In this semester-long unit of study, we explored various myths, legends, and stories of magic from the Spanish-speaking world. We read a full mini-novel in Spanish titled: El Ekeko: Un misterio boliviano. Read my description below of the book.
In the book El Ekeko, there is a boy named Paco, he is 13 years old and lives in a town called El Alto in Bolivia. Paco works as a shoe shiner to help his family with money because they are poor. Throughout the book Paco has two bullies named Nicolas and Mateo. Since Paco's family is very poor they don't have money to buy certain things, for example; Paco has very old shoes with holes in them. One day Paco told his mom that he needed new shoes, his mom said they didn't have enough money for that. She told him to go look in the closet for his grandpas old boots. As Paco was looking for the boots, he found a little doll named El Ekeko. Throughout the book Paco learns how to properly use the Ekeko's power and how to use it for good fortune.
One of the main things we learned during this unit was about Bolivia and how a lot of the families are poor and have to get help from their children. Many young children in Bolivia have to start working at a young age, some work in mines, some work as shoe shiners, and many others. It is crazy that a lot of the children don't even get to go to school and learn because they are busy all day helping their family make money. We also learned about this annual festival every January called the festival of Alasitas. During this festival people give their loved ones Ekeko's and little gifts to ensure good fortune in the new year. This festival is celebrated in La Paz, Bolivia and it is very important to the culture in Bolivia and everyone celebrates it.
The most interesting thing I learned during this unit is about Bolivia and their culture because it is very very different than the United States. Another thing I found very interesting is that most young children would rather go to school than work because school is a very big privilege for kids there. If you compare this to the United States, it is very different, most kids you ask this question will tell you that they would rather work than go to school. The most challenging thing during this unit was when we would read by paragraphs in the book and first would read in Spanish and then have to translate to English. I have hard time with not being able to get direct translation from Spanish to English or vice versa. I think I grew in my abitily to speak in Spanish and my comprehension when someone is speaking to me in only Spanish. I can understand most of what someone is saying when they speak to me in Spanish.