November 17, 2008

Life has been busy and since I recently lost my flash drive and haven´t been motivated to buy another, my blog writing has slowed.

On Friday I had another ´Libros and Arte´ (Books and Art class). This time seven children showed up. I was very pleased. For the occasion I busted out a witch wig my mother had sent me in one of her random packages for the librarian to wear while she read the story. (Btw… the story is about a witch). The wig was a huge success!!!The children loved it! However… so did the town police officer. He happened to walk into the library while we were reading the story and thought it was so cool that he insisted on wearing the wig around town. Eventually, I got it back. I was so impressed with my mother for thinking of sending the wig to me. I really do get all my creativity from her (cause it definitely doesn´t come from my dad!)

On Saturday I spent the morning helping set up for the library celebration that was to be held that evening. However I was feeling pretty depressed and wasn´t of much use to anyone. I don´t know if it was that I was hitting the five month mark or because Christmas (my absolutely favorite time of year) is coming and I´m not at home, but I was really mopey. I sent a text to one of my Peace Corps friends and she called me up and really made me feel a lot better. It is amazing how fast Peace Corps Volunteers bond. We are each others´ lifelines.

Anyway, after my friend cheered me up it was time to get ready for the town celebration. I got all dressed up because the mayor of Machala was supposedly coming (he ended up sending his second in command) and I had to make a speech. The speech went ok. I didn´t shake as much as I did the first time, but I was still really nervous and struggled with a few words. All in all, I think it went fine. Then two PC friends showed up (although not in time to hear me speak) and I was able to show off my library and introduce them to all the people I have been working with. Unfortunately, some apparently important lady started questioning me why my fellow PCVs haven´t been working in the libraries and raising money in their sites. I was pretty offended on my friends´ behalf. Especially because she had proceeded this interrogation by demanding to know why I hadn´t yet started a theater group (she knows I used to do theater). “I´m sorry lady,” I felt like saying, “I have been busy building this lovely library.” Needless to say, she didn´t really make a good impression on me.

Sunday morning I met up with the previous volunteer´s ex boyfriend who is a really nice guy and teaches English. For Christmas he is required to teach his students five English Christmas songs. Since I love Christmas music, he called exactly the right person. I brought him to the library and played a bunch of Christmas songs for him. He really liked ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and ‘Rudolph’ because they have stories behind them. Apparently no one knows who Rudolph is in Ecuador. I think this is a huge shame.

In the afternoon I had promised a little girl in my site that I would help her with her homework. She is in fifth grade and really struggling because she doesn’t know how to read. I brought her to the library so we could have some privacy (thank goodness I have a key) and proceeded to help her. At first I thought she couldn’t read because she had fallen behind on the fundamentals long ago and no one was available to help her catch up. Soon, however, I realized her problem was a lot more serious. She struggles with letters, had no idea what sound each letter makes, and had a difficult time naming numbers higher than 10. Furthermore, she struggles with recalling information that we went over only a few minutes ago. Homework that should have taken a student 30 minutes to complete took us SIX HOURS!!!! I was really impressed that kept at it. I was ready to quit, but she want to complete it all. Of course I could have made things easier but telling her how to spell words or giving her answers, but that would not have helped her. Near the end, her mother came searching for her (it was really late after all). We talked for a few minutes and I agreed to tutor her daughter as often as she needed it. Our next session in tomorrow, but I’m calling it quits after an hour.

This morning I tutored another girl in English and then helped out my counterpart with a self esteem charla. In the afternoon, during another charla, I got the brilliant idea of starting a ‘Question of the Week’ contest and giving out prizes that my mother has sent me. I spent the majority of the afternoon decorating the box making signs, writing out the instructions, and decorating the box that people will drop their answers into. Winners will be announced this Friday!