The Charla!
Charlas are the mainstay of the Peace Corps in El Salvador. They (in different guises) are probably the mainstay of the PC everywhere. It is basically a talk. The standards are using multiple learning styles, meaning that you use posters for those visual folks, “dinamicas” for those active learners, and of course actually say something for those that need that. What that means for us, is that we get to spend part of our days…. Coloring! How cool is that! At 44 I have finally found a job where I can spend all day coloring posters to help explain environmental concepts!
I’m explaining all of this because Katie and I just finished our first big test here in El Salvador. This morning we gave our first Charla. Katie had the second grade, and I had the third graders. We both gave talks on basura (trash). It is a huge problem here, with all sorts of infrastructure needed as well as trying to overcome the culture. My talk focused on the nature of organic versus inorganic, what that has to do with decomposition, and how that plays into contamination and accumulation of hazardous materials… sounds heavy written out like that, but it really boiled down to a couple of games with either tape, or popping balloons!
Of course all of this is using our stellar Spanish! The real benefit of surviving this whole event, is realizing that your Spanish, while you may not be too happy with it, is adequate for some exchange of information with 3rd graders! Woo hoo! No, really, it does give you more confidence in your ability to be useful here.
One last thing. We were back home with a couple of the kids that didn’t attend school that day (another story), and I brought out a couple of balloons for the kids to play with. One of the kids, a girl about 10 years old, and I were playing with the balloon, just bouncing it back and forth in various ways… we passed over a half hour that way, and it was a lot of fun! How does that happen? Nowhere in the US would a single balloon provide entertainment to a 10 year old, yet alone a 44 year old. It can down here though, and that is yet another cool thing about this job.
Next up. Katie and I will be heading out to Field Based Training. This event is similar to the immersion days, except that you are in groups of 4, have a staff person, a Spanish instructor…and you actually do work. I guess the sameness is that you get to head out to another volunteers site. I’m heading to Aaron’s site (the same one that Katie went to during immersion). Katie is heading to Kate’s site up near the Honduran border. It means that we will be away from our families and the training center for four days. Should be fun.
I’m explaining all of this because Katie and I just finished our first big test here in El Salvador. This morning we gave our first Charla. Katie had the second grade, and I had the third graders. We both gave talks on basura (trash). It is a huge problem here, with all sorts of infrastructure needed as well as trying to overcome the culture. My talk focused on the nature of organic versus inorganic, what that has to do with decomposition, and how that plays into contamination and accumulation of hazardous materials… sounds heavy written out like that, but it really boiled down to a couple of games with either tape, or popping balloons!
Of course all of this is using our stellar Spanish! The real benefit of surviving this whole event, is realizing that your Spanish, while you may not be too happy with it, is adequate for some exchange of information with 3rd graders! Woo hoo! No, really, it does give you more confidence in your ability to be useful here.
One last thing. We were back home with a couple of the kids that didn’t attend school that day (another story), and I brought out a couple of balloons for the kids to play with. One of the kids, a girl about 10 years old, and I were playing with the balloon, just bouncing it back and forth in various ways… we passed over a half hour that way, and it was a lot of fun! How does that happen? Nowhere in the US would a single balloon provide entertainment to a 10 year old, yet alone a 44 year old. It can down here though, and that is yet another cool thing about this job.
Next up. Katie and I will be heading out to Field Based Training. This event is similar to the immersion days, except that you are in groups of 4, have a staff person, a Spanish instructor…and you actually do work. I guess the sameness is that you get to head out to another volunteers site. I’m heading to Aaron’s site (the same one that Katie went to during immersion). Katie is heading to Kate’s site up near the Honduran border. It means that we will be away from our families and the training center for four days. Should be fun.
posted by Jon & Katie | 12:14 PM
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