Parties and Guinea Pigs

     Today was my first day speaking almost entirely in English with the students at Quinones. The students in my group were each 14 and 15 years old, and possessed intermediate English skills. Overall, their English was better than my Spanish; however, they still appreciated the English to Spanish dictionary I had in my backpack, and it facilitated our conversations immensely over the course of the class. The key to the success of the class was that both of us actively wanted to learn about each other and our respective cultures.
     The primary topic for my group was festivities and food. The students talked about popular holidays in Peru, particularly All Saints Day, and food, such as cuy, ceviche, and Chifa, the Peruvian variation of Chinese food. After they finished, I talked about food my family makes; I talked particularly about food from my mother's side of the family, which is Cuban and has many similarities to Peruvian food. I also talked about how Americans like to socialize, ranging from music concerts to small apartment parties between friends. The students were surprised to hear that not all American parties had dancing and music, while I was surprised that they had adopted several American slang terms (particularly "bae" and "diva") before my visit.
     I cannot wait to continue my work tomorrow, expand on it to include more meaningful subjects, and befriend the young people I am working with.