Girls are LOUD

When I meet someone for the first time, I often have a lot of questions. But do I ask them? No, I think it will be overwhelming, or too personal, so I try to keep the queries within reason. But kids don't have this limitation. They will ask whatever comes to mind, whenever. Sometimes all at once.

So today, my first day at a girls' school on the south side of Bogota, one of the 40 13-year-olds surrounding my desk looked at me in a rare quiet moment and asked, "Do you believe in God?" Actually she said, "Crees en Dios?" but whatever, I was taken aback. "I believe in the soul...and I believe we all have a spirituality, but God up in the sky I'm not sure about. I have a lot of questions" was the best I could come up with. It's funny how a direct question like that can be so hard to answer.

To backtrack, today was my first day at the Colegio Liceo Femenino Mercedes Narino (don't be thrown off by the church photo - it became a public school 3 years ago). I'm going to be lending a hand with sexual health and feminism classes, as near as I can tell. I wasn't sure exactly what I was signing on for when I met one of the teachers at the school at a conference, but when I mentioned I was looking for a place to volunteer with kids, her face lit up and I just couldn't say no.

And now I'm glad - these girls were great, not timid at all. That also translates into one helluva loud classroom, but it was loud with questions. And there's something very satisfying about a good, thought-provoking question, especially when it comes from a 13-yr-old girl who hasn't yet learned what not to ask.