Woohoo! Un gran dia! Out the door at 9am, then I had my second lesson at the HOPE School at 10am, and things went pretty well. The teachers are a bit reticent to try some of the exercises I proposed, so I'll have to find some creative ways to build their confidence and offer more privacy in their work. (It's hard to do these dramatic exercises if you're afraid of what people think of you.) If I can get the teachers to loosen up and participate in the exercises more freely, they'll understand the benefit drama can give their students. So...baby steps. We'll start even more basic next time.

After my lesson, I shared lunch with Tania, one of the teachers who spoke a few words of English here and there, then filled in for one of the teachers for about 40 minutes! Estuardo translated for me, and I had to think quickly to come up with things to do with them. Gratefully, they were 11-13 years of age, so they were a bit more manageable and yet still young enough to enjoy these types of dramatic exercises. I mimed for them at the beginning to get their attention, then we did some dramatic exercises in what they learned about plants growing. I had them grow from seeds (semillas), which they curled up very small by their desks to become, into whatever plant they wanted which they had learned about recently. We did a few more exercises with a storm coming, destroying most of the "flowers," and then some exercises in growing the different parts of the plant in the order which they developed. I think they will always remember how a flower grows, now, having become one themselves. And I believe they had fun. They even clapped for me when I left! Definitely the highlight of my day! Maybe I'll get to teach that class again. I might have the other teachers observing me next time, so they can see how the students respond to the dramatic exercises, and how useful drama can be for their development and understanding.

I played ping-pong with Josue (another teacher) on their home-made table for a couple of hours while I waited for Edgar to pick me up at 5pm. Then we went to Pollo Campero and I helped Edgar with his English classwork. (He's taking an English course and is in the very beginning stages, so it's interesting trying to communicate and teach one another. He's helping my Spanish!) He treated me to a frosty cone as payment, which I was happy to accept.

After Edgar dropped me off at home, I cleaned the kitchen (those dishes pile up fast!) and tried to figure out how to turn the tempurature down on the fridge. (My eggs were frozen this morning, ha ha ha.) I cooked some fried-rice for Evelin and Elizabeth, which they really appreciated, and will try my hand at rellenitos before the night is done.

Now, I'm ready to use that guitar for the first time with my roomies on our roof. I love the sky here! (¡Amo el cielo aqui!) Adios por ahora!