Saturday, April 30, 2011
WOOOOO!
Right now it is 1 am. In approximately 10 hours I’m going to be greeting the love of my life at the Guatemalan airport – I COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED! I’ve been waiting for today since I arrived in Guatemala – the chance to show Jon my life here, to introduce him to my kids, and for us to be able to travel together. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s my birthday on Sunday AND I have the entire next week off! SOOOOO EXCITEDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Flight Booked!
It’s official. Yesterday I booked my ticket to come home for good – mark your calendars – July 16, 2011 will be my glorious return to USA living. While I am incredibly excited about coming home, I’m also a little bummed. I had planned on travelling for a few weeks after I finished here with a fellow volunteer. I had been planning my trip practically since I got here. But after feeling down and incredibly homesick these last few months, I decided that I was in need of a return flight home pronto. So, while I won’t be completing
New Year’s Resolution #5: Travel to every country in Central America…
I will be finishing
#3: Finish #1 on my Bucket List aka "Live abroad for a year" and
#4: Return to living in the states!…a little earlier than expected, and getting a jump start on
#6: Get a REAL paying job :-p.
HERE I COME USA!
New Year’s Resolution #5: Travel to every country in Central America…
I will be finishing
#3: Finish #1 on my Bucket List aka "Live abroad for a year" and
#4: Return to living in the states!…a little earlier than expected, and getting a jump start on
#6: Get a REAL paying job :-p.
HERE I COME USA!
“You’ve been invited to tea!”
As I’m sure everyone already knows, today was the big day. THAT’S RIGHT – Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot (truly bummed I did not get to see that…although I’m sure mine will be better anyway… :-p). And to celebrate, we here in Guatemala had a tea in their honor :).
Molly was incredibly excited about the wedding (as was her mom), and so a few weeks ago when her parents came to visit her mom brought with her wedding napkins and wedding plates so that we could celebrate in style! Yesterday afternoon we gathered around our kitchen table with a beautiful spread of cookies (thanks to Yvonne and Erika), homemade banana/chocolate chip bread (thanks Thayer!), and a wonderful variety of different teas (thanks Mama Malone!) to celebrate the happy couple! An incredibly nice afternoon break from the English Department :).
Molly was incredibly excited about the wedding (as was her mom), and so a few weeks ago when her parents came to visit her mom brought with her wedding napkins and wedding plates so that we could celebrate in style! Yesterday afternoon we gathered around our kitchen table with a beautiful spread of cookies (thanks to Yvonne and Erika), homemade banana/chocolate chip bread (thanks Thayer!), and a wonderful variety of different teas (thanks Mama Malone!) to celebrate the happy couple! An incredibly nice afternoon break from the English Department :).
Little Fockers
On Thursday after class one of my students came up to me and said:
“What does F***ers mean?”
To which I replied “EXCUSE ME???”
And he repeated…after which I said “Umm, I’m sorry, where did you learn that word and why do you keep saying it? It’s a REALLY bad word so please stop using it”
Martin: “Really? But it’s the name of a movie – Little Fockers”
Me: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (and in my head thinking…BEN STILLER WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME???)
I told my student that it was a bad word and that he shouldn’t use it, but that I didn’t want to explain what it meant. By now I had a crowd of about 5 of my kids standing around me saying “C’MON what does it mean? If you don’t tell us we’re gunna say it anyway! AND we'll tell them YOU told us it was ok to use!”
Great. What kind of position does that put me in? I don’t want to be the person who tells my students what a bad word means…but if I don’t tell them they’re going to use it anyway…and most likely offend a lot of people. What choice did I have? So I told them…begrudgingly. It was SO awkward to explain that to my 16 and 17 year old students! And then told them that now that they KNEW what it meant I NEVER wanted to hear that word used ever again. AND that I never wanted to hear them telling other kids “YOU KNOW JESSICA?? *SHE* IS THE ONE THAT TAUGHT US THAT!”
Oh dear. I was never really a Ben Stiller fan…but this certainly isn't helping...
“What does F***ers mean?”
To which I replied “EXCUSE ME???”
And he repeated…after which I said “Umm, I’m sorry, where did you learn that word and why do you keep saying it? It’s a REALLY bad word so please stop using it”
Martin: “Really? But it’s the name of a movie – Little Fockers”
Me: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (and in my head thinking…BEN STILLER WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME???)
I told my student that it was a bad word and that he shouldn’t use it, but that I didn’t want to explain what it meant. By now I had a crowd of about 5 of my kids standing around me saying “C’MON what does it mean? If you don’t tell us we’re gunna say it anyway! AND we'll tell them YOU told us it was ok to use!”
Great. What kind of position does that put me in? I don’t want to be the person who tells my students what a bad word means…but if I don’t tell them they’re going to use it anyway…and most likely offend a lot of people. What choice did I have? So I told them…begrudgingly. It was SO awkward to explain that to my 16 and 17 year old students! And then told them that now that they KNEW what it meant I NEVER wanted to hear that word used ever again. AND that I never wanted to hear them telling other kids “YOU KNOW JESSICA?? *SHE* IS THE ONE THAT TAUGHT US THAT!”
Oh dear. I was never really a Ben Stiller fan…but this certainly isn't helping...
Tia-dom
Last week was my last time working as a tia here at NPH…and man am I glad it’s over. I love my girls and I always will. And it is nice to get to spend a lot of time with them and be with them in the section. But I don’t think I could possibly be a tia otra vez. It makes me incredibly happy to have my job as a teacher and just straight up volunteer in the section, and not work as a caregiver. I’m so happy that I will have no more “girls do your chores,” no more vela nights with crazy lack of sleep, no more “where is your plate? Why don’t you have a plate? Where did you PUT your plate? Now where is your spoon?,” no more ridiculous attitudes from my 22 little heathens. WHEW.
Yes, this week was outrageously hard. Yes, I had my patience tested time and time again. Yes, I almost killed several of my children several times and needed to take a “time out” for myself…but I survived (and without killing any kids!) AND I learned a lot more about my girls and how they live and how much I truly love them….even if they piss me off… We spent time playing soccer, reading stories, walking to Parramos, being in a children’s processional in Parramos, going to church (a lot…), dying Easter Eggs, having an Easter Egg hunt (one of my girls even won first prize – 140Q!), watching movies, and being together. In addition to spending time with my girls and learning more about them, I learned a lot about myself too. I learned that I have an incredibly short fuse and that I should have more patience. I learned that lack of organization REALLY makes me angry…and that I should be more flexible in general. I discovered that when I go back to the states, I think I’m ready to take on a new kind of job that deals with adults for awhile! And I learned that while my girls can sometimes make me crazy, there are some children that can make my heart melt and make me remember the reasons why I’m here in the first place.
Yes, being a tia was incredibly difficult. Yes, I’m glad it’s over. And yes, even though they drive me insane, I still love these kids…although again…I’m glad it’s over :-p.
Yes, this week was outrageously hard. Yes, I had my patience tested time and time again. Yes, I almost killed several of my children several times and needed to take a “time out” for myself…but I survived (and without killing any kids!) AND I learned a lot more about my girls and how they live and how much I truly love them….even if they piss me off… We spent time playing soccer, reading stories, walking to Parramos, being in a children’s processional in Parramos, going to church (a lot…), dying Easter Eggs, having an Easter Egg hunt (one of my girls even won first prize – 140Q!), watching movies, and being together. In addition to spending time with my girls and learning more about them, I learned a lot about myself too. I learned that I have an incredibly short fuse and that I should have more patience. I learned that lack of organization REALLY makes me angry…and that I should be more flexible in general. I discovered that when I go back to the states, I think I’m ready to take on a new kind of job that deals with adults for awhile! And I learned that while my girls can sometimes make me crazy, there are some children that can make my heart melt and make me remember the reasons why I’m here in the first place.
Yes, being a tia was incredibly difficult. Yes, I’m glad it’s over. And yes, even though they drive me insane, I still love these kids…although again…I’m glad it’s over :-p.
Holy Week in Guatemala
Lent has never been a very big deal for me. Every year I give something up (like soda or sweets, etc.) but I’ve never really thought about the significance of what Lent actually means. To me, Lent just isn’t that important, it's more just the lead up to a nice Easter Sunday dinner with my extended family – always a nice treat :). But things here in Guatemala are a bit different around this time, especially in Antigua. Antigua is known for its very elaborate religious festivities during Lent. Every Sunday one of the local parishes hosts a procession through the streets of Antigua and beautifully decorated alfombras (rugs) made of multicolored sawdust, flowers, pine needles, and fruits and veggies line the procession path.
Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to see one of the processions in action, as well as to witness some of my first real alfombras since being at NPH. After coming back from Semuc, Molly, Thayer, and I found ourselves in Antigua right as the processions for Palm Sunday were coming through. The processions wander through the streets for HOURS going to the 12 Stations of the Cross. We were fortunate enough to see the 40 or so men carrying the float presenting Jesus, and the 40 or so women carrying the float with Mary, the men adorned with purple robes and the women donning black and white dress clothes. To me carrying the float just seems like a cool thing to do, but to many people here carrying the float is reminiscent of Jesus carrying the cross, and is quite a moving and religious experience. We were able to see hundreds of people walking in the procession before making our way to “Luna de Miel” for a delicious Palm Sunday lunch and our trek back home.
The following Tuesday, we celebrated Semana Santa with the kids in school at NPH. The kids create their own alfombras (unfortunately no sweet sawdust alfombras this year…we’re on a tight budget…oh well). Each of the different classes created their own Station of the Cross to visit, including alters, flowered alfombras, and even one with a waterfall(!) and we had a procession with a float carried by the children, which moved between each of the Stations of the Cross. As they processed through the stations, the grades would pass along the float to the next grade, ending with the oldest children at the last station. It was really interesting to see the children working so hard on each of their rugs and alters, and a great experience to be able to help them create such beautiful alfombras.
One of the colorful sawdust alfombras in Antigua
Children carrying Jesus' float in the Processional
An alfombra of pine needles in the processional in Antigua
Processional in Antigua
The men carrying Jesus' float
The women carrying Mary's float
Some of my 5th graders preparing for our own processional at NPH
The start of their alfombra...
Me and Deic - love her!
It's getting there...
Molly and Meghan helping out (ps - notice how they use the wooden sticks to help form all the straight lines...)
The first grade altar
Two weeks ago I was fortunate enough to see one of the processions in action, as well as to witness some of my first real alfombras since being at NPH. After coming back from Semuc, Molly, Thayer, and I found ourselves in Antigua right as the processions for Palm Sunday were coming through. The processions wander through the streets for HOURS going to the 12 Stations of the Cross. We were fortunate enough to see the 40 or so men carrying the float presenting Jesus, and the 40 or so women carrying the float with Mary, the men adorned with purple robes and the women donning black and white dress clothes. To me carrying the float just seems like a cool thing to do, but to many people here carrying the float is reminiscent of Jesus carrying the cross, and is quite a moving and religious experience. We were able to see hundreds of people walking in the procession before making our way to “Luna de Miel” for a delicious Palm Sunday lunch and our trek back home.
The following Tuesday, we celebrated Semana Santa with the kids in school at NPH. The kids create their own alfombras (unfortunately no sweet sawdust alfombras this year…we’re on a tight budget…oh well). Each of the different classes created their own Station of the Cross to visit, including alters, flowered alfombras, and even one with a waterfall(!) and we had a procession with a float carried by the children, which moved between each of the Stations of the Cross. As they processed through the stations, the grades would pass along the float to the next grade, ending with the oldest children at the last station. It was really interesting to see the children working so hard on each of their rugs and alters, and a great experience to be able to help them create such beautiful alfombras.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Being a Tia…Otra Vez
This week is Semana Santa aka Holy Week (more on Holy Week a little later…) As such, all of the tios and tias have off this week to be at home with their families and all of the volunteers are in charge of the sections as the sole caretakers. For those of us who began our year here in July, it is kind of like what we did at Christmas, only more and less stressful at the same time. Less stressful because we are with our own kids who we already know well and it’s only 5 days long. More Stressful because instead of working 2 days and having 2 days off, it’s just working 5 days straight. In addition, DEFINITELY more stressful because instead of the 11 kids I had in December, we have our ENTIRE section of kids – which for me and Corinna means 22 girls (including one new one who just entered our section yesterday.) I love the girls in my section but they are most certainly a HUGE handful. The nice thing is that by the end of Saturday I will be done being a tia FOREVER. Wish me luck and I’ll see you on the flip side!
SEMUC CHAMPEY!!
This past weekend Molly, Thayer and I headed to Semuc Champey. We took our half day on Friday to embark on the 8 hour drive north. Before boarding the transport we stopped for a quick lunch at McDonalds, and then at a camera store to buy a Sponge Bob Underwater camera (that quite unfortunately did not actually work…so I have no pictures of our awesome adventures – the pictures you see here were mostly taken from Google images of Semuc…) Anyhoo! We spent all day Friday driving...which sucked, especially since we only made it to Lanquin, a small town an hour OUTSIDE of Semuc…but Semuc MORE than made up for the awful almost 20 hours of driving throughout the weekend.
Semuc Champey is a national park in the Coban region of Guatemala whose name means “Sacred Waters” in the Mayan Kekchi language…and it is incredibly easy to see why it was given such a beautiful name. Semuc itself is by far one of the most amazing places I have ever seen or been to in my life (and that’s saying a lot!) We began Saturday by hopping in a pickup truck and riding the last hour from Lanquin to Semuc Champey. Semuc can only be reached via one very rocky dirt road, which unfortunately means that pickup trucks are really the only mode of transportation taken to and from it. So! We set out Saturday morning on the back of a pickup truck to reach our destination.
Thayer and I riding on the pickup from Lanquin to Semuc
Once we got to El Portal, our hotel, and put our stuff down, we started our tour of the park with an hour and 15 minute long, completely uphill hike. All I can say is THANK HEAVENS I did NOT read the sign properly (as I thought it only said 15 minutes!) The hike wound around and all over basically a jungle, which lead us straight up to the mirador (lookout point) over which you could see the entire park – aka 6 glorious, amazingly beautiful, crystal clear, fresh water pools that each flow into and out of each other. Completely breathtaking.
The pools at Semuc from the mirador!
From the mirador we hiked back down to relax and swim in the pools for hours. We brought Sponge Bob along – unfortunately to no avail – but still had fun trudging around with him at our sides. We swam in each of the pools, made friends with our tour guide, Darwin, and jumped off lots of tall rocks :).
One of the pools we swam in ;-)
After swimming in the pools (which unfortunately only lasted 2 hours…we probably could have stayed there for 2 whole days…) we made our way back for lunch, and then floated down a lazy river. On the way back from the lazy river, we actually jumped off a bridge into the river – SO scary but SO freaking cool – words can’t describe (it definitely made me ready for bungee jumping whenever I get there!!)
Riding over the bridge that I jumped off of! (Our hostel is that tree house looking place on the left...)
Next came the part that I was most looking forward to and yet most terrified of out of the whole trip: the candlelit cave tour of the KanBa River Caves.
The candlelit cave tour is precisely what Semuc is known for (ok besides the gorgeous pools that we had already swum in). Each person is given their own candle and in a group of 10-20 people you enter the cave where you are asked to: swim with a candle above your head (several times ranging anywhere from 10 feet to probably 40 feet), propel down a small waterfall with your candle in your mouth, and shimmy your way through an opening roughly 2 feet wide as water is falling on you from above – all while keeping your candle lit! Now for those of you who don’t know…I’m fairly claustrophobic, and a little afraid of the dark. Needless to say after hearing countless tales from other volunteers and fellow travelers about how amazing the caves were and how they were one of the coolest things they had ever done, none of their words could make me feel any better or any less anxious about the task ahead of me on Saturday afternoon. We entered the caves around 3:30 and spent roughly an hour wandering through them, trying to keep our candles lit, and trying not to FREAK OUT about the fact that we were in a cave, completely in the dark with only candles (which were quickly burning out) and with no clue as to our next move. As far as experiences go, it was BY FAR one of the coolest things that I have ever done in my life. Also as far as experiences go, I’m happy I’m able to say I did it and it is now behind me!
After the multitude of adventurous things we had done in one day, we exited the caves, went back to the hotel and after a little dinner and Bananagrams, we immediately went to sleep. If you ever find yourself in Guatemala be sure to check out the “sacred waters” of Semuc Champey – but give yourself more than a day to accomplish all the amazing things that Semuc has to offer y DISFRUTEN! :).
Semuc Champey is a national park in the Coban region of Guatemala whose name means “Sacred Waters” in the Mayan Kekchi language…and it is incredibly easy to see why it was given such a beautiful name. Semuc itself is by far one of the most amazing places I have ever seen or been to in my life (and that’s saying a lot!) We began Saturday by hopping in a pickup truck and riding the last hour from Lanquin to Semuc Champey. Semuc can only be reached via one very rocky dirt road, which unfortunately means that pickup trucks are really the only mode of transportation taken to and from it. So! We set out Saturday morning on the back of a pickup truck to reach our destination.
Once we got to El Portal, our hotel, and put our stuff down, we started our tour of the park with an hour and 15 minute long, completely uphill hike. All I can say is THANK HEAVENS I did NOT read the sign properly (as I thought it only said 15 minutes!) The hike wound around and all over basically a jungle, which lead us straight up to the mirador (lookout point) over which you could see the entire park – aka 6 glorious, amazingly beautiful, crystal clear, fresh water pools that each flow into and out of each other. Completely breathtaking.
From the mirador we hiked back down to relax and swim in the pools for hours. We brought Sponge Bob along – unfortunately to no avail – but still had fun trudging around with him at our sides. We swam in each of the pools, made friends with our tour guide, Darwin, and jumped off lots of tall rocks :).
After swimming in the pools (which unfortunately only lasted 2 hours…we probably could have stayed there for 2 whole days…) we made our way back for lunch, and then floated down a lazy river. On the way back from the lazy river, we actually jumped off a bridge into the river – SO scary but SO freaking cool – words can’t describe (it definitely made me ready for bungee jumping whenever I get there!!)
Next came the part that I was most looking forward to and yet most terrified of out of the whole trip: the candlelit cave tour of the KanBa River Caves.
The candlelit cave tour is precisely what Semuc is known for (ok besides the gorgeous pools that we had already swum in). Each person is given their own candle and in a group of 10-20 people you enter the cave where you are asked to: swim with a candle above your head (several times ranging anywhere from 10 feet to probably 40 feet), propel down a small waterfall with your candle in your mouth, and shimmy your way through an opening roughly 2 feet wide as water is falling on you from above – all while keeping your candle lit! Now for those of you who don’t know…I’m fairly claustrophobic, and a little afraid of the dark. Needless to say after hearing countless tales from other volunteers and fellow travelers about how amazing the caves were and how they were one of the coolest things they had ever done, none of their words could make me feel any better or any less anxious about the task ahead of me on Saturday afternoon. We entered the caves around 3:30 and spent roughly an hour wandering through them, trying to keep our candles lit, and trying not to FREAK OUT about the fact that we were in a cave, completely in the dark with only candles (which were quickly burning out) and with no clue as to our next move. As far as experiences go, it was BY FAR one of the coolest things that I have ever done in my life. Also as far as experiences go, I’m happy I’m able to say I did it and it is now behind me!
After the multitude of adventurous things we had done in one day, we exited the caves, went back to the hotel and after a little dinner and Bananagrams, we immediately went to sleep. If you ever find yourself in Guatemala be sure to check out the “sacred waters” of Semuc Champey – but give yourself more than a day to accomplish all the amazing things that Semuc has to offer y DISFRUTEN! :).
Kermes take 3...or 4..or 5? Who can keep track...
Last Sunday we had yet another Kermes. Oh joy. This month's theme? Talleres - aka workshops. All of the kids wrote down their names and their preferences for different groups on a sheet of paper that was passed around to each of the sections. The "talleres" included different activities that the kids might not normally know about but might want to learn about (like the rules and how to play or do the activity). They were: basketball, volleyball, how to make "masa" or play doh, making bracelets, table games (like chess, connect 4, etc.), andddd YOGA (which was Cassie and my taller!)
At first we were a little concerned about who would sign up for Yoga. Was it something that would interest the kids? Would they actually want to do it or be excited for it? How would it work? Cassie and I set up blankets, nice soothing "Iron and Wine" music and got to work with the first group. The kids, mostly my incredibly rowdy section of little girls, weren't that into it, but they had fun making fun of the poses that Cassie and I did (along with a few of the other kids.) Our SECOND group on the other hand was AWESOME - a group of 5 older boys (between the ages of 15-18) who were SO into it and really excited to learn about Yoga and stretching. They kept asking us for more things to do until we ran out or ideas!
It was probably one of the most unorganized Kermes' that I've ever been a part of, but somehow it just worked - the kids all went to different talleres, participated, and seemed to have fun (and a delicious refa of jelly doughnuts never hurts either...) - mission accomplished ;-).
At first we were a little concerned about who would sign up for Yoga. Was it something that would interest the kids? Would they actually want to do it or be excited for it? How would it work? Cassie and I set up blankets, nice soothing "Iron and Wine" music and got to work with the first group. The kids, mostly my incredibly rowdy section of little girls, weren't that into it, but they had fun making fun of the poses that Cassie and I did (along with a few of the other kids.) Our SECOND group on the other hand was AWESOME - a group of 5 older boys (between the ages of 15-18) who were SO into it and really excited to learn about Yoga and stretching. They kept asking us for more things to do until we ran out or ideas!
It was probably one of the most unorganized Kermes' that I've ever been a part of, but somehow it just worked - the kids all went to different talleres, participated, and seemed to have fun (and a delicious refa of jelly doughnuts never hurts either...) - mission accomplished ;-).
Friday, April 15, 2011
Out of Water...for real this time.
So I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago about how the house was completely out of water...and that was true. But for about a few hours. Nothing too major.
Last weeked our volunteer house - House 6 - was SERIOUSLY out of water. We'd been having a lot of problems with our toilets being broken. One was broken and just refused to flush. The other, however, was slowly leaking water from somewhere unknown. We called in the maintenance men from NPH and they were on the job.
They fixed toilet #1 with few problems, but the second toilet was a bigger issue. They needed to replace parts inside of the toilet. Which of course they didn't have when they came to our house in the first place. So! They came on Friday, tried to fix it and came back Saturday with the correct part. BUT! They only work on Saturdays until noon. So at 11:55 the maintenance man came into the kitchen to tell me he was leaving and nothing was fixed. Gotta love Guatemala. Immediately after he left, not only was our toilet still leaking, but our shower started spewing water incontrollably. A few of the volunteers tried to shut it off, but to no avail. Instead, they went out to the back of our house and shut off the water to our entire house manually so that we wouldn't be flooded out.
Unfortunately for the ladies of House 6, this meant that we literally had NO water in our house from mid-day Saturday until mid-day Monday when they actually came to repair all the water in our house. For 2 days, 8 girls went upstairs to: shower, go to the bathroom, brush our teeth, wash our hands, cook (because - OF COURSE! - we also ran out of gas on our stove!) We lived like we had an outhouse (aka the bathrooms, sinks, and showers in House 4...) BOY did it make me appreciate everything that we have in our houses! It was quite the experience...
Our makeshift water stand...
Last weeked our volunteer house - House 6 - was SERIOUSLY out of water. We'd been having a lot of problems with our toilets being broken. One was broken and just refused to flush. The other, however, was slowly leaking water from somewhere unknown. We called in the maintenance men from NPH and they were on the job.
They fixed toilet #1 with few problems, but the second toilet was a bigger issue. They needed to replace parts inside of the toilet. Which of course they didn't have when they came to our house in the first place. So! They came on Friday, tried to fix it and came back Saturday with the correct part. BUT! They only work on Saturdays until noon. So at 11:55 the maintenance man came into the kitchen to tell me he was leaving and nothing was fixed. Gotta love Guatemala. Immediately after he left, not only was our toilet still leaking, but our shower started spewing water incontrollably. A few of the volunteers tried to shut it off, but to no avail. Instead, they went out to the back of our house and shut off the water to our entire house manually so that we wouldn't be flooded out.
Unfortunately for the ladies of House 6, this meant that we literally had NO water in our house from mid-day Saturday until mid-day Monday when they actually came to repair all the water in our house. For 2 days, 8 girls went upstairs to: shower, go to the bathroom, brush our teeth, wash our hands, cook (because - OF COURSE! - we also ran out of gas on our stove!) We lived like we had an outhouse (aka the bathrooms, sinks, and showers in House 4...) BOY did it make me appreciate everything that we have in our houses! It was quite the experience...
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Projects in April
I can’t believe another month of projects has already gone by so quickly…and I must say that these projects were sooooooooo much more awesome than usual :).
The first project of the month was with five brothers ranging in age from 7 year old twins to a 15 year old including: Samuel, Wilmer, Rudy, Ever, and Luis. Bridget and I did the project together and the boys told us they wanted to make pizza and watch a movie. On Thursday, Bridget and I gathered all the supplies and headed up to the English room to make our delicious dish. After spending roughly 5 minutes with them, I looked at Bridget and said “Oh LORD I do NOT want to have 5 boys!”
The boys preparing the pizza
It wasn’t that they were bad – in fact they were REALLY good kids and they worked incredibly well together…it was more just…that they were 5 boys! They were FULL of energy, REALLY excited about being together and REALLY excited about project…and really that’s all you can hope for. So! We made the delicious pizza (and Rudy proceeded to DOUSE the pan with butter…I will definitely say that it was the first pizza I have ever made that did NOT stick to the pan even one little bit…) and then watched “Despicable Me” (a new Pixar movie). The boys were really great and it was an all around excellent project :).
Rudy's buttered pan...
Preparing...
How adorable! Luis, Wilmer, Rudy, Ever, Samuel
Saturday’s project can only be summed up in a few words:
Me + 2 babies + sidewalk chalk + brownies = BEST. PROJECT. EVER.
Saturday I had project with Auri and Fredy – two of the most ADORABLE babies in the baby’s house. How did I end up with TWO baby projects in the past two months you ask? Well, Meghan, the volunteer in charge of assigning projects, noticed that I’d been a bit down lately, and in her effort to be a wonderful friend, she did what she could to cheer me up – and WOW did it work!
On Thursday I went down to the baby’s house to ask them what they wanted to do. The response?
Auri: DANCE!
Fredy: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!
(Have I mentioned that I love babies?)
So, on Saturday I went down to the baby’s house to pick up Auri and Fredy…but unfortunately Fredy was not having any of it. He just wanted to stay with Evelyn, a girl from Bachillerato who had come to help out with the baby’s section over the weekend. Being a little desperate to have a successful baby project, I asked Evelyn if she would join us for a bit…at least to walk up to the English Department. She was soooooooo wonderful and came up with us and even started drawing with sidewalk chalk before she had to leave to go to her own project.
Fredy and Auri drawing with Evelyn
Chalk!
Anyhoo, the babies and I continued to draw with sidewalk chalk and listen to music (and dance) for a loooonnngggg time. We traced ourselves on the ground, drew our hands and cars and flowers and people…and then the two of them got bored with that…and instead, started coloring THEMSELVES with all the different colors of chalk. At first I was kind of appalled. Then I realized how incredibly awesome it was and just sat there laughing hysterically as they covered themselves from head to toe and enjoyed every minute of it :).
Beginning to decorate themselves...
Look at how proud Auri is of herself!
One of Fredy's shoes...
The ONLY way I got them to stop drawing on themselves was to tell them that we could have chocolate! I brought them down to my house and IMMEDIATELY took them out back to the pila, to clean them up even the slightest bit. I got off most of the chalk from their bodies but there wasn’t really any helping their clothing without completely soaking them, so I left that for the tias…(Sorry Tia Aracely!) Back in the house we made chocolate brownies (they even added all of the ingredients themselves!) While we waited for the brownies to cook Auri and Fredy colored pictures and made “boats” out of paper. We then ate our delicious chocolate brownies and headed back to the babies house :).
Making our brownies!
So adorable :)
I hope next month’s projects can compare!
The first project of the month was with five brothers ranging in age from 7 year old twins to a 15 year old including: Samuel, Wilmer, Rudy, Ever, and Luis. Bridget and I did the project together and the boys told us they wanted to make pizza and watch a movie. On Thursday, Bridget and I gathered all the supplies and headed up to the English room to make our delicious dish. After spending roughly 5 minutes with them, I looked at Bridget and said “Oh LORD I do NOT want to have 5 boys!”
It wasn’t that they were bad – in fact they were REALLY good kids and they worked incredibly well together…it was more just…that they were 5 boys! They were FULL of energy, REALLY excited about being together and REALLY excited about project…and really that’s all you can hope for. So! We made the delicious pizza (and Rudy proceeded to DOUSE the pan with butter…I will definitely say that it was the first pizza I have ever made that did NOT stick to the pan even one little bit…) and then watched “Despicable Me” (a new Pixar movie). The boys were really great and it was an all around excellent project :).
Saturday’s project can only be summed up in a few words:
Me + 2 babies + sidewalk chalk + brownies = BEST. PROJECT. EVER.
Saturday I had project with Auri and Fredy – two of the most ADORABLE babies in the baby’s house. How did I end up with TWO baby projects in the past two months you ask? Well, Meghan, the volunteer in charge of assigning projects, noticed that I’d been a bit down lately, and in her effort to be a wonderful friend, she did what she could to cheer me up – and WOW did it work!
On Thursday I went down to the baby’s house to ask them what they wanted to do. The response?
Auri: DANCE!
Fredy: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!
(Have I mentioned that I love babies?)
So, on Saturday I went down to the baby’s house to pick up Auri and Fredy…but unfortunately Fredy was not having any of it. He just wanted to stay with Evelyn, a girl from Bachillerato who had come to help out with the baby’s section over the weekend. Being a little desperate to have a successful baby project, I asked Evelyn if she would join us for a bit…at least to walk up to the English Department. She was soooooooo wonderful and came up with us and even started drawing with sidewalk chalk before she had to leave to go to her own project.
Anyhoo, the babies and I continued to draw with sidewalk chalk and listen to music (and dance) for a loooonnngggg time. We traced ourselves on the ground, drew our hands and cars and flowers and people…and then the two of them got bored with that…and instead, started coloring THEMSELVES with all the different colors of chalk. At first I was kind of appalled. Then I realized how incredibly awesome it was and just sat there laughing hysterically as they covered themselves from head to toe and enjoyed every minute of it :).
The ONLY way I got them to stop drawing on themselves was to tell them that we could have chocolate! I brought them down to my house and IMMEDIATELY took them out back to the pila, to clean them up even the slightest bit. I got off most of the chalk from their bodies but there wasn’t really any helping their clothing without completely soaking them, so I left that for the tias…(Sorry Tia Aracely!) Back in the house we made chocolate brownies (they even added all of the ingredients themselves!) While we waited for the brownies to cook Auri and Fredy colored pictures and made “boats” out of paper. We then ate our delicious chocolate brownies and headed back to the babies house :).
I hope next month’s projects can compare!
The things that amuse them...
In my class I have a zero tolerance policy for kids who are doing thing they shouldn't be...whether it's talking to their neighbor, changing seats in the middle of class, wandering around, looking out the window, shouting out the window, playing with toys - you name it - I do my best to keep my classes in order and on task (although some classes are definitely more up to the challenge than others...)
The thing that probably bothers me the most is when kids are fiddling or playing with things in class. They KNOW that I'm going to take the item away and that they can have it back after class...but it doesn't stop them from trying. Since I've been here I have collected a rather odd assortment of items which include...
- books (like "Twilight"...how could someone NOT notice you reading a 300 page book in class??)
- magazines
- scissors
- glue
- original drawings
- rubix cubes
- gum
- gum wrappers (the kids just learned a new magic trick...which is REALLY awesome...outside of class...)
- markers
- notes (which I have literally watched children EAT in front of me rather than throw away in the trash where they could be found...)
- homework and notebooks from other classes
- Picture cut-outs of Justin Beiber and Beyonce from different magazines
- cell phones (which the kids at NPH aren't even ALLOWED to have until they are in their year of service...so how a kid in 7th grade got two different ones on two consecutive days mystifies me...)
And today I added to the list NAIL CLIPPERS. Seriously. Really? The things that they find to keep themselves from being bored in class are amazing...
The thing that probably bothers me the most is when kids are fiddling or playing with things in class. They KNOW that I'm going to take the item away and that they can have it back after class...but it doesn't stop them from trying. Since I've been here I have collected a rather odd assortment of items which include...
- books (like "Twilight"...how could someone NOT notice you reading a 300 page book in class??)
- magazines
- scissors
- glue
- original drawings
- rubix cubes
- gum
- gum wrappers (the kids just learned a new magic trick...which is REALLY awesome...outside of class...)
- markers
- notes (which I have literally watched children EAT in front of me rather than throw away in the trash where they could be found...)
- homework and notebooks from other classes
- Picture cut-outs of Justin Beiber and Beyonce from different magazines
- cell phones (which the kids at NPH aren't even ALLOWED to have until they are in their year of service...so how a kid in 7th grade got two different ones on two consecutive days mystifies me...)
And today I added to the list NAIL CLIPPERS. Seriously. Really? The things that they find to keep themselves from being bored in class are amazing...
Semuc!
Last weekend Molly, Thayer and I made our way to Antigua to book our next mini vacation to...SEMUC CHAMPEY!!! Semuc is one of the places that I have been most excited to go to during my time here in Guatemala (although I've been waiting for perfect April weather before embarking...). Located about 8 hours north of us, it is a beautiful, secluded area full of natural pools, caves to explore, and tons of relaxation :). We are INCREDIBLY excited to be hopping on a transport on Friday for our weekend getaway - check out Semuc here! Can't wait!!
Bracelets!
Friday night I went down to my section armed with a WHOLE lot of hilo (thread) for making friendship bracelets! I had found a TON when I'd been in the states for my short 3-day stint and boy oh boy were the girls excited! We spent Friday night making bracelets and watching a Disney movie about turtles? Still no clue what it was...Anyway - the girls are definitely looking forward to more craft projects which is GREAT since Semana Santa (Holy Week) is next week and Corinna and I have a few surprises up our sleeves...
The girls working on their bracelets
Kiki's finished bracelet
Margarita with her work in progress
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Ready to be Home
Today is April 12. I have now been living in Guatemala for over 9 months…and I am ready to go home. I never thought I’d say it. I have always had the travel bug and wanted to leave the US and all it's "creature comforts" that I swore I was "so over" and have been the stir-crazy-if-I-stay-in-the-same-place-for-too-long type (and maybe that’s a little part of the reason why I’m so ready to leave). Yet here it is. Nine months later and I’m completely 100% ready to be living in the comfortable United States with my never-ending array of television shows, 24-hour a day Chinese food delivery services, carpeting, RUNNING WATER IN MY HOUSE AT ALL TIMES (more on that in a bit…) and all the people I love most in the world by my side. Maybe it’s possible that I’ll even enjoy being back in New York? At this rate anything’s possible…
Monday, April 11, 2011
Our Father
This year I have an INCREDIBLE group of students in my Tercero Basico class – they’re awesome. And because they are so awesome, they are letting me share the following video of them reciting the “Our Father” in class, in English (which they can ALSO do because they ARE so awesome :).) Enjoy!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Ratones y Arañas OH MY!
Sometimes there are just things that happen that remind you of where you live… here, some of those things include: children running up and down the stairs screaming their heads off, putting a movie in your DVD player to watch only THEN to realize that it’s only in Spanish, being on time to a meeting and being well…30 minutes early by the time it ACTUALLY starts, listening to countless raves about the power of Jesus and religion, being woken up every night around 3 am to the sound of fireworks in town, or dogs howling (or both), not being able to find peanut butter in the super market, and last but not least, bugs and other things that go bump in the night.
The other night Cassie and I went to go wash dishes outside in our sink…and came across – the world’s cutest mouse. Now, I don’t consider myself the girliest person in the world, but I definitely saw it, freaked out and stumbled backwards. Cassie on the other hand screamed (or rather shrieked) her head off for a solid 5 seconds before realizing it was only a mouse. I literally laughed for 2 minutes just thinking about how shocked she had been!
In addition, every night we are encountered by creepy crawlies – aka a large list of disgusting bugs that make their way into our house every night. Among these is our personal favorite – the ginormous spider. If you don’t believe me take a look for yourself at the huge almost 2 inch spider that Christina trapped in our kitchen last night…and just one of hundreds. SCARY STUFF!
Not a fan.
Yikes.
A WAYYY too loud moth that flew into our living room...
This guy just dropped from our ceiling during breakfast one morning!
The other night Cassie and I went to go wash dishes outside in our sink…and came across – the world’s cutest mouse. Now, I don’t consider myself the girliest person in the world, but I definitely saw it, freaked out and stumbled backwards. Cassie on the other hand screamed (or rather shrieked) her head off for a solid 5 seconds before realizing it was only a mouse. I literally laughed for 2 minutes just thinking about how shocked she had been!
In addition, every night we are encountered by creepy crawlies – aka a large list of disgusting bugs that make their way into our house every night. Among these is our personal favorite – the ginormous spider. If you don’t believe me take a look for yourself at the huge almost 2 inch spider that Christina trapped in our kitchen last night…and just one of hundreds. SCARY STUFF!
Teaching Time
Friday afternoon I was sitting in the English classroom trying to figure out how to make learning “numbers from 1-999,999” fun for my students, when in walked in one of my former students, Ovidio. Ovidio is by far one of my favorite kids here at NPH (shhh don’t tell the others…). He is incredibly respectful (and respected by the other kids), really inquisitive, always wants to learn more, soooooooo smart, well-behaved, an AMAZING artist, and just one of the sweetest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He always wants to give you hugs, always asks questions to learn, and has an incredibly positive outlook on life. When I first got here Ovidio (who was in my Primero Basico class) was in the hospital. His appendix had ruptured, he’d had emergency surgery in town to fix it, it had then gotten infected and no one was really certain of what was going to happen. Through it all, Ovidio remained the positive, wonderful young man that he is – looking to the future and believing that everything would be ok. He truly is a remarkable 16 year old.
Now Ovidio came to the English Department on Friday and I began asking him how I could make my lesson plans on numbers more fun and interesting for the kids in my classes. He sat there trying to think of games for us to play…and while he did so he rattled off all the answers to the questions on the worksheet I was going to give to my class on Monday (he makes me proud as his former teacher ;-)). He then flipped the page in the textbook and found himself face to face with a page full of clocks. I asked him what time it was and he was completely quiet. I started to joke around with him – “C’mon Ovidio – what time is it?”… “I don’t know…” Turns out he had never learned how to properly read a clock in Spanish. (I know, I know, mean Jess - but how was I supposed to know??) So what did we do? We spent the next 20 minutes learning how to tell time. Like I said – he’s a REALLY smart kid – 20 minutes (and someone to sit down and teach him properly) were all he needed. After a few examples of each of the different times (2 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 8:30, 1:30, etc) we moved up to counting by fives and within minutes he could read ANY clock that I gave him without a problem. Seriously – one of the most amazing and determined kids I know – and a pretty rewarding afternoon for me too…good times in English :).
Now Ovidio came to the English Department on Friday and I began asking him how I could make my lesson plans on numbers more fun and interesting for the kids in my classes. He sat there trying to think of games for us to play…and while he did so he rattled off all the answers to the questions on the worksheet I was going to give to my class on Monday (he makes me proud as his former teacher ;-)). He then flipped the page in the textbook and found himself face to face with a page full of clocks. I asked him what time it was and he was completely quiet. I started to joke around with him – “C’mon Ovidio – what time is it?”… “I don’t know…” Turns out he had never learned how to properly read a clock in Spanish. (I know, I know, mean Jess - but how was I supposed to know??) So what did we do? We spent the next 20 minutes learning how to tell time. Like I said – he’s a REALLY smart kid – 20 minutes (and someone to sit down and teach him properly) were all he needed. After a few examples of each of the different times (2 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 8:30, 1:30, etc) we moved up to counting by fives and within minutes he could read ANY clock that I gave him without a problem. Seriously – one of the most amazing and determined kids I know – and a pretty rewarding afternoon for me too…good times in English :).
Catching up on Sleep
After travelling for 5 solid days, I certainly needed a break for sleep. In the last week alone since I’ve been back, I’ve slept almost 8-9 hours EVERY night (in addition to some naps during the day)…and yet it still doesn’t seem to be curing my need for sleep. I feel fine so I doubt that I’ve come down with any sickness or anything like that, but all I can say is that I’m still working on catching up on all that missed sleep. Any suggestions?
A Quick Trip Home With a Wonderful Ending
Hey folks! I apologize (otra vez) for my long absence from the blogging world. Things have been quite hectic here at NPH and in my life in general to say the least. Last weekend I went home for 5 days – I left Guatemala on a 6 am flight Thursday March 31, and returned back on Monday April 4. It was EXHAUSTING…but necessary.
My parents (the wonderful people that they are) went to TWENTY-ONE reception halls to look for mine and Jon’s wedding. Some were beautiful, some atrocious, yet like champs they trudged through the lot of them...only to realize that this was a VERY important decision that needed to be made VERY soon. As such, I was flown home and spent a whirlwind 3 days looking at venues, registering for gifts, and talking non-stop about weddings (not that that was a problem for me…I kinda like weddings…in case you didn’t know…) Anyhoo! All I can say is THANK THE LORD that Jon and I loved 2 of the first 3 places that we went (we had 7 scheduled and ended up cancelling the last 4 – WHEW!) Instead, we looked at 3, (and after a few tears on my end…why was that one place SO freaking ugly?) we quickly decided on one that we all loved and voila! Decision made! It was an INCREDIBLY fast and wonderful weekend but we got sooooooooo much done and we’re all hoping we can relax (at least a little bit) on the wedding planning until I come home in August…here’s hoping! And so….
The wedding of Jonathan Capozzola and Jessica Barak will be held on Sunday, October 7, 2012. The ceremony will take place at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Kings Park, with reception to follow at East Wind. Can’t wait to see you all there! Enjoy the pictures below for a quick preview :).
Jon and me looking at places…sooooo exhausting
The reception entrance!
Cocktail hour!
Outside patio of the cocktail hour…
Bridal suite! (If you think THAT mirror is big you should see the one in the bathroom!)
Reception room!
One of our tables ;-)
My parents (the wonderful people that they are) went to TWENTY-ONE reception halls to look for mine and Jon’s wedding. Some were beautiful, some atrocious, yet like champs they trudged through the lot of them...only to realize that this was a VERY important decision that needed to be made VERY soon. As such, I was flown home and spent a whirlwind 3 days looking at venues, registering for gifts, and talking non-stop about weddings (not that that was a problem for me…I kinda like weddings…in case you didn’t know…) Anyhoo! All I can say is THANK THE LORD that Jon and I loved 2 of the first 3 places that we went (we had 7 scheduled and ended up cancelling the last 4 – WHEW!) Instead, we looked at 3, (and after a few tears on my end…why was that one place SO freaking ugly?) we quickly decided on one that we all loved and voila! Decision made! It was an INCREDIBLY fast and wonderful weekend but we got sooooooooo much done and we’re all hoping we can relax (at least a little bit) on the wedding planning until I come home in August…here’s hoping! And so….
The wedding of Jonathan Capozzola and Jessica Barak will be held on Sunday, October 7, 2012. The ceremony will take place at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Kings Park, with reception to follow at East Wind. Can’t wait to see you all there! Enjoy the pictures below for a quick preview :).
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