First day on the job

So yesterday was my first official day as a tia in the sections. Now I know I wrote a few days ago that I was going to be in the baby’s section, but after a lot of begging and pleading to the volunteer coordinator, she allowed me to switch with one of the other volunteers to be in my own section :). It’s not that I didn’t want to be with the babies. I mean – you’ve seen the pictures – they’re some of the most adorable children I’ve ever seen…but I’ve heard so many things from old volunteers about how December is such a fantastic time to bond with your kids, and it was something that I didn’t want to pass up. Plus, no diaper changing. ALWAYS a plus.

So anyway, yesterday was my first FULL day with my little angelitos…although it wasn’t the most “normal” day here at NPH. What did we do you ask? Well we went to the ballet of course!

Every year NPH takes the kids from the boys’ house and girls’ house to the capital to see Los Cascanueces (The Nutcracker) performed by The Ballet Nacional de Guatemala. So, yesterday at 7:45, we set out for the capital!

Now, I can’t exactly remember if I’ve ever seen a WHOLE ballet in my life, but after sitting through that, I don’t know if I’ll ever be seeing another one again! It was definitely interesting, and the kids seemed to enjoy it (at least the ones who weren’t sleeping or complaining of hunger or needing to go to the bathroom…) but let’s just say I’ve DEFINITELY seen better ballet PERFORMANCES (if never a whole one).

For me, the highlight of the trip came during intermission when speakers blasted none other than the Ray Conniff Singers Christmas CD! Now for those of you who AREN’T members of the Barak clan…this CD is a Barak family tradition…and it appeared that we were the ONLY people on the planet who owned a copy of this CD…and yet here it was, blaring through the speakers in Guatemala. A HUGE surprise to say the least, it was the first thing to put me in the Christmas mood this season :).

After the ballet we boarded the buses equipped with some ham and mayo sandwiches, when suddenly I saw all the kids were munching on some kind of purple berry. When I looked out the window of the bus, about 30 of our kids were grabbing berries off trees and popping them in their mouths. I was COMPLETELY appalled – what were there? What if they were poisonous? Then the adults started grabbing them too. Now there’s everyone, chomping down on these berries, sharing with their friends, and ATTEMPTING to share with me. Now normally I’m all for trying new foods…but given my health record since I’ve been here, I decided to pass…and was just grateful that NONE of the kids got sick from their little excursion into the woods…

Anyhoo, we returned back to NPH around 2:30, ate lunch (again?) and then went to the section and made friendship bracelets for an hour…well the GIRLS made friendship bracelets for an hour while I untangled the mess that was their thread for an hour. Then it was off to dinner (it only took 25 minutes for 2 adults to get 12 girls approximately 100 yards to the comedor…).

Overall a successful first day. I know working with my girls is going to be JUST as hard as working with the babies but in so many different ways. Sure there are no diapers to change, but our 2 year olds don’t have attitudes quite like our 12 year olds… Wish me luck between now and December 28th…I think I’m gunna need it!