Lets try this again... -_- Pre-Departure Reflection

There are four days left for us to leave to Guatemala! I have been ready for this day since I found out that I got into Junior Journey. I am not really so scared about traveling to another country, since I travel to the Dominican Republic every summer. I am only unsure about how different the two countries are, and I am hoping to not get sick while I am over there. I am hoping that this experience will change my view on life, as well as my lifestyle. Hopefully I will come back a positively changed man.

3rd day

This was the second day that me and my partner, Ja-Lene, have taught in San Pedro. Those kids have a lot of energy, and they seem to like me, which is very good. They are always up to doing whatever you tell them to do. It still hasn't hit me that I'm in Guatemala. Even if it hasn't hit me, I rather be in Boston at the moment. Everything so far is worse than we were told. We barely have any freedom, and me and Santiagos host mother only feeds us a little. I'm just hoping that these days start getting better, and start going by faster than they are at the moment. It's only day 3, and it feels like I've been here for a week already. Well... Until next time.

So far

I just returned from teaching in San Pedro and am waiting for my roomate Alex to finish his Spanish lesson. Teaching is San Pedro is great, at first my teaching partner Jaenelle and I were really worried but then the class began to flow and our first week of teaching has been great. The little kids are really fun and are so interested in everything Jaenelle and I have to say. They are so eager to learn and understand what we have to say. I have noticed that it is much easier for them to remeber the words we teach them than it is for them to spell them. At reccess the kids are so energetic it is hard to keep up with them. The first night went well and Alex and I ended going to a party for a friend of the family's son who just graduated from college. Since then we have had many night activities ranging from a sports night to learning about Mayan traditions to a demonstration about the uses of corn. The weekend was really fun we climbed a volcano Saturday and then swam in a lake Sunday. When we were coming back across the lake on the boat they pretended the engine broke but then they let us jump off the back of the boat which was great even though some people had trouble getting back on the boat.
6/6/11
John McCormick

May 31st :)

I just got back from teaching and San Pedro, and boy is it hot here!
It's a miracle that I haven't burn to a crisp yet.
I'm teaching a class of 6th graders, and while they have been really quiet
they've also been so well behaved. They knew a lot of the first phrases that
we taught them in English yesterday, but today we gave them a choice of what they
could learn, and they decided to learn about farm animals.
They were so cute, and every time we said que dice esta animal,
(or what does this animal say) they made the cutest little farm animal sounds.
Our class is pretty big, maybe 35-40 students, but they really seem like they
want to learn all that we have to teach them. We also got to play duck duck
goose, where we changed all of the words so that they could practice everything
that we had taught them.
I think that the hardest thing is probably communicating with the students though.
I haven't had a hard time actually teaching the lesson plan, but when they have a
question it is SO hard to understand. There voices are so quiet and they talk so fast,
that everything just sounds like a blur to me. But I think that we're starting to get the hang of it, because they have started to do like interpretive dances to help me
understand what they are trying to say.
Alana

Hit Me!!

This all seems so unreal to me.... I even woke up last night and got scared because I didn't know where I was, then I was like "Oh I'm in Guatemala." Hopefully it will hit me soon, probably by the second week. Aha!
Until next time !!<3

I'm in Guatemala...

I'm physically in Guatemala, but mentally, I'm still in Boston with my friends. It still has yet to hit me. My roomate, Irvans and I are having a blast. we love our host mother, Doña Angelita. She is very nice and laid back. The first night with her was very awkward, because it was the fist time we had met her and we were totally emersed in a different language, plus Irvans can barely speak spanish. I was the only one speaking which was uncomfortable because I wasn't very confident in my speaking skills prior to this trip. Other than that, I am really enjoying everything about this trip and Antigua.

Can't Sleep!

Okay so I know that I'm late with this post I guess an hour and a half before I'm susposed to be at the airport is the best time to talk about how I feel about this trip, adventure, hiatus, seperation, anxious filled test of oursleves. Well let me start off by saying I'm paranoid that my bag will be more than 50 lbs. crossing my fingers no!! Secondly I can't sleep I'm so nervous but I guess that's what the 6-7 hour flight is for right? I just looked at my hands and decided I should be a hand model, how do you say that in spanish? La model del manos (I think), oh snap that reminds me I forgot my spanish-english dictionary. Wow I'm really nervous to be away in another country without my family, YIKES!! I hope that when we get there, we get to taste lots of food because everyone knows how I like to EAT!! Gosh I can't believe it's hear, I'm a junior going on Junior Journey. FULLY EMERGED into the culture, food, and language. I guess this is where PHA has to put their money where their mouth is and show me that my spanish es perfecto. Well it's 4 o'clock and I have to wake everyone else for the airport so this is the end of my post until next time in Guatemala...

Packing.... Eek!

So it's Friday, 9:28.

I still haven't finished packing, although I'm getting pretty close at this point. Hopefully.

So, I'm really excited to be going to Guatemala, although it still hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm going to be waking up at 4:45 and hopping on a plane to Miami. Unfortunately, I'm recovering from a bad head cold, so I'm not looking forward to the changes in pressure on the plane.

I guess I'm a little bit worried about teaching at the school. I've gotten more confident in Spanish over the years, and I hope I'm at the level where I can comfortably converse with others, but it's still a little nerve wracking! I'm sure everything will be fine once we get down there, and I have my awesome teaching buddy Akilah to help me out too :)

This is the first time I'm really going out of the country. (I've been to Canada once, but I don't really count that.) I'm excited to learn about the culture and eat lots and lots of good food !!!!

4 Day Jitters

7 a.m. waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs, gotta get my bowl, gotta get cereal. These are the words I say to myself as I wake up this morning. 4 days left until Saturday, which is after Friday, Rebecca Black has taught me. I've yet to pack and there are four days left. I don't know whether it's because I subconsciously don't want to leave or what. Regardless, there are four days left and I've got to ready. I've gotta catch my plane, I see my friends! Kicking in the back of the plane, sitting in the front of the plane, gotta make my mind up, which seat should I take? Saturday, I'm waiting for you.

Junior Journey Jitters

So, as the title says, I'm pretty nervous about this whole Junior Journey thing. Don't get me wrong, this is a great opportunity, but a couple of days ago I was seriously considering not going on Junior Journey. But then I realized, how stupid would I be to pass up on something like this? A lot of students would love to be in my position. I think I'm going to miss my family most of all. I'm really looking forward to bonding with my fellow Juniors, and hopefully, hopefully, we can all come out of this with a stronger sense of camaraderie.

Almost Gone

It's May 24th, four days before our class leaves for Guatemala. I'm both nervous and excited about this journey we are going to go on. I'm looking forward to learning more about Guatemalan culture and meeting new nice people. However I am nervous about leaving my own family for three weeks. The longest I had been away from them is a week or two so i'm worried about getting home sick. I'm looking forward to improving my spanish and seeing my famil over there. Even though I won't have my family with me I am hoping that our class will grow closer together and i'm pretty sure we will.

Before We Go

I want to learn about Guatemala and their culture/customs. I'm really looking forward to the spring weather and the different food! Aha! I'm kind of nervous about staying at someone elses house for 3 weeks, especially since I've never met them before. I hope to get to the airport on time because I'm afraid I'm going to oversleep the night before. I hope I get there!

4 days before I leave

It's four days before I leave and I don't really have any emotions. I'm not ecstatic about leaving, but neither am I upset. I'm just in a whatever mode. What am I looking forward to? I'm looking forward to just being able to make a difference in some kids lives and being in another country. Also, I am looking forward to taking risks and jumping into the lake and climbing a volcano and going down the zip-lines in Guatemala. What do I want to learn? I want to learn how to live life like the people in Guatemala. I know I am more fortunate than some in Guatemala, and I want to experience how they live. What am I nervous about? I'm not nervous about anything. I have been away from my parents for three weeks before and I just so happen to be away with a group of kids about the same size and same number of teachers. Of course I wasn't in Guatemala; I was in China, but we also had home-stays. Overall, I'm just ready to have some fun and experience something new.