Projects aren’t really a stressful thing – in fact, I think they are a LOT of fun, and an excellent way to get to know a bunch of the kids here on a more personal level. And I really like that :) I’m still trucking through learning names, but when there are 350 of them and one of you…it can be a little difficult.
Anyhoo! The time came for me to plan 3 projects at once. Now it’s hard enough to think of something for a group of kids to do together based on their ages and genders, but doing it 3 times in 7 days is a FEAT! Especially with very little input!
Project 1:
Project 1 was with Zulma and Johana – two girls in their early teens. Pretty adorable, yet pretty quiet. We spent a lovely evening making popcorn, watching “The Prestige,” and eating food from the comedor. VERY low key. And a perfect beginning to my week of projects.
Project 2:
Next came the Guitz-Tian Family – MargaritA, MargaritO, Mercedes, and Marta. Also the only family that told me pre-project what they wanted to do – bake a cake and watch a movie. When asked why they wanted to bake a cake, two of the girls told me that it was Margarito’s birthday during the month of October and they wanted to be able to celebrate it together as a family. HOW ADORABLE ARE THEY! Sounded good to me!
Now Margarita, the oldest, lives in the Bachillerato in Chimaltenango, roughly 30 minutes away. I made sure to call A WEEK ahead of time to make sure she was fully informed about our project…and again the morning of…but that didn’t seem to matter. At 10 am she was nowhere to be found, and her brother and sisters were slightly restless. We decided it would be a good idea to bake the cake and start the movie without her…good thinking. I kept look out at the window to the English room which faces NPH’s entrance, but it was no use. No one showed up. Every time they heard screeching tires each of the kids would jump up and run to the window…I kept trying to call the bachillerato again, but to no avail :(.
After an hour I began to lose hope. She must have forgotten. I took one last glance out the window and saw 2 girls talking. One was Yecenia, the Ano de servicio in my section, but the other I couldn’t distinguish. Trying not to get the kids hopes up, I turned and told them there was a girl standing on our street. They immediately pushed all their chairs aside and flew to the window. “ES ELLA ES ELLA” – that’s her that’s her! They screamed for her to come to the English Department and 5 seconds later all the kids were immersed in a sea of hugs. Did I mention how adorable this family was?
The rest of our project was fantastic (with the exception of me watching “Fame”…again) and the kids were just SO excited to spend time together. It was definitely one of my favorite projects since I’ve been here :).
Marta, Mercedes, and Margarito hard at work
What an adorable fam! Marta, Margarita, Mercedes, and Margarito
...with me!
Project 3:
My last project of the week was with Georgia and Annllie Perez. Care to guess how you pronounce “Annllie?” Well, if you said it like ANGIE – you would be correct. Go figure!
Our project started yesterday at 5pm. I was informed 2 hours prior that at 4:30 the orquestina was going to be having a dress rehearsal for their trip to the states (more on that later…) and that all of the sections would be there. I showed up at 5 ready to go, but the girls wanted to stay for the performances. SO! We watched the orquestina until about 5:40, then headed to the comedor for dinner. After that we dropped our things off at the English Department and headed into Parramos so the girls could buy a little something for themselves with their 5Q each. I did NOT realize how long walking to Parramos with two teenage girls was going to take! They bought bags of chips, lollipops, and what could only be described as “Valentine’s Day Cards” but for every day purposes. Oh dear. Afterwards we went to a panaderia so I could buy a small “pastel” for one of the tias in my section to celebrate her birthday. That turned out to be an awful idea. All I had to buy the cake was one bill - 100Q (roughly 12 dollars) but the cake only cost 3…and of COURSE they didn’t have change. HOW SILLY of me! I had to go to 4 different tiendas (shops) before I could find a place that would give me change for my 100, THEN we had to walk back to NPH and THEN we started a wonderfully horrible movie, “Sky High.” Needless to say it was the LONGEST project ever at almost 4 hours, but still, quite fun. The girls were VERY talkative and seemed to have a great relationship :).
Georgia and Annllie :)
So what did my week FULL of projects teach me? That projects are one of my favorite things about being at NPH and that a little spontaneity can be a lot of fun :) although I don’t think I’ll be scheduling 3 projects for the same week again anytime soon.
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