Amazing...

how one great day can cancel out a bad one. I had a really negative experience at hogar last night. My tías had asked me to bring my laptop to help them with their Plan Operativo Anual (POA). I spent two hours on Monday typing it out, and I used my only 2 hours of free time to get it printed yesterday. I had shown the girls some pictures of my family, and the tía brought out a flash drive so the girls could see pictures of themselves. We didn’t end up having time, so I brought it again yesterday. I showed the girls more photos and some videos (me dancing and singing karaoke at the end of the year assembly at Zeiger). When the tía asked me to put it away, I did. She pulled me aside later to tell me that showing the girls pictures and videos on my laptop is strictly prohibited. She was really harsh, and it really upset me. The girls also pulled me aside rather protectively and told me not to bring my laptop again because it made the tías mad. I apologized profusely to the tías, but they still called their supervisor and mine. I was totally shocked. It was an innocent mistake, and I had the best of intentions. I guess I should have asked first, but I thought it was a pretty major overreaction. I spent about an hour bawling my eyes out. I’m sure everyone who is reading this knows what a perfectionist I am and how hard I am on myself. I did have some great conversations with friends and with Lauren (the volunteer coordinator), and I felt very supported. Lauren told me that my love for the kids is apparent, and I really tried to take that to heart. My friend Laura is here visiting, so we had a sleepover and I got to have a hot shower this morning.

So I was feeling better until Kenia (the first grade teacher I’m working with) called to say her daughter was sick and she’d be late. I was really worried because our class can be really malcriada. I also haven’t been feeling like I’m really a teacher. Well, the other day, Kenia decided to split up our duties so that I’d be teaching math and she’d be teaching Spanish. I was delighted with this and have been feeling much more useful. But I wasn’t sure how it was going to go with just me and Jorge (our año familiar). It actually went really well. If it was my classroom at home, I probably would have been horrified, but these kids are so different that it really felt like a success. I managed that Montessori classroom just fine, thank you very much. The kids are learning to use “please” and “thank you” and how to talk to me respectfully in order to get what they want. Kenia came with about an hour left in class, and we had a great talk about my experience with the tías. She used to work in Casa Suyapa, so she totally understands. She told me she wanted me to know how much she loves the way I work and the way I discipline the kids. She said I come into the classroom with a sign on my forehead that says, “I’m a teacher.” Best compliment ever! Normally, I eat lunch with the Montessori teachers, and I’m pretty quiet. Today, there were only 4 of us, and it was so much fun. They were teaching my Honduranisms and helping me with homophones (I had an embarrassing experience when Kenia told me to look for something next to la llave. Turns out that means faucet as well as key.) I understood their jokes and even made them laugh (Ryan, your "estoy haciendo ejercito" story was well received), and it felt really good.

This afternoon, I went to the dance class that is run by Juan Bautista (another año familiar). I had seen his group before and mentioned that I enjoyed dancing, so he invited me to a practice. It was really fun, and I think I'll go again. I went to hogar tonight. The director of the house pulled me aside and I also talked to my tia, and all is forgiven. They felt really bad that I was so upset. All in all, a really good day for me to cancel out yesterday's yuckiness.