Tuesday, June 9

Today I started my day with Fruit Loops cereal. And it was very good just like in the US I didn’t detect any difference in quality. Afterwards Juan’s father dropped his daughter (Juan’s twin sister) Josefina off at her school and shortly after he dropped off Juan and I. Juan and I started our day with roll call and it was a good experience with a very nosy group of restless seniors. Afterwards myself and the other exchange students from the United States went to three English classes: 

• The first English class focused on the subject of slang both in the English and Spanish language. It was a productive discussion in which I learned helpful and “non helpful” slang. The classroom was really strong and our teacher was not pleased with it and as a result (within the first 5-10 minutes) two students were kicked out of the class and sent to the office. But outside of that iconic introduction the classroom didn't end up settling down to her liking. 
• The second English class was our poetry class and the students were working on a project that revolved around famous poets and their connections / experiences with civil rights or the experience of any difficult adversity and general. However, although the concept of the project sounds interesting the instructions were exceedingly challenging and it was visibly stressing the students out which disappointed me slightly because I wanted to help them as much as possible but there was only so much I could do. However I did enjoy getting to know my group mates. 
• The third English class was with 6th and 7th graders which was by far my favorite class. In that class we introduced ourselves, answered some questions, received a history lesson on popular sweet treats and their origins, we played a very fun game comparing the difference between Coca-Cola and a drink that was nearly identical to it and lastly we took a group photo and although there were many group pictures taken that day, this picture was by far my favorite. 

Lastly after school half the group played a small game of soccer with one another and overall it was a very enjoyable yet exhausting day in the classes. Afterwards Juan and I went to a bookstore El Ateneo Grand Splendid that was essentially a bookstore inside of an opera house. And as someone who thoroughly enjoys book stores and theatrical structures like an opera house, for me I can confidently say it was one of the coolest and most amazing buildings I ever had the privilege of being inside of and the part is the most insane to me is how it is hidden amongst the other buildings on the street you could easily walk past it and not even notice it. At the store Juan bought some books for school where I bought a collection of stories from Edgar Allan Poe. The rest of the night was spent resting from the intensity that the day brought. Overall a very good day.  

-Aiden F.