Today was my first day teaching kindergartners. I have one word for teaching kindergarten: Chaos. Well, to be fair, they were very loving and adorable and happy. They immediately hugged me and held my hand within .5 seconds of entering the room. But then the chaos began. They do know a little English - numbers, colors, introductions. And they have 2 favorite songs: Head Shoulders Knees & Toes and the Hokey Pokey, which we repeated about 5 times each. Then the kids had a snack and then playtime. One boy told me that he was Simba, and I was Nala, and his other friend was Mufasa (though Mufasa did not like that because Mufasa dies). That was charming. We then had coloring & nap time, which was really lay on your blanket and talk and/or fight. Then the kids went home.................... at 11 a.m. Not a bad life, eh? I especially liked that we could communicate easily. The kids and I have about the same vocabulary, so that made life easy. But yeah, there is a reason I don't teach little kids - too much energy! Sit still! Listen! Ahh!
This afternoon, we went to a cultural arts festival at a high school in the area. It was nuts - like 300-400 people in the audience. It was basically a display of local dance and music put on by the children. Towards the end, the organizers decided that it was a great idea to bring los Americanos on stage and introduce us individually. The audience's applause was based entirely on our looks, namely things that they don't see very often, like blondes and black people. With brown hair and brown eyes, I got ordinary applause. A couple girls asked to take a picture of one very tall guy in our group (Spanish people are short).
During the night last night, I woke up to screams from the bunk above me at 4 a.m. It was my roommate, and I immediately thought she was falling off the bed, so in my sleepy state, I kinda just watched for her to fall. But then she yelled that something was in her bed and to turn the light on. There was a gecko in her sheets! They're pretty harmless, so I think that's better than a big bug in your bed. If it was me, I'd still be freaking out.
So tomorrow, we're going to attempt to teach the kids the American alphabet... this should be fun! :)
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