Work just got an extra twist to it.

I'll now be helping with the computer course for the first year students. Their current teacher has been on leave due to family illness since I arrived. They don't have a substitute system in place which means the students would go the rest of the year without class. So guess who volunteered to step in. =)

The TEAM 1 course had a rough start last week. Only half the group showed up last Monday. Tuesday the school had a uniform check. Despite a warning, we only had about 250/1000 in proper uniform and in class...the rest were sent home! This meant my TEAM class had only 4 students. Otherwise, I'm really enjoying prepping for this course and having fun making the materials.

I haven't been running because I caught some kind of cough. I was kinda bad Fri./Sat. Not too mention it's been chilly which means I'd have to take two cold showers per day...no thanks!

I headed out to visit Anna in Lamani last Thursday. She lives in a completely adorable little town...postcard like. I got to see the town sites...bibiloteca that needs a lot of help, centro de salud doing great community work, and the colegio that seems to be a busy place.

I also visited San Jeronimo on Saturday. One of my students invited to the toreada (rodeo) taking place because of the pueblo's feria (town's fair). I met up with Amie since everything was running late. Her house is beautiful! I'm so jealous...I haven't found an apt but I know I won't get anything close to that for 1500 Lps in town. =/

Sunday was an interesting day. It's trimester letter writing time and they were behind on their work. So my counterpart set off in search for the students. We drove through some of the roughest parts of town stopping every block or so to drop off letters that needed to be completed. Back at the proyecto there was another headache.

The oldest girls from the casa hogar have been attracting the wrong crowd of boys. They called the police a few days back but of course that didn't stop them...they later showed up with their gang and threatened all the girls. These two girls keep claiming they'll behave but they need a lot of help. One of the girls was forced by her uncle to work in a bar at a young age (she's only 15 now!). She was to satisfy the customers sexual desires and if she didn't comply, she was beat...her back is covered with scars. I still don't have confianza with these girls but I do plan to start a Yo Merezco group (girl empowering curriculum).