Mean girls

We have been working at Alinambi for the past 2 weeks teaching English, art, math, panaderia, and geography classes for a summer program. I've become quite attached to the kids (age range 3-17), although they can be a handful at times. It's difficult to separate the line between authority and friendship, but we manage. We have about 20 kids that come on a daily basis, always greeting us "profes" with big smiles, hugs and kisses. It saddens me that tomorrow will be our last day working with them. I genuinely enjoy every moment spent with the kids, and I believe they feel the same way about us.

La clase de panaderia
El Duncan y Alex

Field trip al Teleferiqo!

Holly y Ari

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Today we witnessed a cruel episode of youth social politics as cliques began to unveil. It felt like a reality version of Mean Girls without the jappy bs. The middle-aged group (~8-12) decided to single out one girl, Carmen (names have been changed), and made fun of her the entire day--not letting her participate in their games, sit with her, or become a part of their group. It was so blatant that it was heartbreaking, and us profes could only do so much. The "ringleader", Emilia, would hit her at times, making her cry. I noticed she was "recruiting" all the other kids in the group to "join" her against Carmen. "pshhpshpshpsh..." whispers everywhere. I was livid, but actually predicted this happening sooner or later. It's a natural social phenomenon. Almost every social circle will naturally form outgroups in order to distinguish themselves, create imaginary hierarchies, feel empowered, and keep themselves entertained. It's a cruel, cruel time in girl world. I had a little chat with Carmen and Emilia and Holly even threatened to take away "la clase de Panaderia." This seemed to have stopped the physical abuses, but the manipulative sequences continued. We played "Red Rover Red Rover" with them to try and establish a more welcoming environment and fortunately alleviated the tension slightly. Carmen however was rarely called upon to be "sent over." I had a scheming thought of playing "trust fall" with them and purposely not catching Emilia, but that would have been mean.

More later...