Volunteering

I have been volunteering now for a couple of weeks at a kindergarten after school program in Bucerias, a neighboring town to Puerto Vallarta.  The afterschool program is run by a program here in Mexico called PEACE, which does a lot of great things around here.  Around 8 to 12 children attend the program, and they range in age from 3 to 5.  They are so cute!

Getting ready to paint

Volunteering is excellent practice for my Spanish!!  Neither the teacher or the kids speak any English, so it is definitely a struggle sometimes for me to figure out what is going on!!  And often, the kids have a hard time understanding my American accented spanish.  But it is kind of amazing how much can be said with non-verbal communication! 

Little Pajaros :)

This is a very different experience than volunteering in Africa.  The teacher has lots of supplies, and although the classroom is small, it is filled with books, art supplies, puzzles, games, and toys.  The teacher does an excellent job of working with the kids at different levels, doing a variety of art projects, outdoor games, and learning activities.  It is really fun for me to work with this age level on a volunteer basis, but I would never want to teach kids this young full time!!  I'll stick with my 4th and 5th graders!!!

Louis visits PV

As many of you saw from the pictures on facebook, Louie was here visiting me the first week of March.  I can't believe that he has been gone already for almost two weeks, and I am just sitting down to write this blog!  Of course, we kept very busy and had so much fun!!  I had a list of nearly 20 things that I wanted us to do, and we did pretty well on the list.

Our dorky list of activities :)

Since we are both on very tight budgets, especially since we have a lot of fun expenses coming up, we tried not to spend too much money while he was here.  Good thing there are so many free and fun things to do around here.  Also, I had taken a couple of cooking classes at my spanish school, so I made dinner at my apartment a few nights as well, which was a lot of fun.  I think that Louie was impressed that I was actually able to cook something that did not come out of a package!! 

Louie enjoying tacos dorados con papas y chorizo

Of course, I had to take Louie to the zoo.  I knew that he would love feeding the animals and playing with the baby tigers!!!  Really, who wouldn't??  We also took an evening cruise on a pirate boat.  There was a pirate show, and also all you can eat and drink.  We had a lot of fun, and even found Louie's long lost twin!!  I had to go up on stage to dance during one part of the show, and I think that Louie took like 50 photos (all of them extremely flattering, of course)!!  Our biggest adventure, however, was our bicycle trip up into the mountains to see and swim in a waterfall.  It was a VERY difficult trip up, but we had a blast swimming and playing in the water (but Louie was too afraid to jump into the water from the rocks!).  And the ride back down the mountain was super fun!  Although I was a little scared to get going too fast!  I didn't want to crash! 

Louie was loving the pirates!!

 Besides those three big activities, we spent a lot of time at the beach, shopping (well...looking mostly), and trying lots of different restaurants and street foods.  And of course, hanging out with Maya.  I made Louie watch Dirty Dancing for the first time, and we spent a lot of time practicing "the lift" on the beach.  We successfully executed it several times, but I still need to work on my form!!

I was very sad to say goodbye, but Louie will be back on May 5, and we are renting a car to travel around Mexico for a week.  I am very much looking forward to that adventure!  And for now, I have lots going on with studying spanish and volunteering.  I definitely don't speak spanish well enough yet to come home, but I am definitely getting better!!

For more pictures, check out my facebook album: 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101186654376997.3092674.8644195&type=1&l=e0e7b0ad71

I am not very good at Spanish.

So I am officially halfway finished with my spanish courses, and I am just not very good at Spanish!!  Sure, there are plenty of things that I am not very good at.....sports, trivia, sports trivia, etc.  But I have always been really good at school.  And I hate not being very good in my Spanish classes.  Now don't get me wrong, I am a model student.  I come to class every day, on time, and with my homework completed.  I don't just do my written homework exercises in the evenings, I actually study words and make sure that I understand all of the sentences.  I have made hundreds of flashcards for vocabulary words.  And I make poor Louie listen to me read aloud in Spanish almost every night (thanks honey!).  So it is not as if I am not trying my best.  But during class, I feel like I am doing fine and understanding the teacher...until she actually asks me a direct questions.  Then I get nervous, forget every spanish word I ever learned, and stare blankly at the teacher for like 30 seconds until I remember how to say "como?"  And I consistently get C's on my exams.  And did I mention that these are take-home exams?? 

Lots of flashcards!

I am looking on the bright side though.  If nothing else, I am at least developing a whole new understanding of my own students' behaviors.  I am going to be a much better teaching when I get back to Chicago.  Every teacher should be required to study a subject that is difficult for them every couple of years because I think that we really do forget what it was like to be a student.  It is sort of ironic that I am a special education teacher, when I, in fact, have never struggled with a school subject in my life (until now).  So this is definitely a great experience for me in that regard. 

My old classmates (who all spoke better spanish than me!) and our teacher Jovanny.

And I am getting better.  I actually got a 100% on my exam today.  I was super excited since my previous high score was an 89% (my lowest score was a 73% my first week....not good!).  I notice that I am able to read signs in spanish automatically now, without even thinking.  And I am starting to be able to converse with people without thinking too much...but I still have a loooonnnng way to go!!  I started volunteering at a kindergarten this week, and that will really help my spanish since neither the kids or the teacher speak english.  And the kids speak so fast too!!  It's a lot of fun though.  So....at my official halfway point, I am optimistic :)

One Day at a Time

While I was home for Christmas, my grandma asked me if I ever got homesick while I was traveling so much this year.  I answered yes, I did get homesick sometimes, but that's just part of being away from home.  And I always tell myself that the homesick feeling doesn't last, take one day at a time, and you will definitely feel better tomorrow.  In Africa, I was really only homesick a couple of times.  The first few days after I left were pretty bad, especially when my dog bit my sister in the face!!  I was also homesick on Mt. Kilimanjaro, since it was pretty miserable at some points, and I had no internet and very limited phone access!  Here in Mexico, I was homesick after my first week here when Maya and I moved into our own apartment, mostly because Maya was all excited because she thought that we were going home, and that made me sad.  I also get a little homesick when I know that all of my family or all of my friends are getting together for something special and I am missing it!

I am definitely homesick today, but I am going to allow myself to be since I think I have pretty good reasons.  First, I just got home from taking Louie to the airport after a wonderful 9 days together!  We did so many fun things together this past week, and it was so nice to have him here.  Although, as I predicted, it didn't really help my Spanish too much!!  It was really hard to say goodbye today, even though we will be together again in just 8 weeks.

Louie Maya and I today in Puerto Vallarta

Second, all of my family is together today, but not for a fun reason.  My grandma died this past week, and her wake and funeral are today and tomorrow.  My grandma was a really wonderful woman, and it is really sad for me to not be there to celebrate her life with my family right now, but I know that my family will be here visiting me in just 3 weeks from today, so I just keep focused on that.

My whole family with my Grandma at Christmas

Even when I am feeling a little homesick, I still know that this trip is a wonderful experience for me, and I am so lucky to have been able to do it.  I seriously cannot believe that I am nearing the end.  It is the middle of March already, and I will be home by the middle of May!  I'll be sad for my year of travels to be over, but I'll definitely be happy to be home again.