Tag Archives: culture

14/11/2012
2 Comments
awkward

logorrhea.

i think i have hit that amount of time in site/service, where what is considered normal/appropriate conversation is no longer filtered before leaving my mouth. in the past 3 days i have noticed that i have become exponentially more awkward, and honestly, not for the better. this makes me hesitant to have any conversations with any normal human being.

1. on sunday i met with my country director at an event. he made a comment on how i appear to have lost weight (honestly, god bless him because i feel the opposite with all the starches and sugar i take in), to which i made a quick response without thinking, “thanks. i have just been enjoying the food here and EVERYTHING that comes with it.” i immediately did a face palm. we, as volunteers, are accustomed to our bowel problems and talking about it openly with each other. however, i would say sharing such information with your country director is a whole other story. after i made this overshare of a quip, he repeated the phrase slowly to himself to make sense of it, and then realized the undertone of the message and started laughing. i was red with embarrassment and quickly switched the subject to his family. woops.

2. last night was my town’s iñikuk. this is a native pageant that showcases the moche language and culture and as well as the girls’ talents as well. they were kind enough to showcase me as well. they gave me a formal introduction and had me stand up and the hundreds of people their applauded. this was the opposite of my preferred stay in invisible as much as a gringa can mentality. then i was asked to hand all the candidates their questions for the question and answer portion. the mc then started asking me a lot questions, to which he asked if texas was near mexico. i said yes, and also new mexico and oklahoma. why???? the mc was starting to chuckle a bit. my nerves, they just got to me. why would anyone find oklahoma relevant here (no offense) or even new mexico??? yet, i still used them as a point of reference while i had a lot of blank stares. i just wanted to run. but instead i tried to gracefully give the girls their question cards. also, i wish there was warning about my stage debut….i would have brushed my teeth or put on some makeup or something….

anyways, moral of the story is that i am awkward. i am embracing it. so should you.

Tagged ,
12/11/2012
1 Comment
happenings, sex ed

let’s talk about s-e-x.

the needed materials for a great sex ed charla.

as mentioned previously, i was asked to work on some sex ed charlas for the colegio. since i lack in the needed spanish language vocabulary for this, i had doris, my socia at the health post, take care of the technical stuff and i did all the dinamicas.

our icebreaker dinamica was a hit. new favorite icebreaker FOUND.

doris taking it away! such a super star.

in regards to the dianamicas i helped with changing up the feel for the charla, so it wasn’t just her lecturing about the consequences of adolescent pregnancy. we put questions in balloons and would pass the balloons around the classroom like hot potato and when the music stopped the kids had to pop the balloon and ask the question that was inside the balloon. this worked especially well since the kids are incredibly shy…relatively speaking.

i have had a number of people mention in the interviews that i had with them that adolescent pregnancy is a problem in tucume. in my surveys, it’s become quite apparent that the kids have little to no understanding of contraceptives, but have also been (thankfully) honest in stating that if the opportunity presented itself they would engage in sexual relations with their partner. honestly, the latter-half isn’t a surprise, as it is just as common in the us. it’s the preventative part that worries me. we didn’t have much time with the kids, but it was really important to me that we talk about contraceptives and to really think about the responsibility that comes with sexual activity. after the serious part of my soap box, i did what every teenager dreams of (but actually fears), i held a condom race!

really the point behind the race is to give an opportunity to all the students to hold, handle and practice using a condom (with a banana of course). this way the idea of using a condom is not a foreign idea…plus condoms are free at the health post…FREE. anyways, it’s also great because it relieves the pressure of practicing this in a room full of people as well.

giving some tips on how to apply the condom.

all-in-all, we taught this lesson to all the 4th years in secondaria…more than 125 students in total. hopefully it will help some students in their decision making process in regards to not only their sexual health but also their future.

one of the aulas.

Tagged , ,
Newer posts →