I had a fun and
interesting day today! I woke up at 6:15 to a beautiful sunrise and a rooster
that wouldn’t shut its beak. I then proceeded to eat my typical roll and coffee
breakfast. But then my routine changed a little. When I finished my breakfast
the other German volunteer, Elena, offered her assistance in my research. It
was a huge help, and we made a ton of progress on the medical documents. While
we were working, I asked her if she would like to go to the plaza and market
with me later in the day. She agreed and we decided to go after lunch.After lunch I
could not find Elena. Haha it seems like I can’t find anyone or anything around
here. Since I couldn’t find her I stopped by Mother Superior’s office. I found
her sitting in her cluttered room drinking some tea with lemon. I updated her
on my progress with the project and we discussed my plans for future of my
stay. I will continue my work with the project but now help the girls with
their school work when I have the time. My stay will now include tutoring them
in English, Chemistry, and Physics. No biggie right? I am, of course, a
Bio-Chemistry major that has done well so far. Boy was I wrong… My new
assignment was active immediately and I was thrust into a chair in front of a little
library full of girls. Mother Superior looked at the girls and said something
along the lines of, “Chris will help you with your schoolwork. Math and science
knows no language barriers. Ask him any questions and he will do his best to
answer them.” I was feeling pretty good until the first girl came up and asked
me a question. It was a Chemistry question in nomenclature (naming compounds).
In English, the question would have been cake. In Spanish, not so much. Three
things were wrong with this situation; I couldn’t explain the answer because of
the lack of language skills, I don’t know the Spanish words for all the
different elements in the periodic table, and I haven’t taken inorganic
chemistry since 10th grade. I did my best but unfortunately, I don’t
think she went away with a better understanding of the subject. The next
student that approached me had a Physics problem. Physics + Spanish = No Bueno.
I made her talk through the problem with me in hope that she would find were
she went wrong. Luckily she did. WHEW! For the rest of the time (until Carina
found me) I helped the students with English. I even got to work on their
pronunciation of words (don’t worry, I made sure they learned Pittsburgese the
right way, “Yinz need to warsh yer clothes”). I don’t know why I went to the market and plaza
with Carina and not Elena but I things worked out nonetheless. We walked to the
plaza this time and I bought some souvenirs for my family and friends and even a
few pears. I would like to take this time to give a special thank you to my Mom
for teaching me how to bargain with locals for the lowest price possible. I
would like to think that I am making you proud J. Anyways, after I returned to the Hogar with my
pears and souvenirs I had the opportunity to sit in on a ballet lesson. It was
taught by an old man (75+) and boy could that guy move. He was as nimble on his
feet as those 13-year-old girls! He was wearing an old YMCA collared shirt and
sweatpants which brought back fond memories of some of my coaches that I had.
Anyways, the music was interesting and I enjoyed watching the little
ballerinas. I think they liked me there too, because they all would look at me
when they passed as if to say, “Look at me perform this next move!” It was all-in-all very enjoyable. After
practice I grabbed a quick dinner with the girls, hopped into the shower (by
the way the way the showers are FREEZING), and wrote this up! I will update the
blog asap and once again; I really appreciate the emails! Thanks for staying
updated friends and family!
My dinner of egg salad and rice with eggs. It wasn't my favorite meal.
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