I woke up, and the first thing I saw, was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. What I saw was from a circus we had gone too last night- the image stuck in my head. I will not, however, elaborate on what we actually saw unless asked face to face, because only in person can that experience be shared (but I had to put it on my blog because such and experience cannot be ignored.)
On another note- I woke up on time this morning and we made it to the school a few minutes before the students. I worked with Morgan in Ana Maria's second grade class, where I had never been before. Class started outside on the concrete basketball court behind the school. At first it was just Tatiana, Royner, Anthony, Levi, and Jose Daniel with us, but then Michael came. Michael has ADHD, and is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She shows her love in a more physical way, but will stop squirming if you pick her up. Our outside class time consisted of drawing with chalk, playing with a ball, and chasing Tatiana and Michael down. One of the times I chased Michael, I caught her and swooped her up to bring her back to the group. As I was carrying her, I told her that she was very beautiful (and I cannot explain how true that is), and she buried her face in her hands, giggling and blushing. Soon we went back inside (Levi disappeared for a while), and began doing little lessons. About half way into one of the lessons, Michael got up and tried to run away. Ana Maria pulled her back, and Michael then began throwing pens around. This continued for a while until Ana Maria locked Michael in her arms so she couldn't move. Even as Michael sobbed, screamed, and kicked, Ana Maria continued with the lesson. Michael was soon released (once she stopped crying), and she immediately climbed onto my lap. I kept trying to work with Jose Daniel as Tatina squealed and flailed about, Michael continued to cry, and Royner threw yoga balls at my head. After a while, Ana Maria and Morgan took Tatiana and Michael for cool down walks, while I stayed with the others. Shortly after they got back about fifteen minutes later, the bell rang and the kids ran out for lunch.
After lunch, I returned to Ana Maria's classroom to work with Levi. Levi, being from Oregon, understands English, but won't talk. I brought him out to the swings (because they're the only thing that really interests him) and tried to get him to talk. I tried to get him to tell me if he wanted me to swing him higher, but he just hummed. So after about half an hour, I told him that we needed to go back inside. But he remained on his swing. Whenever I held the chains to try and stop him, he would reach out and pinch me or tear at my hand. It took a good thirty minutes to finally get him to the classroom door, only for him to run back to the swings. For the last part of class, I played with Royner, who was laughing uncontrollably All was fun and games until Royner threw his bottle of orange soda at me. He ended up having to clean it all up and I ended up with a soaking wet skirt and shirt. Sooner than I had hoped, the bell rang and the kids drove away. That was the last time we would ever get to say, "Hasta manana."
Because tomorrow is out good-bye party, we went to the store and bought tons of food. Rice, beans, milk, melons, cabbage, beets, chicken, soda, garlic, tomatoes and so much more (a lot is for individual bags we will be giving to families).
It feels like this trip has flown by- yet when I look back to when I first boarded that plane, it seems like a lifetime ago. I wish we could stay longer, but I'm glad that we at least had time to get to know all these amazing people.
"Remember the past, live in the present, and look forward to the future," -Unknown
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