Culture

My students and I have moved on to the next unit of study, Latin America. We started by learning about the physical geography, and I showed them a short clip about healthcare in Ecuador. There was a part about a local medicince woman who used a Guinnea Pig to detect ailments in the people she was treating. She would take a live Guinnea Pig, and move it slowly around the person's body. She would then kill and disect the animal and where the pig had an ailment, supposedly so did the person. Well my kids thought this was cool/wierd/sad/gross, but related it to their own lives!

Most of them have had something similar done, but with an egg in place of a pet. Their mother or grandmother would move the egg around their body, and then crack it into a glass of water and let it sit. They would then examine the egg, and depending on it's color/the way it rested/what stuff was in it, they could tell what was wrong with their kid. AWESOME. They also told me about the "ojo" which is spanish for eye - they do the same thing to babies and also give them a black and red bracelet/necklace to wear to warn off the "bad ojo", or bad luck/sins. I then asked my students if they would raise their hand if they or their family was from a country that we are currently studying. Over 80% of my students raised their hands! Many are from central america or Mexico, and I hope to use that connection to make this unit especially relevent.

One of my students also introduced me to the idea that you can tell what gender baby you are going to have someday using a necklace and a ring. If it spins one way, it's a boy, and the other if it's a girl. Turns out I am going to have 4 kids - 1 girl and 3 boys. Umm... probably not! Hahah.