Paper Planes: 101

So yesterday was my first day of teaching...and it was very enjoyable I must say!  The thing with teaching is that it is totally unpredictable, and causes you to resort to "plan B" (that never really ever was planned.)  I am teaching in Tehuacan, Mexico at a small school that is a 25 minute walk away from my house.  I have a very small classroom that fits about 6 comfortably, 7 tops.  Well for my first session which is from 4-6 at night, my first class was only supposed to have 4 children in it.  However, as time passed they showed up...and showed up.....and showed up!  By the end of the class I had 10 kids in my small hot and sweaty classroom.  Now this was a little hectic considering I only prepared for 4 kids, but it magically worked out somehow!  :)  So for each session I teach 4 classes with different children.  The next session starts at 6 and ends at 8, so 8 classes total in a 4 hour period, leaves for one very tired teacher!  The children were also very tired at this time of night, so it was hard to get them to speak. 

I am in charge of arts and crafts for the next couple of weeks, so for our first day we made paper airplanes...more like 60 paper airplanes!  I don't think I will have any desire to make another one any time soon.  Today we will make popsicle stick people...and my psychic tendencies tell me I will not even want eat a popsicle for a long while to come. 

But let me talk about the best part of this whole process; the children.  :D  I love each and every one of them!  They are all amazing in their own way, whether it be "cute" amazing, "smart" amazing, or "pushing it" amazing.  :p  They each have the gift to make me smile, and I am glad that I am able to teach them what I was blessed to know:  English.  They may not appreciate it, or even learn anything now, or even next week, or nothing at all.  But I hope that they will remember that I cared about them, and wanted them to do well in life.  I hope that they will be able to look back and remember the teacher who cared about them with the small footprints she left behind in Mexico.