El Primer Dia de Escuela

El 8 de agosto

Currently, I'm sitting in a hammock on the back patio of the hostel in humid and hot Barranquilla reflecting on today's events.  Wear to start? . . .

I woke up this morning at about 6:00 after a nightmare in which I was being buried alive, but that always happens when I sleep in a bottom bunk.  After a quick breakfast from down the street, I took a taxi to "Pies Descalzos" for my first day.  I had the pleasure of meeting Consuelo Hernandez Arroyabe, who works at the foundation.  Consuelo took me on a tour of the facility and talked with me about what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the week.  

. . .

In the middle of the day, one class of seventh graders did not have a teacher, so I was thrown into the midst of 40 hormone driven Colombian 7th graders.  It was one of those "WHAT THE HELL DID I GET MYSELF INTO???!!!!!" moments.  This is wear acting and teaching become one.  I walked into the room with confidence and acted like I knew what I was doing.  Thanks to the donations, I won the students over pretty quickly.  I started by asking them questions like "Who is the president of the United States?" and each time someone got one right, they earned a bracelet.  This only lasted about thirty seconds until all the students were out of their seats, reaching for a "regalito."

At this time, I asked them to move their chairs and form a circle.  About far too many minutes later, the circle was formed (and I thought U.S. students were hard to control.  UY!)  We started by playing "El Gatito Quiere un Esquina" (Kitty Wants a Corner) in which I say this phrase, and the person needs to respond, "Pregunta a mi vecino" (Go ask my neighbor.)  When I'm asking someone this question, students behind me have the option to change places with someone else across the circle, but if I get to an empty space before the other person, then the person left in the circle is the new "gatito."  The kids absolutely loved the game!!  As it progressed, I added more rules.  For example, if the "gatito" says "Elefante, 1, 2, 3,"  the person must form the trunk of an elephant, and the two people next to him or her must form ears for the elephant.  Overall, it was a huge success. 

I concluded with this same group my playing "Parada," which in English we call "Bench Game" where one person waits for a bus while the other person does something funny or gross to get the other person off.  One student found a LIVE COCKROACH on the ground, picked it up, and threw it at the other person.  Colombia has taken this game to a whole new level.

All in all, I survived my first class with Colombians!

. . .

At about 2:00, I had another group of about 15 girls, ages 7 to 12.  Along with "Gatito Quiere un Esquina," they loved "Parada."

I also started teaching them a dance to the song "Wave Your Flag" by K'Naan and David Bisbal.  Unfortunately, I left my notes at home, so I pretty much made it up on the spot!

Something else I really wanted to do was teach them the dance to Waka Waka.  Little did I know, their version was MUCH better than ours!  Check out the DIVA in the front row!

. . .

I can't wait to finish teaching "Wave Your Flag" tomorrow, and hopefully get another improv game in!

Adios!

~Quique