Guarderia

I’ve been spending most of my afternoons volunteering, which has helped make my experience in Xela good. The Guarderia is similar to a day care center for low-income families, usually the Dad is in America or absent and so the Mom must work here.

The day care center which has a cow for milk, a wood burning stove, dirt floors and with outside bathrooms, (things that I can’t help but think would not fly in the U.S.) Despite these kids being ‘low-income’ by Guatemalan standards are the sweetest kids ever! They are all so well-behaved and eager to learn. First we help with homework and then play outside or teach them English songs.

Edwin, an 11 year boy just blew me away - he needed help on his math homework and I thought I was a calculus tutor of course I can help. It was hard! He was learning binomial numbers, the Mayan number system, some other system based on 8 and then the regular decimal system, yet he and I managed to get through it, then play some soccer and he gave me a big hug for helping him. Do 11 year old boys in the US hug?