to teach English that you learn how messy the pronunciation can be. At 11 am, there are around 30 kids or so that come for lunch, before they head off to school for the afternoon. During this time, Hannah and I help serve food, and also just sit and chat with the kids. Sometimes those conversations go great, sometimes they drag on a bit. At noon we have a bit of a break and eat a lunch of our own, and then at 1 pm, another 30 or so kids come for lunch, having just finished their morning session of school. These kids usually have a lot more energy than the morning kids, and have provided for some very interesting conversation. They hang out until about 2:30 pm or so, which is when Hannah and I teach, or at least try to teach, another English lesson to this second group of kids. The afternoon group has been a lot tougher to teach to, as they are all excited about having the afternoon off, and usually there are other kids outside playing, enticing them to ask their gringo professors to cut the English lesson short. Our time at the comedor definitely has lulls, between being real slow, to beaing kind of hectic, but all in all it's been really fun so far. The kids are really cute, and having work, especially the English lessons, is a nice switch from the severe lack of activity that we suffered last week.
In addition to the work at the comedor, we have set up another activity here in Huancayo. Hannah and I are going to visit ICPNA, an English learning institute where Hannah's host brother studies, to visit classes and help out with conversation exercises. Hannah and I kind of expected to just visit a couple of times, but yesterday we went to speak with an administrator about a schedule, and we commited to visiting a total of six days, with about three hours each visit. During each three hour block, we'll visit six classrooms and speak to the kids and answer questions that they present to us in English. That's quite a bit of time that we have commited, but I am excited about visiting the school, it will be a good look into what I will hopefully be doing after graduation from GC. I have also decided to profile ICPNA for my final project, so the more time I spend there the better. I'll also be conducting some interviews with teachers and students if it all gets planned out right.
With work and ICPNA visits, which start tomorrow, I will be pretty busy for the next three and a half weeks. But, I should still have time to do some other fun things. This Sunday Hannah and I are planning to take a trip to a nearby mountain with various members of our host families, an excusion that we are both really excited about. Next week our professors will also be visiting us, and the picked a good time to come - Holy Week. Apparently there are some strong traditions in Huancayo during that time, and we should get to participate, or at least watch, some festivities.
Well, right now I don't have much more to tell you all, the previous paragraphs sum up my last few days. This weekend and following week I'll try to get some more pictures taken and posted so that you can all see what a typical day in my life here in Huancayo is like. Hope that all is well wherever you are reading this from...and thanks for reading.
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