It’s a great feeling to take a class on a topic you really enjoy. However, I don’t think it has ever been this great of a feeling, that after struggling with my Portuguese for the first days of the program without having received any Portuguese lessons before, I now have about 3 weeks of intensive Portuguese classes and it feels so much better! I wasn’t able to understand what people would ask me and this week I was able to help two ladies in two different occasions. I have understood that knowing Spanish and learning Portuguese can be really good but really challenging at the same time.
The highlight of my trip so far was my visit to IPOM, a community project that we participate in as part of our program. IPOM is an NGO located in a very poor community, and depending, sometimes also referred to as a favela. These communities are known for the prevalence of drug trafficking, poor conditions of living, and a lot of violence. IPOM is a place that children from this community can attend and receive free diverse classes such as English, art, computer, capoeira, physical education and surfing. This place truly reminded me of the joy of spending time with children and why I chose to study education.
It was a challenge to communicate with the kids at IPOM because they spoke extremely fast!! That’s when I realized, my goodness, I know 0.01% of Portuguese. I learned that if you believe you can speak a language your best test is to talk to native speaking children. However, I’ve always believed that true human connections go beyond language barriers. I spent a day of pure joy! The kids taught me the Brazilian version of boom snap clap and then I taught them the version I know in English. We also played a really fun game were you have three steps to step on someone’s foot (kind of hard to explain in written form), but it was so much fun. It was about 5 or 6 of us playing at the beginning and then more kids kept adding on. It was also amazing to see these kids’ talents; their drawings were true works of art!
One of the highlights of this experience was the surfing class. This community is strategically located by the ocean and the relationship of this community with nature was amazing to see. Friday afternoon everyone from the neighborhood starts walking down to the beach and a bunch of soccer games start going on. More kids start coming with their surfboards for their lessons. The kids at IPOM are taught surfing every week right outside this place. Running to the water with all the kids, playing the shark, catching waves with them, helping them surf, them helping me surf, definitely a day filled with the best of happiness. Definitely a day I will never forget!