I have a new favorite pastime ;o)

¡Holaaaa friends! Woo, it has been a while – but that´s because life is going very well and I just haven´t taken the time to slow down and write!

My internship is going very well. It is not as independent as I had envisioned, but I don´t mind that. It is hard for me do be doing my own thing while I am working with a psychologist, and I´m not exactly qualified to evaluate children. :o) I am definitely learning a lot, though. Most days after I am done working with Soledad I stay and work in the after school program. Although it makes for along day, I really enjoy just hanging out with the kids and seeing them smile.

After lots of thinking and indecision, I´ve finally decided on a topic for my monografía. I have decided to write about maltreatment/abuse within families, especially within the indigenous culture where physical maltreatment is seen as an acceptable punishment. Example: In the indigenous culture, if a child touches something that he or she is not supposed to, it is custom to burn the child´s hands. Soledad and I are working with a boy who cannot bend his pointer finger because it is so badly burnt. I just can´t even imagine that such treatment is accepted.

Maltreatment generally is not the principal reason that children receive psychological help, but I´ve noticed that many of the kids who come in for different reasons also suffer from difficult family situations – and the impact of the abuse really inhibits their development.
I am pretty overwhelmed with actually writing my monografía. Sometimes I feel like I have way too much material to read, and sometimes I feel like it is nearly impossible to find what I want to see…but that´s how school is, yes?

Weekends! Family time. Willingly though – I´ve already decided that 5 weeks is not nearly enough time with my family. But I´ve also decided that all I can do is take advantage of the time that I have. My sister is only home on the weekends, so we try to find bonding time when one of us is not doing homework. Last weekend we went out with our cousins to “dar vueltas.” Haha. Okay so, the phrase “dar la vuelta” has become one of my favorite Spanish phrases. Its literal meaning is “to turn around,” but really, it has many meanings..Like..turn yourself around, flip the tortilla, flip over a piece of paper, turn the car around…or, my new favorite, to “dar vueltas” around town, to drive around town, all night long, just to pass the time. And this is like…a legit nighttime activity. Obviously gas is a bit less expensive here! ;o)

This weekend one of my friends from CIMAS, Emily, came to visit, and we went out with my sister and cousins, dar-ed some vueltas, and went to the “pipas” (hookah). Emily and I taught them how to play the card game BS. On Sunday, while my sister was buried in books, I went with my cousin and his friend to La Cascada de Peguche, a waterfall which is about a 20 minute walk from my house. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the waterfall was lovely. It was a nice Sunday trek.

And now we´re back to Monday. I am trying to remain motivated to get work done on my monografía, and trying not to pay too much attention to how quickly the time is passing!

Sending love and hugs! :o)
Jessica