Well, today I felt my first earthquake here. It was actually very comical, which I'm glad for. Peru doesn't need another serious earthquake like their one in 2007. They're still rebuilding. I didn't really understand that an earthquake was occurring while it happened; I only got it afterwards. I was in the middle of discussing my school plans with Kiryssa (I'll explain that in a bit) when I looked around wondering what guy was shaking my plastic chair. Not seeing anything, I continued the thread of my conversation without pause until about 15 seconds later, when my chair still felt wobbly, I looked around again and looked at Kiryssa. We both realized it was an earthquake at that moment, and all of us started talking excitedly. Of course by then, it was gone and done with, and Ivan standing two feet from me never felt it. It was the funniest feeling, just a wobbly sensation of someone slightly shaking my chair for perhaps 30 seconds. I still replay the conversation in my head, clearly remembering looking around in confusion for the person shaking my chair while talking and not understanding why there wasn't anyone. Very hilarious to me.
Anyway, on to what I actually accomplished today. I, with Kiryssa, gave an hour (-ish) presentation to 2nd grade kids in Colegio Secundario. This means, we taught approximately 28 7th graders (12-13 year olds). There were 38 kids on the roster, but I'm grateful not everyone was really there. Our presentation was about Climate Change (Cambio Climatico), and I thought it went really well. Other than the fact that our bus was late so we only got about 45 minutes. This ruined our lesson plan and made us rush the end, so I don't know how much they understood of the game at the end. But I think they really enjoyed it. We had a true and false at the beginning that required them all to go to either the left or right wall depending what they thought of the statement. I really loved how some of the statements that the whole class got right, we'd all cheer and clap. The first one, it was half and half and the correct group was very very happy about it. After this bit, we did an explanation of the gases of Climate Change, and what things contribute to those gases. Then we had them break into groups and make "papelotes" (literally, big papers) of things THEY themselves could do to decrease or help slow climate change. It was really cute when we had each group present. I could clearly see which kids were the natural leaders, which were the really smart ones, which were timid. It was a great experience overall. I think the important tidbit I learned from this experience for teaching at my site is that I should definitely write my name on the board when I begin. We introduced ourselves, but the girls at the end asked us our names again as they said thanks.
One more tidbit to share for this blog. Tuesday late afternoon, we were working on making recycled art. This is something we can easily do with kids, and can encourage to reuse things. I started this wonderful activity by going to our recycling bin to get some plastic bottles. While removing the lid, I managed to stab my middle finger on a screw that protruded around the mouth of it. This really sucked, and I managed to draw blood. If my life really were a story or blog, critics would say that the author used this event to foreshadow future events. I should have heeded the warning. Instead, I took my bloodily won (really it was just a pinprick) bottles and went to start cutting them into flowers. I had all different sizes and was going to nest them inside each other to create layers of petals. Because they were going to nest inside each other, I needed to cut off the caps on the smaller bottles. To this end, I was attempting to saw through the plastic with my scissors. I commented generally that I was probably going to hurt myself doing this, and about a minute later...I managed to cut off a pretty good sized chunk of my right thumb pad. By pretty good sized, I mean, when I looked down at my hand and said a word I won't type here (use your imagination), I could see a capillary that I had cut open. After about 5 minutes of trying to stop the bleeding, we got it bandaged and today the doctors got me a nice super strong antibiotic. Hopefully that will take care of the redness and tenderness...but yeah, I really am okay. It looked pretty bad, and hurt pretty bad at first, especially when I was washing it as per doctors orders, but I'm not super worried. More than a little embarrassed I cut myself so badly with scissors. Thought I was old enough to know better, but I guess I'm just old enough to know when something is dangerous and continue to do it anyway.
Okay one more story to end on a positive note. Today, I experimented with making Rice Krispy treats. I bought the marshmellows and rice puffy cereal Wednesday, and decided to make it tonight. We have a very similar cereal back home, but I can't think of the name for it. They're rice puffs. Anyways, I made a small batch, and they turned out great. I gave out a piece to all my family, and they all loved it. Especially Kevin, the 6 year old, who I heard in the kitchen while on here typing. Knowing what he was doing, I went in there to catch him red-handed trying to sneak a bit more. It was really cute; he was so sorry and close to tears, I gave him a second piece. My host mom thought it was hilarious when I shared that with her. I think I've mentioned that she doesn't know how to cook (probably the only Peruvian woman who doesn't) and so I was telling her I would show her how to make it when I go get more stuff. We were talking about how easy it is to make, especially that kids could do it with a bit of supervision. So I'm hoping I can share this with her and then have her make it with Hilary, my 5 year old host sister who absolutely loves sweets. I feel very content with this cooking experience; I'm glad it turned out nicely and its something they could easily make part of their life if they want to.
Site assignments Monday, followed by Field-based training at my regional capital, and a week at my site. Should be a great two weeks ahead of me!
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