If the title of this blog entry isn´t a big enough clue, I shall put it more clearly: How is it already the end of February??! I am completely baffled and hereby post a large, LO SIENTO (that is, ¨I´m sorry!¨) and shall do a quick 2-month sum-up for you, my friends and family. :)
The month of January was very busy for me. I spent most of it translating Christmas cards that the kids at school received from their sponsors in the States, taking photos of all 120+ kids we have in our pre-school and after-school programs, taking the bus back and forth across the city to print said photos, helping the kids write letters back to their sponsors, and then translating all those letters into English. All this work was part of the annual reports we completed for a US-based-foundation that (along with MCC) contributes money to the school.
Also in January I had the pleasure of bumping into (thanks to random internet greetings) a group of Bethel College (Kansas) kids who had come to Mexico for their January-term. As the small Mennonite world would have it, they were actually in Cuernavaca and we met up several times for coffee, bailes, and general chit-chat (in English?!....thankfully I still remember how).
If I could tell you what happened to all of February I promise I would. We were all busy running around trying to finish off January´s overload. Finishing this project was indeed a moment of rejoicing and the director of the school, Lizy, our secretary, Adela, and I celebrated with a little seafood in a nearby restaurant. On Monday afternoons with our after-school group I have been teaching the youngest kids (1st grade age) Spanish and Math. It´s been fun preparing for them and also a challenge to use the resources we have creatively and keep everyone engaged and on-track.
Here February 14 is celebrated as ¨Día de Amor y Amistad¨ -- or, Day of Love and Friendship. It was meaningful to me to have such an all-inclusive name for the holiday. As if I needed reminding, this year has solidified the fact that ones friendships are indeed invaluable and that it is undeniably important to recognize and name the significance others have made in your life. I spent the evening in the company of my best-Mexican-friends (my co-workers) in the presence of live-music and coffee.
As February races to its end, I have found myself stressed to find time to relax (yeah, chew on that inconsistency) and have started a New Years Resolution a month late: I have started walking and doing yoga in a nearby park every morning before classes. Though it means getting up at 6:30 (yikes!) I have found I need this time to adequately reflect on the previous day and to open myself to the new events the current day will hold.
I hope this finds you all doing well -- enjoying the work you are doing and the company you are with! At best I´ll get a few pictures uploaded before too long.
Love and peace,
Hannah
Aaaha! While I sit and sweat and wait for pictures to upload, I shall type briefly about my new life as ¨Maestra Hanna¨ (which, obviously, must be said in a charming spanish accent). To the left you see myself and my newest amigos -- three other maestras (teachers) and the director, Lizzy (to my right), and thirty-some niños. YES, I know everyone´s names already (!!) and am rapidly learning songs, games, and the necesarry vocabulary one needs to work with three- to five-year-olds. Each day is a little different but the gist of it is generally the same. Each morning begins with a prayer, song, and breakfast (a meal children in this neighborhood otherwise do without). After breakfast I help brush gads of teeth, then help whichever maestra grabs me first until freetime. Then I´m not only an extra pair of eyes (or ears for the tattle-tales!) but a hungry customer, big sister to our dollies, a member of the family, or a famous actris (depending on the day)! Afternoon activites vary daily. We have singing classes on Tuesdays, time for arts and crafts, an hour of ¨reading¨ (or rather, mere exposure to books.....a rare treat despite the fact that we are yet too young to read!) or various other group activites. We end each day at 1:00 with a sending song: ¨Danos esparanza y paz. Danos ese tú bendición. Danos la luz de tú mirada. Danos tú amor.¨ Translation? ¨Give us your hope and peace. Give us your blessing. Give us light like yours. Give us your love.¨
Yesterday it happened. The four of us SALTers parted our seperate ways. Though it´s almost sad, we shall be seeing each other again soon (at our next MCC meeting at the end of November) and are all looking foward to this next step! Ana came with me to meet my new family -- ¡Qué fantástico! After dropping off my bags and saying brief hello to my new ¨madre¨, Doña Juana, we headed over to my new place of employment -- a ¨kinder¨ (ages 3-5) a few houses up the street from my new home. There I was greeted with a sign that read ¨¡Bienvenida Hanna!¨ (Welcome Hannah!) and a sea of big brown eyes. I am already ¨Maestra Hanna¨ and quite famous along the whole street since I agreed to play ¨Encendidas¨ last night....or as some may know it, ¨Hide-and-go-Seek! ;)
