Me duele mis piernas. Translation? My legs hurt. Why you may ask? Well, let’s just say Dia del Niño is going to ROCK – Lady Gaga style.
Dia del Niño (aka Children’s Day) is a national holiday in Guatemala celebrated on October 1st every year. There is no school and it’s basically just a day for kids to celebrate being kids :). I remember asking my parents when I was younger why there we had a “Father’s Day” and a “Mother’s Day” and a “Grandparent’s Day” but no “Kid’s day”…and the response was always – “Because kid’s day is EVERY DAY!” While that may be true, I would still prefer to have a pretty awesome day set aside to celebrate ;-). This year we’re going to be celebrating on Thursday (September 30th) aka no school once again…WOO!
Anyhoo. Why do my legs hurt you ask?? Because all of the adults that work at NPH – in the office, in the school, the volunteers – EVERYONE – prepare presentations to make for the kids, whether they are dances, obras (short plays/skits), etc. SO! The volunteers are preparing a sweet skit involving some of the volunteers sitting on a “couch” watching music videos on MTV…aka the rest of us doing dances. The other part of the group is doing a Derrenguense dance (traditional Central American dance) while my half is doing a Lady Gaga medley, consisting of “Just Dance,” “Alejandro,” and “Telephone.” AKA IT ROCKS. And while our dance is going to blow everyone out of the water…my legs are killing me. Hopefully I’ll get a copy of our dance to post on our blog after Dia del Niño – be on the lookout!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Pictures of the home
FINALLY I have posted pictures of the home where I live and work…aka pictures I took about 2 months ago… :) Beautiful – ain’t it?
My walk up to school every day
The front of the comedor
The outside of the talleres
The granja (farm)
The campo (aka where the kids play soccer) and the kids´ houses in the background - casa de bebes y ninas on the left (baby´s house and girl´s house) and casa de varones on the right (boy´s house)
My walk up to school every day
The front of the comedor
The outside of the talleres
The granja (farm)
The campo (aka where the kids play soccer) and the kids´ houses in the background - casa de bebes y ninas on the left (baby´s house and girl´s house) and casa de varones on the right (boy´s house)
English Classroom
Soooooo I wrote a long time ago about how awesome the English Department is and that I was going to post pictures….I know you were all waiting in anticipation for these…
the desks in my classroom
my board, complete with seating chart and homework incentives
the back of our room, aka our FABULOUS array of English teaching books, our computers that don´t function except to pass along viruses, and my desk off to the right :)
the desks in my classroom
my board, complete with seating chart and homework incentives
the back of our room, aka our FABULOUS array of English teaching books, our computers that don´t function except to pass along viruses, and my desk off to the right :)
Anniversario
So the other part of our meeting last night was to get the kids pumped up about anniversario del hogar (the anniversary of the founding of the home). But wait…I thought anniversario wasn’t until November?? Why get the kids excited about an event that’s still 6 weeks away???
Here at NPH we CLEARLY have a lot of random holidays, days off from school, bailes (dances), random competitions…you get the picture. So I’m at our meeting thinking…what could make anniversario any different? There will be some singing, some dancing, some organized contest and then we’ll call it a day, right?
SO WRONG.
It turns out that, as Carrie explained it to me, anniversario is basically a FULL ON, two-day “battle of the classes” style competition. Each of the kids, tios, and volunteers are assigned to a mixed team of random people (kids, locals, and volunteers all together per team, all the sections mixed up too.) Each team meets at least once a week for the 6 weeks leading up to the anniversario to prepare a team name, dances, chants, cheers, etc. to present during the two days of competitions. In addition, on the days of the actual anniversario, it’s basically just a huge boot camp with games consisting of: tug of war (I’ve heard it’s over a mud pit…jury’s still out on that one…), army crawling through obstacle courses, etc. Apparently it’s every kid at NPH’s favorite holiday – AND WHY WOULDN’T IT BE??? I’m pretty stoked for anniversario…although I guess it’s time to start the physical training!
Here at NPH we CLEARLY have a lot of random holidays, days off from school, bailes (dances), random competitions…you get the picture. So I’m at our meeting thinking…what could make anniversario any different? There will be some singing, some dancing, some organized contest and then we’ll call it a day, right?
SO WRONG.
It turns out that, as Carrie explained it to me, anniversario is basically a FULL ON, two-day “battle of the classes” style competition. Each of the kids, tios, and volunteers are assigned to a mixed team of random people (kids, locals, and volunteers all together per team, all the sections mixed up too.) Each team meets at least once a week for the 6 weeks leading up to the anniversario to prepare a team name, dances, chants, cheers, etc. to present during the two days of competitions. In addition, on the days of the actual anniversario, it’s basically just a huge boot camp with games consisting of: tug of war (I’ve heard it’s over a mud pit…jury’s still out on that one…), army crawling through obstacle courses, etc. Apparently it’s every kid at NPH’s favorite holiday – AND WHY WOULDN’T IT BE??? I’m pretty stoked for anniversario…although I guess it’s time to start the physical training!
New Arrivals
Outside of the volunteer houses we have an announcement board that tells us all the things we are supposed to know. HOWEVER, most of the time it isn’t updated until about an hour before we need to be somewhere, so it is your responsibility to check it…basically all the time. Last night the board said that all the volunteers were expected to be at formation at 5:30 (aka when the kids line up to receive announcements and pray before dinner).
The purpose of the meeting was two-fold: 1. To announce the arrival of four new children and 2. To get the kids excited about El Anniversario del Hogar (more on that to come later).
Within the past week we have had four new children arrive at NPH, two rather young boys (around 6-7), and two girls, (somewhere around 15-17 years old). Yesterday’s formation served as their formal presentation and welcome into the NPH family. For me, I feel like these presentations are such a strange mixture of emotions depending on your point of view. For the kids already here at NPH I feel like it’s a mix of: wonderment – what will they be like, how will they fit in with the rest of the home?, excitement – new friends to make, new people to hang out with, and happiness – that despite wherever these kids have come from they can have a home and a family here. But those are the feelings of the kids who already HAVE a home here, who already feel comfortable in their sections and with their tios, and who already know the names and faces of every other child surrounding them every day.
Yet for the 4 kids standing up there, all I could see in their eyes was sadness and fear. I guess you would see that from anyone standing up in front of 200 strangers declaring “I’M NEW – I DON’T YET BELONG HERE,” but it doesn’t make it any easier to see. I have NO IDEA what these children have been through or what their particular circumstances are that brought them to our door, but during the presentations, looking in their eyes, mine suddenly began to water. The thing is, I KNOW that this home is probably going to be a billion times better than wherever they came from, and I KNOW that this home will provide them with so much love…I just hope they can see it, and I hope they can experience that love and sense of home that NPH is here to provide.
I know that every child here at NPH must start somewhere, and I know that every one of them probably looked as sad and scared as the children I saw standing up there last night… I know it takes time to become comfortable with new surroundings and people and rules and everything… I’m just looking forward to watching them become a part of our family.
The purpose of the meeting was two-fold: 1. To announce the arrival of four new children and 2. To get the kids excited about El Anniversario del Hogar (more on that to come later).
Within the past week we have had four new children arrive at NPH, two rather young boys (around 6-7), and two girls, (somewhere around 15-17 years old). Yesterday’s formation served as their formal presentation and welcome into the NPH family. For me, I feel like these presentations are such a strange mixture of emotions depending on your point of view. For the kids already here at NPH I feel like it’s a mix of: wonderment – what will they be like, how will they fit in with the rest of the home?, excitement – new friends to make, new people to hang out with, and happiness – that despite wherever these kids have come from they can have a home and a family here. But those are the feelings of the kids who already HAVE a home here, who already feel comfortable in their sections and with their tios, and who already know the names and faces of every other child surrounding them every day.
Yet for the 4 kids standing up there, all I could see in their eyes was sadness and fear. I guess you would see that from anyone standing up in front of 200 strangers declaring “I’M NEW – I DON’T YET BELONG HERE,” but it doesn’t make it any easier to see. I have NO IDEA what these children have been through or what their particular circumstances are that brought them to our door, but during the presentations, looking in their eyes, mine suddenly began to water. The thing is, I KNOW that this home is probably going to be a billion times better than wherever they came from, and I KNOW that this home will provide them with so much love…I just hope they can see it, and I hope they can experience that love and sense of home that NPH is here to provide.
I know that every child here at NPH must start somewhere, and I know that every one of them probably looked as sad and scared as the children I saw standing up there last night… I know it takes time to become comfortable with new surroundings and people and rules and everything… I’m just looking forward to watching them become a part of our family.
Multiplication Tables
All week my girls have been studying for their end of the year exams – tests they have in EVERY class that they’re in. Some of my girls were having particular trouble with their multiplication table…and that’s where I came in with a few tricks up my sleeve…
I’m not quite sure exactly where I learned this trick for remembering the 9 times table but I think it might have had something to do with Mrs. Cox in the third grade… If you’re trying to multiply 9 times another number you can use your fingers to figure it out. Put your hands out in front of you, palms towards you, and think of the number you want to multiply by 9…say 3X9 – put down your third finger…the number of fingers to the left of the finger that’s down is the tens column, to the right is the ones column…and it works for the 9 times table up until 10 – imagine that!
I’m pretty sure that my rapid knowledge of my times tables has made me a pretty “cool kid” in my section :).
I’m not quite sure exactly where I learned this trick for remembering the 9 times table but I think it might have had something to do with Mrs. Cox in the third grade… If you’re trying to multiply 9 times another number you can use your fingers to figure it out. Put your hands out in front of you, palms towards you, and think of the number you want to multiply by 9…say 3X9 – put down your third finger…the number of fingers to the left of the finger that’s down is the tens column, to the right is the ones column…and it works for the 9 times table up until 10 – imagine that!
I’m pretty sure that my rapid knowledge of my times tables has made me a pretty “cool kid” in my section :).
Aww man I had school ALL WEEK…
So after a GLORIOUS week of no school, we unfortunately had a FULL WEEK of school this week! Who decided that the teachers here should actually have to work?!? This is ridiculous! Oh well I guess I can’t complain, after almost 2 weeks with no school…only 6 more days left!
Pneumonia
So the headline of this blog post kind of says it all. That’s right, I have pneumonia. I’ve had a pretty nasty cough for about a month now. At first I thought it was just a cough, so I took some Nyquil and called it a day. After about 2 weeks of endless coughing I visited the clinic, where Corinna, our resident volunteer doctora gave me some pills prescribed for a cough and a cold.
But after my weekend in El Salvador I developed a pain on the right side of my ribs and went back to the clinic. After listening to my lungs for a solid 4 minutes, she told me I had pneumonia. Bummer. She gave me a plethora of drugs for the pain, the cough, and the pneumonia, and I’ve been in bed resting A LOT this week. Tomorrow I^m off to Antigua to get an xray of my chest... Here’s hoping que me mejoro ahorita! (that I get better soon!)
But after my weekend in El Salvador I developed a pain on the right side of my ribs and went back to the clinic. After listening to my lungs for a solid 4 minutes, she told me I had pneumonia. Bummer. She gave me a plethora of drugs for the pain, the cough, and the pneumonia, and I’ve been in bed resting A LOT this week. Tomorrow I^m off to Antigua to get an xray of my chest... Here’s hoping que me mejoro ahorita! (that I get better soon!)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Parade Day in Itzapa…TAKE 2
Sooooooooooo again, no school last Tuesday. Who’s surprised? Instead, all of the schools in the area gathered in Itzapa for a HUGE parade through the streets. This time the teachers were NOT in charge of separating bands – HOORAY! Our only job for the day was the walk in the parade with our schools and make sure the kids stayed in straight lines. After the boredom Sam and I had suffered the day before, I decided this would be a fun activity to bring my camera to to take some sweet pictures of ALLLLLLLLLLthe kids in our school in their adorable uniforms :).
I lugged around my heavy camera and got some awesome shots of the kids…but the parade was good for more than just that. Because the parade was to celebrate Guatemala’s independence, EVERYONE from Itzapa was out in the streets, and almost all of them wore their traditional “traje” that is, the traditional dress of the Mayan people of Guatemala.
Guatemala is an extremely unique country and culture in that it is made up of many indigenous groups. Guatemala consists of 23 different Mayan cultures, each with their own language, traditional foods, and trajes, traditional dress. Simply based on what kind of traje someone is wearing, you can immediately know the region of Guatemala that they are originally from and what their native language is – all pretty awesome.
Anyway! While I was there mostly to take pictures of the kids, I also used my position in the middle of a parade to my advantage to take LOTS of pictures of indigenous people wearing their traditional traje. At first I was really hesitant – many Guatemalans do not want their picture to be taken because they fear it is bad luck, but also because they fear you will sell their images for money…most likely very true of a lot of people with big cameras like mine… Regardless, after a while I warmed up to the idea and started asking locals if I could take their picture. I spoke to a lot of different people and so many of them were so excited to have their picture taken! I was really surprised and really pleased :). Anyhoo, the following are some of my favorite pictures I took on the day (there are a lot more that I will try to post when I have better internet...) – I hope you enjoy them!
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I lugged around my heavy camera and got some awesome shots of the kids…but the parade was good for more than just that. Because the parade was to celebrate Guatemala’s independence, EVERYONE from Itzapa was out in the streets, and almost all of them wore their traditional “traje” that is, the traditional dress of the Mayan people of Guatemala.
Guatemala is an extremely unique country and culture in that it is made up of many indigenous groups. Guatemala consists of 23 different Mayan cultures, each with their own language, traditional foods, and trajes, traditional dress. Simply based on what kind of traje someone is wearing, you can immediately know the region of Guatemala that they are originally from and what their native language is – all pretty awesome.
Anyway! While I was there mostly to take pictures of the kids, I also used my position in the middle of a parade to my advantage to take LOTS of pictures of indigenous people wearing their traditional traje. At first I was really hesitant – many Guatemalans do not want their picture to be taken because they fear it is bad luck, but also because they fear you will sell their images for money…most likely very true of a lot of people with big cameras like mine… Regardless, after a while I warmed up to the idea and started asking locals if I could take their picture. I spoke to a lot of different people and so many of them were so excited to have their picture taken! I was really surprised and really pleased :). Anyhoo, the following are some of my favorite pictures I took on the day (there are a lot more that I will try to post when I have better internet...) – I hope you enjoy them!
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A Day in Itzapa
Soooo after a very relaxing weekend in El Salvador, we returned to work on Monday. OF COURSE there was no school (haven’t you been reading my blog to know we NEVER have school!??) Instead, since it was Independence week, the kids had…you guessed it…ANOTHER PARADE!! AND AGAIN the English teachers and Basico teachers were in charge of making sure the bands didn’t get too close to one another, which was again followed by a 7 minute performance from each band. The biggest difference? This parade had 19 BANDS! While the other one only had 9.
Anyway, we lead the bands around the town of Itzapa (about 10 minutes drive from Parramos) and after we returned a good 30 minutes later, the kids in the bands each had to wait their turn to perform, but afterwards they were allowed to go. I thought, SWEET! How long could we possibly be here?? So what number band were we you ask? Why number 19 BUT OF COURSE.
Sam and I asked if we were allowed to catch a bus back to Parramos but the answer was a resounding no. We were told we could do whatever we wanted in Itzapa, but had to stay until the band had performed…Great.
What do you do when you’re stuck in a town with nothing to do and no where to go? Find a panaderia of course! We walked for about 10 minutes until we found one (which was about 9 ½ minutes longer than we thought we’d have too…) and bought some DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls and strawberry turnovers. Then, with roughly 2 hours to go, we went into a tienda (shop) and bought a deck of cards. We proceeded to play “Shoothead” (the watered down version of course…) for a good 2 hours, teaching the onlookers, aka the kids in our band, as we played. Man was I glad I’d brought money to Itzapa that day…
Anyway, we lead the bands around the town of Itzapa (about 10 minutes drive from Parramos) and after we returned a good 30 minutes later, the kids in the bands each had to wait their turn to perform, but afterwards they were allowed to go. I thought, SWEET! How long could we possibly be here?? So what number band were we you ask? Why number 19 BUT OF COURSE.
Sam and I asked if we were allowed to catch a bus back to Parramos but the answer was a resounding no. We were told we could do whatever we wanted in Itzapa, but had to stay until the band had performed…Great.
What do you do when you’re stuck in a town with nothing to do and no where to go? Find a panaderia of course! We walked for about 10 minutes until we found one (which was about 9 ½ minutes longer than we thought we’d have too…) and bought some DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls and strawberry turnovers. Then, with roughly 2 hours to go, we went into a tienda (shop) and bought a deck of cards. We proceeded to play “Shoothead” (the watered down version of course…) for a good 2 hours, teaching the onlookers, aka the kids in our band, as we played. Man was I glad I’d brought money to Itzapa that day…
El Salvador
So Sam and I were talking one day last week about how we felt we hadn’t travelled anywhere in a while. One thing I’ve heard from many of the past volunteers is that it’s important to use your weekends to get away from NPH every once in a while so as not to feel trapped. It’s a VERY comfortable place and I could easily see how a person could just become so comfortable that they never want to leave/go out/travel away. After hearing this so many times, we decided it was high time to take an impromptu vacation. And what better place to take an impromptu vacation to then El Salvador!
We decided roughly 3 days beforehand that we were going to go to El Salvador, but the rest of the logistics were pretty difficult to figure out. How to get there? Where to stay? Why travel so far on Friday just to come back on Sunday? And what to do about the “event” that the English department was supposed to be decorating the comedor for that we had just found out about that day?! We decided our best bet would be to ask for a “permiso” for Friday so we could leave Thursday afternoon.
Volunteers at NPH are given 4 weeks of vacation in the course of a year, but we are also allowed to take “personal days”. These can be taken if you’re sick, if you’re just having a REALLY rough day, or if you have worked really hard and earn an extra day off. Sam and I approached the principal of our school, Martha Julia, and explained how much work we had been doing recently and how much time we spend in the English department. We were pretty much prepared to BEG for Friday off, but luckily didn’t have to :). Instead she signed our papers and wished us Bon Voyage saying it was our responsibility to make sure all the decorations for the comedor were completed in advance and ready to go for Friday. WOO WOO!
Armed with our permisos, we were ready and willing to put in the extra hours. We stayed late in the English department every day that week (we even worked from 7 am until 10 pm one night!), making posters, signs, flags, etc. for the comedor.
A few of the other volunteers also decided to request permiso. Hooray! After the Band event on Thursday morning, Sam, Leeah, Katie, Carrie, and I packed our bags and headed up to NPH’s main entrance to catch our shuttle. After an EXTREMELY stressful 72 hours, we couldn’t believe we were finally on our way!
We arrived in our private shuttle very late on Thursday (after wayyyy too many stops trying to find an ATM – 4th times the charm…), drank some DELICIOUS and FREE juice smoothies thanks to our fantastic hostel, El Roble, (mine was strawberry and banana with orange juice – aka HEAVEN), played a couple rounds of cards, and then headed in for the night.
The next morning I woke up RIDICULOUSLY early – we’re talking 5:45 am. For all of you who think that I sleep all day – just remember that pretty much every day I wake up at 6 am SANS alarm clock. My days of sleeping until noon are long gone! Anyhoo, I showered, took tons of pictures of our hostel, and ate a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit and rolls. My friends woke up about 3 hours later and we proceeded to eat all of our glorious and free buffet breakfast…not realizing that there were other people staying in the hostel! Oops…none left for the boys! Oh well, they were pretty cool about it and we ended up making some pretty good friends with Hjalmar from Norway and John from England.
The rest of the weekend consisted of A LOT of the beach, which for me meant a lot of sunburning. Yikes. I NEVER burn. And I thought I never would. But apparently the El Salvadoran sun did me in! I think on any subsequent trips to the beach I will be investing in some sunscreen… It also consisted of a LOT of drinking (including a dance contest between myself and Hjalmar – unfortunately he won, but I’m pretty sure it was rigged…), a LOT of smoothies (I couldn’t get enough of the strawberry, banana, orange juice concoctions!), a lot of hammocks, and some good times with good friends :).
Our last night we went to the beach to take pictures of the fairly nonexistent sunset, and although I didn’t get too many good pictures of the beach, I got some pretty sweet ones of the girls :) Overall a pretty sweet vacation, and I look forward to more trips to El Roble :).
the beach :)
my attempt at being artsy...
sunset
me, Leeah, Sam, Katie, and Carrie
We decided roughly 3 days beforehand that we were going to go to El Salvador, but the rest of the logistics were pretty difficult to figure out. How to get there? Where to stay? Why travel so far on Friday just to come back on Sunday? And what to do about the “event” that the English department was supposed to be decorating the comedor for that we had just found out about that day?! We decided our best bet would be to ask for a “permiso” for Friday so we could leave Thursday afternoon.
Volunteers at NPH are given 4 weeks of vacation in the course of a year, but we are also allowed to take “personal days”. These can be taken if you’re sick, if you’re just having a REALLY rough day, or if you have worked really hard and earn an extra day off. Sam and I approached the principal of our school, Martha Julia, and explained how much work we had been doing recently and how much time we spend in the English department. We were pretty much prepared to BEG for Friday off, but luckily didn’t have to :). Instead she signed our papers and wished us Bon Voyage saying it was our responsibility to make sure all the decorations for the comedor were completed in advance and ready to go for Friday. WOO WOO!
Armed with our permisos, we were ready and willing to put in the extra hours. We stayed late in the English department every day that week (we even worked from 7 am until 10 pm one night!), making posters, signs, flags, etc. for the comedor.
A few of the other volunteers also decided to request permiso. Hooray! After the Band event on Thursday morning, Sam, Leeah, Katie, Carrie, and I packed our bags and headed up to NPH’s main entrance to catch our shuttle. After an EXTREMELY stressful 72 hours, we couldn’t believe we were finally on our way!
We arrived in our private shuttle very late on Thursday (after wayyyy too many stops trying to find an ATM – 4th times the charm…), drank some DELICIOUS and FREE juice smoothies thanks to our fantastic hostel, El Roble, (mine was strawberry and banana with orange juice – aka HEAVEN), played a couple rounds of cards, and then headed in for the night.
The next morning I woke up RIDICULOUSLY early – we’re talking 5:45 am. For all of you who think that I sleep all day – just remember that pretty much every day I wake up at 6 am SANS alarm clock. My days of sleeping until noon are long gone! Anyhoo, I showered, took tons of pictures of our hostel, and ate a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit and rolls. My friends woke up about 3 hours later and we proceeded to eat all of our glorious and free buffet breakfast…not realizing that there were other people staying in the hostel! Oops…none left for the boys! Oh well, they were pretty cool about it and we ended up making some pretty good friends with Hjalmar from Norway and John from England.
The rest of the weekend consisted of A LOT of the beach, which for me meant a lot of sunburning. Yikes. I NEVER burn. And I thought I never would. But apparently the El Salvadoran sun did me in! I think on any subsequent trips to the beach I will be investing in some sunscreen… It also consisted of a LOT of drinking (including a dance contest between myself and Hjalmar – unfortunately he won, but I’m pretty sure it was rigged…), a LOT of smoothies (I couldn’t get enough of the strawberry, banana, orange juice concoctions!), a lot of hammocks, and some good times with good friends :).
Our last night we went to the beach to take pictures of the fairly nonexistent sunset, and although I didn’t get too many good pictures of the beach, I got some pretty sweet ones of the girls :) Overall a pretty sweet vacation, and I look forward to more trips to El Roble :).
the beach :)
my attempt at being artsy...
sunset
me, Leeah, Sam, Katie, and Carrie
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
March of the Bands
Last, last Thursday (aka 9-9-10…aka a looonnngggg time ago…) was the beginning of the “Dia del Independia” week…aka a FULL WEEK of getting to hear the band at 6 am every day – woo! Since there was no school, all of the teachers were required to accompany the students to Parramos where we would then be in charge of a parade. WHAT?? There were about 9 bands who marched around the tiny square that is Parramos, before marching down the road right into NPH for a showcase of each band.
Sam and I arrived at school at 7…aka when we were TOLD to arrive at school. When we got there the band was practicing in their formation. It was…loud. And needed tuning… This year marks the very FIRST year that NPH purchased instruments other than drums for the band. Instead of just having a band with snares, bass drums, cymbals, xylophones, and wood blocks, we are fortunate to have newly acquired trombones, trumpets, tenor saxophones, and clarinets. Lucky us. Since it is almost every students first year playing their instrument, they are still warming up to the ideas of tuning, hitting the correct notes, and playing in rhythm with the other students. Needless to say, what comes out of their instruments is a sort of cacophony of random sounds over one another…maybe we would be better off with just the drums??
When we arrived in Parramos we were each assigned a band to assist. I was in charge of La Escuela del Valle de los Pinos (aka Pine Valley Middle School.) Our job was to make sure the bands didn’t get too close to one another or too far away. Heaven forbid! At first it just sounded ridiculous…and then I realized that it was exactly like being drum major all over again, 6 years later! Weird. All I kept thinking was that Shirley Rush would NEVER have been pleased with the “lines” that were formed, the bands’ spacing, or well, any of the playing for that matter!
Anyway, it turned out to be a lot of fun, although VERY exhausting, incredibly hot, and wayyyyyy too sunny. The bands marched through Parramos and then returned to NPH where they were each given 10 minutes to perform a piece they had prepared. It reminded me A LOT of Hofstra for all you marching band people out there, just with a lot less bands and a lot less tuning…
Sam and I arrived at school at 7…aka when we were TOLD to arrive at school. When we got there the band was practicing in their formation. It was…loud. And needed tuning… This year marks the very FIRST year that NPH purchased instruments other than drums for the band. Instead of just having a band with snares, bass drums, cymbals, xylophones, and wood blocks, we are fortunate to have newly acquired trombones, trumpets, tenor saxophones, and clarinets. Lucky us. Since it is almost every students first year playing their instrument, they are still warming up to the ideas of tuning, hitting the correct notes, and playing in rhythm with the other students. Needless to say, what comes out of their instruments is a sort of cacophony of random sounds over one another…maybe we would be better off with just the drums??
When we arrived in Parramos we were each assigned a band to assist. I was in charge of La Escuela del Valle de los Pinos (aka Pine Valley Middle School.) Our job was to make sure the bands didn’t get too close to one another or too far away. Heaven forbid! At first it just sounded ridiculous…and then I realized that it was exactly like being drum major all over again, 6 years later! Weird. All I kept thinking was that Shirley Rush would NEVER have been pleased with the “lines” that were formed, the bands’ spacing, or well, any of the playing for that matter!
Anyway, it turned out to be a lot of fun, although VERY exhausting, incredibly hot, and wayyyyyy too sunny. The bands marched through Parramos and then returned to NPH where they were each given 10 minutes to perform a piece they had prepared. It reminded me A LOT of Hofstra for all you marching band people out there, just with a lot less bands and a lot less tuning…
A visit from the babies :)
Here at the home we have 8 babies ranging in age from 6 months up until the age of three. Because there are so few of them, EVERYONE – volunteers, staff, and kids alike – ALL know the babies. And how could you not love and adore them when they are SO cute! Erika, the current volunteer tia in the Casa de Bebes, decided to take some of the little ones on a field trip to our house one day last week! Hooray!! What ensued was a fantabulous photo shoot by yours truly of some of the most adorable bebes on earth :).
Mona Lisa with Jose
Brian doing his thing...aka being adorable...
Nicole and Brian :)
Nicole and Jose :)
Mona Lisa with Jose
Brian doing his thing...aka being adorable...
Nicole and Brian :)
Nicole and Jose :)
Proyecto
After Kermes I had Proyecto Familiar with 4 boys: Belarmino, Ernesto, Nelson, and Carlos, the youngest, of whom has Down syndrome and does not talk. And I was scheduled to do it ALL BY MYSELF!! Oh dear! Luckily, Katie is wonderful and volunteered to come help me :) hooray for good friends! I asked all 4 boys in advance what they wanted to do, but the answer was always a resounding “lo que quieres” - “whatever you want to do.” Oh joy. Katie and I left to get the boys around 2:45 prepared with a travel, one-burner stove for making poporopo (popcorn), my ipod, and a key to one of the workshops.
We picked up all 4 boys and were told that 2 of the boys had a soccer game at 4, directly in the middle of project. How wonderful! I love last minute planning. Not. We decided it would be fun for the other boys to go and watch their brothers play futbol in Parramos after their first hour together.
We walked to the taller and proceeded to listen to fabulously terrible American pop music on my ipod (I’m talking Akon, Fergie, Backstreet Boys…you get the picture…) while playing game after game of futillo (foosball) and popping popcorn :). Unfortunately the poporopo didn’t work out so well, but it didn’t seem to matter for the boys – they just genuinely seemed to enjoy spending time together, and they were all REALLY good with each other, and especially with Carlitos.
At 4 we gather all of our stuff and headed out to Parramos to watch Ernesto and Nelson play their game. I think the boys were all just excited to be in town and away from the home, especially considering how many kids there were in Parramos to hang out with! They stole my soccer ball on more than one occasion, and one time it even ended up in the middle of the game! Oh dear. Anyway, I bought the boys some empanadas and chips and they seemed quite content to watch and eat. Around 5:30 Carlitos was falling asleep on the benches so his oldest brother, Belarmino, and I decided to walk home, leaving the other boys with their tio. Carlitos quickly began to fall asleep on the way home and so we took turns carrying him back to the home. By the way, it’s quite tiring carrying a 6 year old up and down the hills of Parramos, although it was also adorable to feel his little head bobbing up and down on my shoulder as he held on to my neck. We made it home around 6, just in time for bedtime for Carlitos, and dinner for us. It was definitely a really fun and rewarding proyecto :).
Ernesto, Belarmina, Carlos, and Nelson
Belarmino and Carlitos playing "futillo"
We picked up all 4 boys and were told that 2 of the boys had a soccer game at 4, directly in the middle of project. How wonderful! I love last minute planning. Not. We decided it would be fun for the other boys to go and watch their brothers play futbol in Parramos after their first hour together.
We walked to the taller and proceeded to listen to fabulously terrible American pop music on my ipod (I’m talking Akon, Fergie, Backstreet Boys…you get the picture…) while playing game after game of futillo (foosball) and popping popcorn :). Unfortunately the poporopo didn’t work out so well, but it didn’t seem to matter for the boys – they just genuinely seemed to enjoy spending time together, and they were all REALLY good with each other, and especially with Carlitos.
At 4 we gather all of our stuff and headed out to Parramos to watch Ernesto and Nelson play their game. I think the boys were all just excited to be in town and away from the home, especially considering how many kids there were in Parramos to hang out with! They stole my soccer ball on more than one occasion, and one time it even ended up in the middle of the game! Oh dear. Anyway, I bought the boys some empanadas and chips and they seemed quite content to watch and eat. Around 5:30 Carlitos was falling asleep on the benches so his oldest brother, Belarmino, and I decided to walk home, leaving the other boys with their tio. Carlitos quickly began to fall asleep on the way home and so we took turns carrying him back to the home. By the way, it’s quite tiring carrying a 6 year old up and down the hills of Parramos, although it was also adorable to feel his little head bobbing up and down on my shoulder as he held on to my neck. We made it home around 6, just in time for bedtime for Carlitos, and dinner for us. It was definitely a really fun and rewarding proyecto :).
Ernesto, Belarmina, Carlos, and Nelson
Belarmino and Carlitos playing "futillo"
Kermes: Take 2
I’m a little far behind on my blog…sorry about that! SO! September 5th we had my second Kermes since my time here at NPH and the theme was “Alrededor del Mundo” aka Around the World. There were 5 stations, one for each of the different continents (excluding the Americas), and each one featured a game having to do with that section of the world. From Antarctica came the “Penguin Waddle” where kids had to carry a ball between their feet while waddling like a penguin. Next up: Australia – aka the “Kangaroo hop” – potato sack races. Asia was a race to carry words from a fortune using chopsticks from one end of the cancha (black top) to the other, after which the kids had to unscramble the fortunes. Then came Africa where the kids had to listen to a beating drum and dance in rhythm (with paint on their feet) on a large piece of paper to create a painting. Slightly messy. Lastly came my game – Skiing in Europa! In their sections, the kids had to work together to move a pair of skis across the cancha together. It was well…interesting.
One of the bad parts about Kermes is that we often don’t have a meeting about it/know what we’re doing the day of until the Monday beforehand. This means that we have roughly 6 days to get together all the items that we need. It sounds like a lot of time, but when you’re working/spending time in your section/sleeping…it can be hard to get it all together. If only we’d had the weekend before to figure it out…
Katie, Michael and I were in charge of skiing…which we kind of sort of forgot about until the day before…oops. How to make skis that are going to last through 200 kids pushing and pulling them in ever which direction? We finally decided to use rope. Any and all rope we could find between all the volunteer houses. Which meant that we started cutting down random ropes that were in our houses…why were they hanging from the ceiling anyway?? We secured the rope onto equal sized wooden planks using nails. Which of course we didn’t have enough of. And the hardware store was closed. Oh well, we finished what we could and just sort of prayed for a miracle for the next day.
Unfortunately our prayers didn’t come true. Every single time the skis were used at least one part of them broke. We would then spend the next 10-15 minutes figuring out how to fix the aforementioned mess. While it turned out to be a pretty stressful Kermes, it was also the most fun I’ve seen the kids have at any of the booths at Kermes – apparently they really like skiing in the Alps ;-). Hopefully next time we’ll have a little bit more time to prepare…
Ruth and Michael sporting penguin hats from Antarctica
Meghan skiing in Europa with some of the boys, Elmer and Felipe
Mariela and Maria from my section cheering on their teammates :)
Me with Luis, aka the cutest little boy ever!
One of the bad parts about Kermes is that we often don’t have a meeting about it/know what we’re doing the day of until the Monday beforehand. This means that we have roughly 6 days to get together all the items that we need. It sounds like a lot of time, but when you’re working/spending time in your section/sleeping…it can be hard to get it all together. If only we’d had the weekend before to figure it out…
Katie, Michael and I were in charge of skiing…which we kind of sort of forgot about until the day before…oops. How to make skis that are going to last through 200 kids pushing and pulling them in ever which direction? We finally decided to use rope. Any and all rope we could find between all the volunteer houses. Which meant that we started cutting down random ropes that were in our houses…why were they hanging from the ceiling anyway?? We secured the rope onto equal sized wooden planks using nails. Which of course we didn’t have enough of. And the hardware store was closed. Oh well, we finished what we could and just sort of prayed for a miracle for the next day.
Unfortunately our prayers didn’t come true. Every single time the skis were used at least one part of them broke. We would then spend the next 10-15 minutes figuring out how to fix the aforementioned mess. While it turned out to be a pretty stressful Kermes, it was also the most fun I’ve seen the kids have at any of the booths at Kermes – apparently they really like skiing in the Alps ;-). Hopefully next time we’ll have a little bit more time to prepare…
Ruth and Michael sporting penguin hats from Antarctica
Meghan skiing in Europa with some of the boys, Elmer and Felipe
Mariela and Maria from my section cheering on their teammates :)
Me with Luis, aka the cutest little boy ever!
Internet Problems
Soooo for those of you who are avid readers of my blog (oh hey there!), I'm sorry things have been a little slow moving lately. Unfortunately, our internet has been down for roughly 6 days. The only reason I can even post this right now is because I am SOOOOOOOOO done with not having internet that I have resorted to buying it by the hour...yikes. anyway, as of now, I currently have 14 blog posts that are ready to be posted...all I need is some good internet - keep your fingers crossed and keep checking for updates!
Miss and love you all :)
Miss and love you all :)
Monday, September 6, 2010
“School? We have school today?” or “I can’t come to class…I have band” or “Classes have been cancelled - didn't you hear?”
Here in Guatemala…or maybe it’s just at NPH, I really can’t be sure… people will use ANY excuse to cancel classes for the day. I’m sure if you’ve been keeping up to date with my blog you’ve thought to yourself at least once “do they EVER have classes in Guatemala?” The answer, unfortunately, is no, not really, we don’t really ever have class.
This week we were supposed to have classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday is the beginning of the week of “Dia del Independencia” – that’s right – they celebrate the equivalent of our Fourth of July for their own independence…but for a week straight there are no classes and many people don’t have work. WHAT??
Like I said, today we were SUPPOSED to have regular classes. But of course, all of the kids in band were excused from classes all day to go on a field trip in a local town to practice for their big showcase which is on Thursday (during school…of course.) AND all of the kids in Liderazgo (the leadership group of really awesome older kids) had a workshop…which they have again tomorrow. AND all the kids who are going to bachillerato next year (high school) had practice for their entrance exam, which again…they ALSO have again tomorrow during my class. So instead of my usual class configurations, I was missing MORE THAN half of my kids in all my classes. Except my last class. Where in a class of 10 students I had 2. Of course we accomplished so much! Not. We’ve been missing so many classes that I have had the same lesson plan prepared for each of my classes for the last 3 days. For those of you who are teachers – I’m sure you understand how awesome and frustrating that is at the same time!
Anyhoo, we’re down to 16 more days of class. Where does the time go here???
This week we were supposed to have classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday is the beginning of the week of “Dia del Independencia” – that’s right – they celebrate the equivalent of our Fourth of July for their own independence…but for a week straight there are no classes and many people don’t have work. WHAT??
Like I said, today we were SUPPOSED to have regular classes. But of course, all of the kids in band were excused from classes all day to go on a field trip in a local town to practice for their big showcase which is on Thursday (during school…of course.) AND all of the kids in Liderazgo (the leadership group of really awesome older kids) had a workshop…which they have again tomorrow. AND all the kids who are going to bachillerato next year (high school) had practice for their entrance exam, which again…they ALSO have again tomorrow during my class. So instead of my usual class configurations, I was missing MORE THAN half of my kids in all my classes. Except my last class. Where in a class of 10 students I had 2. Of course we accomplished so much! Not. We’ve been missing so many classes that I have had the same lesson plan prepared for each of my classes for the last 3 days. For those of you who are teachers – I’m sure you understand how awesome and frustrating that is at the same time!
Anyhoo, we’re down to 16 more days of class. Where does the time go here???
Computer Virus
For anyone who didn’t see my facebook status a few weeks ago it appears that computer viruses are handed out like candy here in Guatemala. More specifically, SOMEHOW the computer in the English Department developed a Trojan Horse virus. That name sounds familiar? Probably because it was very popular in the US about 10 years and kicked a lot of hard drive butt while it was there. And how lucky we are that it’s STILL AROUND here in Guatemala! Que Suerte!
The virus basically makes all files are your computer hidden, and it can reconfigure documents/antivirus software that is on your computer. Fortunately I caught it early. Our IT guy came to the English Department, cleared it from our English computer, then from my flash drive, as well as my computer. It seems I’m up and running again :) which means pictures soon to come!
The virus basically makes all files are your computer hidden, and it can reconfigure documents/antivirus software that is on your computer. Fortunately I caught it early. Our IT guy came to the English Department, cleared it from our English computer, then from my flash drive, as well as my computer. It seems I’m up and running again :) which means pictures soon to come!
Mudslides
For those of you who haven’t been keeping up to date on world news, Guatemala has made CNN’s homepage once again, this time for mudslides. Everyone here at the home is fine, we are about an hour and a half drive away from where the worst of them are (they are located a little south of the capital, but also near the coast as well), but unfortunately many people have died.
I like to think that I’m in a safe place here, and I have never ONCE felt in danger since being here, but it does remind me that accidents and disasters happen everywhere. Please keep Guatemala in your thoughts.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/06/guatemala.landslide.deaths/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I like to think that I’m in a safe place here, and I have never ONCE felt in danger since being here, but it does remind me that accidents and disasters happen everywhere. Please keep Guatemala in your thoughts.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/06/guatemala.landslide.deaths/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Subway
I can’t tell you how much it bothers me when I’m in a foreign country to see other Americans sitting in an American restaurant chain. McDonald’s. Subway. Burger King. Taco Bell. You name it. They all make me equally pissed off. If you’re in a foreign country you should be enjoying the LOCAL cuisine. You can have Mickey D’s anytime! Lay off the hamburgers and go have some frijoles y arroz (beans and rice)!
That was, until this American food became the “foreign food” to me. I eat rice and beans and tortillas every day. All day. So today I did it. Today I was that annoying American you see sitting in the American food joint. Subway. And my LORD I cannot tell you how delicious it was. A foot long Italian club with lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives, oil and vinegar all on parmesan bread with 2 chocolate cookies. It tasted like a little bit of heaven. Don’t judge.
That was, until this American food became the “foreign food” to me. I eat rice and beans and tortillas every day. All day. So today I did it. Today I was that annoying American you see sitting in the American food joint. Subway. And my LORD I cannot tell you how delicious it was. A foot long Italian club with lettuce, tomato, pickles, olives, oil and vinegar all on parmesan bread with 2 chocolate cookies. It tasted like a little bit of heaven. Don’t judge.
Texas Hold’em
My roommates and I have taken to playing a lot of card games lately. When you lack a radio, television, and internet connection, things start to get pretty well…old school. Some of our personal favorites include gin rummy, rummy 500 (and for any of the Capozzola/Perretti clan that might be reading this – I don’t EVER come in last. Just for the record…), then there’s also spit, BS, hearts, etc.
Last night one of my roommates, Michael, was talking about how he really misses playing poker. I replied that we could totally play and that the only catch was that I was going to wipe the floor with him. Michael, Sam, and I proceeded to look for “chips”…some sort of betting implement that we could use. Living in a pretty secluded place, betting chips aren’t so easy to come by. Instead, we found a bottle of Ibuprofen. Well, that would certainly do the trick…
We poured out the bottle and proceeded to divvy up the pieces. We played until almost 2 am, listening to some Counting Crows, and teaching Sam, the rookie of the bunch, the ins and outs of poker. When all was said and done we counted up what was left. I won by 4 pills. To Sam. (Thank you wonderful boyfriend for teaching me the ropes!) I think the two of us showed Michael that girls (even those who have just learned) know a thing or two about poker…
Last night one of my roommates, Michael, was talking about how he really misses playing poker. I replied that we could totally play and that the only catch was that I was going to wipe the floor with him. Michael, Sam, and I proceeded to look for “chips”…some sort of betting implement that we could use. Living in a pretty secluded place, betting chips aren’t so easy to come by. Instead, we found a bottle of Ibuprofen. Well, that would certainly do the trick…
We poured out the bottle and proceeded to divvy up the pieces. We played until almost 2 am, listening to some Counting Crows, and teaching Sam, the rookie of the bunch, the ins and outs of poker. When all was said and done we counted up what was left. I won by 4 pills. To Sam. (Thank you wonderful boyfriend for teaching me the ropes!) I think the two of us showed Michael that girls (even those who have just learned) know a thing or two about poker…
Día del Artista
Friday we had yet another fun day :) I swear I really work my butt off here, despite what my pictures and fun stories of days off might reveal! Anyhoo! Friday was the Día del Artista aka the Art and Music Festival of NPH for those of you from Northport. Picture this: tons of student’s artwork, BEAUTIFUL pieces being sold from all of the talleres – paintings and sculptures created in art classes, candelabras and benches from the herrerria, hair ties and earrings from the belleza, cabinets and decorative cutting boards from the carpinteria, purses, skirts, and dresses from the sastreria, and the most delicious homemade pizzas and cinnamon buns, not to mention most ADORABLE bread alligators, sapos (frogs) and pigs you’ve ever seen from the panaderia. (pictures to come soon) PRECIOUS.
The day started out like any normal festivities here at NPH: LONG introductions followed by a talent show, band performances, and snacks. Unfortunately I was in charge of the refaccion (snacks) for the day along with a few of the other volunteers. We showed up at 9 ready for action…and proceeded to cut approximately 20 cakes into roughly 1,500 pieces. I wish I was kidding. After all that, we were given a well deserved break to shop around to our hearts content and to purchase the kids’ creations. Man was I glad I had 20Q in my pocket! I started with a trip to the jewelry table (because everyone knows I need more jewelry than I already have…) I left with a new pair of earrings and with another volunteer, Leeah, ready to take on the panaderia table. After scarfing down the most delicious cinnamon but I think I’ve ever had, Leeah and I split a personal pizza. One of the best decisions I’ve made since being here…although buying 2 of them would have been a better decision I suppose…
Next it was back to the kitchen to hand out refa…and boy was that interesting. Approximately 300 kids lining up to receive snack once…or twice…or a few more times…not to mention the teachers, staff, tios, and office faculty. Let’s just say it was a long two hours before I was finally free to enjoy the rest of the día, but overall a fun and productive day :).
The day started out like any normal festivities here at NPH: LONG introductions followed by a talent show, band performances, and snacks. Unfortunately I was in charge of the refaccion (snacks) for the day along with a few of the other volunteers. We showed up at 9 ready for action…and proceeded to cut approximately 20 cakes into roughly 1,500 pieces. I wish I was kidding. After all that, we were given a well deserved break to shop around to our hearts content and to purchase the kids’ creations. Man was I glad I had 20Q in my pocket! I started with a trip to the jewelry table (because everyone knows I need more jewelry than I already have…) I left with a new pair of earrings and with another volunteer, Leeah, ready to take on the panaderia table. After scarfing down the most delicious cinnamon but I think I’ve ever had, Leeah and I split a personal pizza. One of the best decisions I’ve made since being here…although buying 2 of them would have been a better decision I suppose…
Next it was back to the kitchen to hand out refa…and boy was that interesting. Approximately 300 kids lining up to receive snack once…or twice…or a few more times…not to mention the teachers, staff, tios, and office faculty. Let’s just say it was a long two hours before I was finally free to enjoy the rest of the día, but overall a fun and productive day :).
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Oh Ipod...
Last night I was listening to my iPod when I rediscovered all the AWESOME photos I had saved on there...aka every photo I had ever taken between High School Graduation and the beginning of senior year of college. I found some REALLY sweet pictures where everyone looks like tools, but I also found some classics. It made me miss a LOT of people. So this is to say...lodge girls/tower girls, moose and company, intonations, kappa delta, BHOT/orientation buddies, and amigos de bachillerato (high school)...I miss you all a ton and I hope you know I'm thinking about you!! Te quiero mucho!!
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