On Tuesday, I went to the colegio (translated: high school)
to observe a little workshop that was going on. Some first year medical student
from Encarnacion came to chat with each classroom about what things they wanted
to change about the community. These were things regarding safety and security,
recreation, cleanliness, etc. They also talked about what they liked and didn’t
like about their school (i.e. were the teachers effective, did they have
temperature control during the various seasons, were their desks sufficient,
etc). Another main topic that they talked about was health (are they happy with
their home life, how many people share rooms, what do they know about sexual
health and healthy relationships). Most of these things seemed invasive and
private to me, not something that you’d talk about in a large group with your
peers, but I surprised at how honest some of the answers were. When it came to
the sexual health topic I was sort of disheartened by the miniscule amount of
information they were offering. I couldn’t tell if it was because they simply
didn’t know the answers, or because they were shy about it. It could be either
one. I find it hard to believe that they don’t know anything about STDs or
contraceptives, but I suppose it’s a possibility. Either way, I think I really
want to work with this youth about topics such as self-esteem, goal making,
personal growth, and build my way up to how to have a healthy relationship and
sexual health. Apparently teen pregnancy is a problem here and I think education
is an area that they really need some support in.
Another guapa thing my host siblings
and I have been doing is the Insanity workout program. If you’ve never done Insanity, let
me tell you that its name is perfect indicator of what it is. If you can do this program, sin problema, you are
probably insane. The reason we started is because my sister, Leti, asked me
when we were going to start doing exercises. This excited me and obviously I jumped
on the opportunity. I told them that this program was going to be super hard
but they were into it. After the first day, we were dying. My heart was pounding
so hard I was certain that my neighbors could hear it. I had never felt so out
of shape in my entire life. Wow. I’m 100% sure my siblings felt the same way. So
the second day, I was sort of afraid that I had scared them off with such an
intense first experience but they still agreed to do it. After this workout we
were also exhausted and full of sweat. But it was a positive thing, because the
next day they surprised me. I fully expected to have to coerce them with
promises of treats or something to get them to continue this crazy program, but
to my wonderful surprise they came home eager to start the next video. I’m just
hoping that this eagerness continues and that at some point it can maybe
blossom into a real live exercise group with some other members of the
community. I mean let’s not get ahead of ourselves or anything, I’m perfectly
content with my familial activities. (Did I mention that last night after our
workout, Mauri (my bro) and I made delicious brownies? It may or may not cancel
out the workout we did, but it was totally worth it. I’m just trying to share
some culinary culture, right?!). It's great because this has also lead to some great discussions about healthy eating and nutrition. I know it's only with my host family, but I think that it certainly counts!
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