Practicum Party

Well, practicum is over. Tonight was our last night. It was so much fun, but also so sad. The first half was a presentation each class prepared to show what they have learned over the last four weeks. The beginning 1 class did a game which involved playing telephone with names of foods and the beginning 2 class sang a song. Then the high intermediate (the group I worked with most, especially in the last week) held a debate about capital punishment. Yeah... they are really advanced.

Over the last four weeks, we have all grown to love these people. They are all so sweet and funny, and they try so hard. I grew especially attached to the high intermediate class. In fact, here's a picture of me with them tonight (and Cat in the top left corner, sneaking into the picture):

From the left is Socorro, Maria, Jose, and Sarah. They are amazing. In my last lesson, I was teaching them things like psychologist and objective v. subjective. What was great about tonight was that after the presentations we got to just hang out and eat with them. We provided cake, and several of the students brought their favorite dishes. I ended up getting two recipes from Maria. I could tell how excited she was to be able to teach me something. Most of them are married and have children, and they are all older than us, so it has been odd that we are the teachers and they are the students. I wish we'd gotten more time to simply socialize with them, because I know they would have a lot to teach us as well.

It was such a fun evening all around, and we there was much shaking hands and hugging and thanks at the end. Most of the students came up to each of us to thank us, and Socorro kept telling me how much she was going to miss us. I'm sad that it's over, but so thankful that we have had the opportunity to work with and get to know so many wonderful people.