Paelleros Sin Fronteras and thoughts

The last two weekends I have had the opportunity to attend two paella fiestas. Paella (pronounced something like pie-ay-ah) consists of a mountain of rice with green peppers, red peppers, artichoke and just about any kind of meat you want to throw in. The meat of choice for both the paellas was chicken thigh. Celebrations that include paella are worth commenting on because they are always exceptionally fun and the paella is always the center of the party. The typical routine is drink and snack as soon as the preparation of the paella begins. The paella always smells amazing and has an impressive evolution from ingredients to mass of yellow, green and red ricey deliciousness. Paella is cooked slowly over a massive frying pan and because the pan is not very deep it creates a massive surface of food and gives off a strong aroma which amps up everyone's excitement to eat. By the time the paella is done everyone's hunger is usually staved from snacking, but the paella is the grand prize and people keep on eating. When I return to the US I am going to try my best to replicate "una paella" - a celebration with paella. I would compare it to the American barbeque with a cultural difference.

The second weekend of "una paella" was to celebrate the birthday of a friend of a friend which was a lot of fun. We played paddle ball and ping pong when we weren't eating.

The weekend before, I attended "una paella" that was a celebration of the anniversary of the volunteer association that works with children who have cancer. It was much more unique. I recently started volunteering at this cancer center in a nearby hospital and was invited to participate in the party. At the hospital my job is to play with the children. It is the best volunteering I have done yet because it’s fun and rewarding.

At the party a non-profit organization called Paelleros Sin Fronteras showed up to cook a massive paella. Paelleros Sin Fronteras stands for "paella makers without borders!" It is an amazing organization of people that cooks massive paellas for any good cause. The pan that they cooked in was literally two yards in diameter and big enough to feed 250 people. It was so big that they were using oars to stir the paella. haha. Everyone was amazed by the paella and having a great time.

During the party there was a dance competition and I knew that one way or another I was going to be "animated" into joining the dance contest because that always seems to happen to me. So I was paired up and joined the competition. My partner and I made it to the second round, but were axed during the second evaluation of the dancers. Two of the children who are cancer patients at the hospital were in the final round dancing with their fathers. When the fathers and their daughters danced the final dance together all of the coordinators of the program and some of the other patients' parents were crying with happiness at the sight. It was an incredible experience. It felt really good to participate in something special for the children and help them too feel liberated and completely happy.

Before coming to Spain I had almost no experience working with young children and suddenly I became surrounded by children all the time. At first it was kind of difficult to teach because I just came out of college and really struggled to convey a subject in a manner in which the students could understand and relate to. Now I feel much more comfortable talking with children and really enjoy working with them (not always, they suck the life out of me). I really enjoy volunteering with children in the cancer center because I feel like I help them to do the things that make them happy.  The experience has made me realize how special childhood is and how much of a tragedy it is for a child to lose the opportunity to fully live their youth.

I have three more months left here in Spain and plan to explore the southern coast of Spain more thoroughly, but I don't think that much is going to change in my lifestyle as I now have a full schedule and a group of friends. But I am very satisfied now knowing that I have already gained a lot from participating in this program and living here for the past six months. I've come to really enjoy working with children; I understand children much better, understand education much better and remember much more of my own childhood and what I was like. When I become frustrated with students in class because they are not paying attention, goofing around or struggling with assignments I think about what it was like when I was a student their age and what I wish my teachers would have done for me. This helps me to be patient and do my best to make sure that they are learning rather than just finishing a worksheet by copying something they see.

And that’s the summary of my personal growth over the past half year: learning to play with children and how to throw a great party with paella.