Yo Hice Tres Presentaciones Hoy

Today was my first time presenting our project. I'd finished the slideshow I wanted to use (as a way to remind myself what to talk about and a way to keep everyone entertained with pretty pictures) last night, and I woke up earlier than usual this morning to get in the most practice possible before getting to school. Practicing was kind of weird for me - I've literally never practiced for any kind of oral presentation in my entire career as a Lovett student, so this was new.

I think my presentations went very well! I had to give two of them in Spanish, which was rough, but I felt more confident than I usually do when I give Spanish presentations, and I knew it was because I'd really improved my speaking abilities while in Guatemala. I really can't even begin to explain how helpful immersion is. Even though I did kind of stumble over my conjugations and there were some things I just didn't get to touch on because I don't know how to say them in Spanish, I did get my main points across in each presentation: I talked about the history of Guatemala, the civil war and genocide there, the conservative and patriarchal society, the food, how important religion is to them, their values, and the great work we did at Hogar Temporal. Everyone was actually really interested, and I got a lot of questions! To be perfectly honest, during most school presentations, everyone just pretends they have nothing they want to say so that we can move on, so it was great to see this level of interest.

My title slide! That's Santa María, the volcano we hiked up.

While at school, I met with Mrs. Morris-Long to tell her about our trip, and to ask for her advice on how to prepare for the defense. I mean, I had literally no idea what the defense was, but it turns out it was basically what I'd done for those Spanish classes. She suggested we do a little summary of what we did, then talk about what we got of it - our favorite experiences, what the service meant to us, things we'd learned, and how we grew over the course of the project. It was really helpful. I spent the rest of the day brainstorming, planning, and beginning to craft a new powerpoint (the one I've got is written in Spanish, so).

My only concern is that I'll finish everything I need to do before reaching that golden 42 hours. I mean, I'm basically done. So I guess I'll be practicing and tweaking for the next 17 hours.

Even though we're finishing ahead of schedule and that might actually hurt us, it is great to be so close to finishing!