We just wrapped up our first week at the after-school centers. At the beginning of the week we went into the center on Basti Island with a game plan. We soon learned that the game plan we created was just not going to work for many reasons. One of those reasons being the language barrier. We found it very hard to communicate our big lesson plans with the kids since their English isn’t always the best and our Spanish isn’t always the best! We then learned that our games and lesson plans we had were just way too confusing. So in the end we just decided to do what the kids want, and just play with them. After talking with Danielle yesterday and finalizing a simple plan and setting the goal of getting at least one game done and talking to their teacher and asking for help we were done. We decided that it would be easiest to start with small simple circle games. These games helped us bond with the kids and learn each other’s names. When we went back to the center today we started with more circle games and we really bonded with the kids. Their teacher brought a speaker today, so to end the day we decided to play freeze dance and teach them some of our favorite dances, like the macarena, popsicle, and my favorite cotton eye joe. I really enjoyed watching everyone follow my lead in cotton eye joe. I have bonded with this little 3 year old named Milli and I made her a bracelet and she has been following me around the whole time. It was so fun to dance with her today. Her smile and laugh are so contagious. Our group will definitely enjoy our weekend off! I can’t wait for snorkeling tomorrow and tour Cristobal on Sunday!