This week I started teaching in a couple of the nearby schools. I helped organize a clean-up weekend for this coming Friday and Sunday, so the topic of the classes was environmental contamination. We played a game, sang a song, I attempted to say a few words. During today´s class the director made a few comments to the students about how they should pay extra attention to me when I speak because I have an accent and say things differently (and accidently called a niño a niña - called him a girl, to the amusement of his peers). All in all, the classes went well and I look forward to working with both schools in the future.

The kids make the whole experience of embarrassing myself worthwhile, defining the expression of laughing with me, rather than at me. Their innocence, interested questions and energy are a welcomed relief from the sometimes condescending and impatient adult world. If I ever feel lonely, I will go to one of the schools and immediately be surrounded by kids yelling my name and not feeling bad when I have no other answer than "hola" because there are so many and their names are spoken to me in shy whispers; different names hard to grasp and even more difficult to remember.

Students are so used to simply copying from the blackboard and listening for hours on end that any mention of a hands-on activity immediately wins over a class. I feel like the grandparent or cool aunt, going to the school once or twice a week and spoiling the kids with fun activities and leaving most of the discipline and hard work to the teachers the rest of the week. However, it´s the fun activities and songs that I remember most from school, so I have no doubt that expanding the limits of the Panamanian educational system´s techniques will do much harm. Perhaps the teaching I dreaded will become my favorite part of this experience here in Panama.