Just Call Me “Teacha [Teacher] Heeeeelary”

Due to some “logistical challenges,” my jump rope club in El Hogar María Gorreti has evolved into an English class. I can’t say that it wasn’t a disappointment to end this endeavor, but I do believe it will perhaps be revived at some point in the near future. In the meantime, I feel that the absence of this chaotic club in my schedule has freed up lots of energy for me, and I’m glad that I can still be a part of the girls’ lives.

My English class has presented its own unique set of challenges, but it has also provided me with some amusing moments as well. For instance, yesterday, four of the girls asked me if I would do them the favor of translating texts they had written. (As a side note, I have become quite popular as a translator here, constantly receiving emails with letters, applications, and documents to translate. Ergo, I am becoming very experienced and efficient at transforming Spanish into English!). I naively agreed and found that each of my students had written love letters to the boys of their “corazones” that were quite entertaining. My favorite was one that concluded dramatically with, “You know that I love you wholeheartedly and want to be with you forever. But you already have someone, and that someone is not me.” Ah, the heartache of teenage love!

Here I am with a few of my dear, oh-so-charming-and-well-behaved students.