Hola! ¿Que pasan en los Estados Unidos? Pienso que mi español es mejor de cuando llegue aqui. Espero que si. This last week has been really interesting both at the school and outside of it so I will do my best to highlight the parts that come to my mind.
As with last week, we rotated through several classes teaching English or helping out the teacher in any ways we could. It is really refreshing to see the different classes at alternating times throughout the week. This week our teaching included simple past and present continuous in 3rd grade, vocabulary and dancing routines in 2nd grade, different ways that energy is transferred in 5th grade, and vocabulary and sentence construction in 4th grade.
On Thursday (Thanksgiving) Margarita treated us to a Thanksgiving dinner of Cemitas which is a local, very local food. Cemitas consist of a hallowed out pieces of bread filled with as much stuff as you can possible fit inside of it. These are a staple dish of Puebla and I do not think they are sold anywhere else. Needless to say I was thankful!
We were only in 6th grade one day this week out of our usual two because on Friday Reaksmey and I went to El Dia de los Abuelos (Grandparents Day). The festival was held at another private school in Puebla with an auditorium large enough for the mass that attended. The festival was put on by the five levels of kindergarten at the school and by 1st grade. The morning's activities included dance routines, singing, poetry reading and students playing musical instruments. I never knew that there were so many songs in Spanish about Grandparents! The festival was really fun to watch and there were several times when I was surprised and impressed with the routines the kindergarteners were able to perform.
What I enjoyed as much perhaps was the conversation that we had with a grandparent who sat next to us. It was the best long conversation I have had in Spanish with a stranger. We talked about more than the usual family members and what I like about Mexico which I have memorized by now. As we talked she told us that she actually hosts people from the U.S.A. who come down and live with her for up to 6 weeks learning Spanish. She has had guests from the age of 15 to 60 come and stay with her.
After school on Friday we spent a lot of time with Luis and Mario who have become my and Reaksmey´s good friends. Later on in the weekend we were invited to a birthday party by one of Luis´s friends. The party was a lot of fun and I got to try real taquitos! It was also nice to meet some other people our own age, or at least close to our own age! The birthday host was very hospitable and really made us feel at home.
On Sunday Margarita and I walked to the local market to buy gorditas and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. The market was smaller than the others in D.F. and Centro we have been to and I really enjoyed it. We had to wait for a little while at one of the restaurants because they began to make our order after we got there. Little did they know that I was taking notes and I am pretty sure that I can make a mean pair of gorditas of all kinds myself now.
In case you did not know a gordita is a flattened tortilla with refried beans on the inside. You place it on a skillet with oil until it browns and the beans become hot on the inside. After this you can make it several ways, with green salsa, cheese and onions, with red salsa and cheese, or with both kinds of salsa and cheese to mimic the Mexican flag.
Later on, and after our massive meal, we put up our hammocks and relaxed. I also spent a good amount of time on the rooftop watching the next door party and talking with God and Luis. It was an awesome weekend.
We have also begun to plan a little bit for the coming two weeks as far as what we want to do. We bought our tickets for the Christmas bazar today which promises to be an eventful night!
That is the news,
Seth Wingate out...
The zocalo at night in Puebla
At a teacher's house for dinner. Very enjoyable.
D'Amicis's campus during the Model U.N.