Its starting to feel natural here in Quang Tri! Thousands of miles away from home, I feel very comfortable with my group and I think we have all gotten in a good rhythm. The 4:45am wake up calls are starting to feel not so terrible, the 20 minute bike treks are becoming routine, and the 4.5 hours of construction are fun as hell! And most importantly and, to be honest, surprisingly, teaching has become comfortable. I was always very nervous about this portion of the trip. I was worried if I would be able to command a class, gain their respect, create a comfortable environment, and have enough energy to teach for 2 straight hours. After about a week, I think we all have it down. Lesson planning is becoming easier and easier. 2 hours seems like an eternity to fill when we first started, but now we have more experience of what works and what doesn't and it doesn't seem like such an insurmountable task. Class time is becoming less and less of something to merely get through, and more and more of something that I can have fun during.
I think yesterday is a perfect example of how much fun class can be. Yesterday we spent about half an hour teaching American slang to the class. We tough them how to have a conversation in slang and hilarity ensued.
"What's up Dude!"
"Not much dude, what's up with you?"
"Not much!"
It was absolutely "Awesome" (another word we taught them). And I think everyone had a great time, us included. After class we took the entire class out for ice cream which was an absolute blast. For about 13 bucks total, we got icecream for 28 people and let our class get a lot closer to eachother. I think I speak for Divya, Krista, and Phuc when I say that I love our class and they are gonna be a lot of fun for the next 6 weeks.
Today we are taking a tour up to the 17th parallel and going to the beach, so I'll let y'all know how all that goes. Maybe I'll find Charlie there.
Ta ta for now,
Nick
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