Bonding Time (5/31/09)

On the eve of our first weekend here in Antigua, Guatemala we found ourseleves sharing some time together, oddly enough in the courtyard of a McDonalds (Yea, the McDonalds here have nice gardens and courtyards). We followed through on our normal routine of sharing the day´s events and simply discussing our feelings towards the new and unique enviornment. We talked about the day´s hike up to Cerro de la Cruz, discussed our feelings towards the following day´s teaching and learning, and simply shared how we were feeling.

Towards the end of our routine time of sharing with each other, gears shifted and as we became more relaxed with one another, Ms.Lemoine introduced a game for us to play called, ¨Celebrities¨. The game was an odd blend of charades, taboo, and like games where we piled a list of celebrities, and then we went through rounds where teams(which we naturally chose to be Boys vs. Girls) had to guess as many of the celbrities as we could within a two minute span. Before long, everyone was sucked into the game, shouting names of celbrities at the top of their longs in the middle of a McDonalds. The celebrities ranged from Pikatchu, to Mr.Carolan, and all drew a variety of memorable things done to get them identified, most humorous in the rounds of charades.

Overall, we probably spent nearly two hours shouting and laughing in this McDonalds courtyard. surprisingly, the worst we recieved were looks of curiosity from the guards, but otherwise we went surprisingly undisturbed. This time spent together was highly refreshing, and I feel like we will be able to draw many memories (Tommy´s whinning by yelling ¨No, no, no!¨, in frustration) from this simple activity which drew us all together in a new way, and I only look forward to more time like this with my classmates and chaperones.

Here´s a picture of us starting the activities.