Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Spoons
In case I forgot to mention, we eat all of our meals here with spoons. Random? Yes. It took a little getting used to. But now that I AM used to it, I think I've forgotten how to use a fork. Forks aren't really that practical anyway, but you can eat EVERYTHING with a spoon. (Ok, with the exception of meat, it's pretty hard - but hey - that's why we have hands!) Try it for yourself ;-)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Junta con las Tias
Last night I went to my section to hang out with the girls. My time there consisted of doing gymnastics for a solid 30 minutes and then having a dance party – good night! As I was walking out the door, Tia Fruc, the main tia in charge of Los Angeles, stopped me. She told me that she thought we should collaborate more on activities we could do with the girls – anything from making bracelets to having a movie night, creating posters to hang in their section to having theme dinners – you name it! The only problem is, for once, in terms of crafts, I’m fresh out of ideas (and lacking quite a few resources)! SO if anyone reading this has ANY ideas about, inexpensive projects I can do with 18 girls, ages 9-12 – let me know – I would love to hear them!
T.Q.M.
Te. Quiero. Mucho.
I. Love. You. A lot.
T.Q.M. is a message that the kids often write to their friends and siblings to tell them that they love them. It can be a greeting or a closing of a letter, or it can just be put onto a page when you're doodling. Yesterday I received my first T.Q.M. from one of my students, Daniela.
Needless to say it made my day :)
I. Love. You. A lot.
T.Q.M. is a message that the kids often write to their friends and siblings to tell them that they love them. It can be a greeting or a closing of a letter, or it can just be put onto a page when you're doodling. Yesterday I received my first T.Q.M. from one of my students, Daniela.
Needless to say it made my day :)
Proyecto Amistad
So on Sunday I had what’s called a Proyecto Amistad – aka a “Friend Project.” Some of the children at the home don’t have brothers/sisters/cousins/ etc., so instead of having Proyecto Familiar, they have Proyecto Amistad. One child gets to pick the other child/children that they want to spend time with that they may not get to see all that often. It definitely makes for an interesting time…
Sunday I was scheduled to have my project with Pedro Pablo, who currently lives in the bachillerato (the high school in Chimaltenango) and Jose Luis (who is here at our home) from 10-12. Beforehand I had asked the boys what they wanted to do and Jose had said he wanted to go to Chimaltenango, a town about 30 minutes away from the home, and eat pizza. Sounded perfect.
On Sunday I headed over to Jose Luis’s section to get him around 9:30 to start our travels. Of course he wasn’t in the section. I tracked down some of the boys in his section only to find out he WAS in fact in the section. Long story short, 20 minutes and A LOT of searching later, we were on our way. Luckily, we were given a ride to Chimal in a pickup truck from NPH that was already headed there – thank heaven we didn’t have to take a camioneta (chicken bus)! It took us half the time to get there and we were quickly on our way. After walking for another 20 minutes we arrived at the bachillerato to collect Pedro Pablo…who wasn’t home. WHAT?!? That’s what we were told. FORTUNATELY, we were told to wait and another 10 minutes later he came downstairs. After starting at 9:30, now going on 10:30, we were FINALLY ready to START our project! WHEW!
I asked the boys what they wanted to do…to which they replied…
Boys: “I dunno…what do you wanna do?”
Me: “this isn’t my project – you don’t have ANY idea what you want to do?”
Boys: “no, you can pick…”
OK! What to do what to do? We decided to go to the park and kick around the soccer ball I had brought from home for a while. We proceeded to walk for another 20 minutes, talking about life and school, etc. (Pedro just received a FULL 4 year scholarship from a private donor in the US to attend University here in Guatemala starting in January!) Anyway! We arrived at the park only to find out that the grass was completely fenced in and you couldn’t walk on it. FOR REAL???
Me: “what do you want to do now?”
Boys: “we don’t know, what do you want to do?”
After a LOT more of this, we decided to go get some pizza, Jose Luis’s other request. The boys then lead me out of the park in the direction of town. We walked for a solid 30 more minutes before we arrived at the pizza place the boys wanted to eat at: Domino’s Pizza. I should have known. Now it was around 11:30 and project should have been coming to a close…but of course it was just getting started.
I looked at the prices at Domino’s and was APPALLED. We are given 5Q per child for activities to be done during a project…aka 65 cents a kid. The prices at Domino’s were the same as in the states!! How was I going to buy a pizza for $1.30?? After contemplating for a solid minute in Domino’s, I decided it had to be done. I sucked it up and bought the pizza…and how DELICIOUS it was. I don’t remember Domino’s EVER being that good in the states, but man, ham and cheese pizza was exactly what the doctor ordered!! Vale la pena…SO worth it.
After downing an entire pizza, I taught the boys how to play two of my favorite card games – Egyptian Rat Screw (my all time favorite) and Rummy. After about 30 minutes of cards, we decided to call it quits and head back home. Pedro lead us to the bus stop and Jose Luis and I got home 30 minutes later…right about at 1:30…QUITE a long day, but fun to say the least :)
Jose Luis and Pedro Pablo on the streets of Chimal
Sunday I was scheduled to have my project with Pedro Pablo, who currently lives in the bachillerato (the high school in Chimaltenango) and Jose Luis (who is here at our home) from 10-12. Beforehand I had asked the boys what they wanted to do and Jose had said he wanted to go to Chimaltenango, a town about 30 minutes away from the home, and eat pizza. Sounded perfect.
On Sunday I headed over to Jose Luis’s section to get him around 9:30 to start our travels. Of course he wasn’t in the section. I tracked down some of the boys in his section only to find out he WAS in fact in the section. Long story short, 20 minutes and A LOT of searching later, we were on our way. Luckily, we were given a ride to Chimal in a pickup truck from NPH that was already headed there – thank heaven we didn’t have to take a camioneta (chicken bus)! It took us half the time to get there and we were quickly on our way. After walking for another 20 minutes we arrived at the bachillerato to collect Pedro Pablo…who wasn’t home. WHAT?!? That’s what we were told. FORTUNATELY, we were told to wait and another 10 minutes later he came downstairs. After starting at 9:30, now going on 10:30, we were FINALLY ready to START our project! WHEW!
I asked the boys what they wanted to do…to which they replied…
Boys: “I dunno…what do you wanna do?”
Me: “this isn’t my project – you don’t have ANY idea what you want to do?”
Boys: “no, you can pick…”
OK! What to do what to do? We decided to go to the park and kick around the soccer ball I had brought from home for a while. We proceeded to walk for another 20 minutes, talking about life and school, etc. (Pedro just received a FULL 4 year scholarship from a private donor in the US to attend University here in Guatemala starting in January!) Anyway! We arrived at the park only to find out that the grass was completely fenced in and you couldn’t walk on it. FOR REAL???
Me: “what do you want to do now?”
Boys: “we don’t know, what do you want to do?”
After a LOT more of this, we decided to go get some pizza, Jose Luis’s other request. The boys then lead me out of the park in the direction of town. We walked for a solid 30 more minutes before we arrived at the pizza place the boys wanted to eat at: Domino’s Pizza. I should have known. Now it was around 11:30 and project should have been coming to a close…but of course it was just getting started.
I looked at the prices at Domino’s and was APPALLED. We are given 5Q per child for activities to be done during a project…aka 65 cents a kid. The prices at Domino’s were the same as in the states!! How was I going to buy a pizza for $1.30?? After contemplating for a solid minute in Domino’s, I decided it had to be done. I sucked it up and bought the pizza…and how DELICIOUS it was. I don’t remember Domino’s EVER being that good in the states, but man, ham and cheese pizza was exactly what the doctor ordered!! Vale la pena…SO worth it.
After downing an entire pizza, I taught the boys how to play two of my favorite card games – Egyptian Rat Screw (my all time favorite) and Rummy. After about 30 minutes of cards, we decided to call it quits and head back home. Pedro lead us to the bus stop and Jose Luis and I got home 30 minutes later…right about at 1:30…QUITE a long day, but fun to say the least :)
Jose Luis and Pedro Pablo on the streets of Chimal
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Finally...pictures of Señorita NPH!
Four of my girls ready for the “sports competition”…Vilma, Ana, Lourdes, and Deborah
Everyone in the comedor watching the performance
One of the girls giving her speech about powerful women…
Lourdes standing on stage after winning “Nina de deportes”
Three of the four winners!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Terremoto
Sooo I don't really know how I forgot to mention this, but last week I experienced my first earthquake! I was on my lunch break, reading a book at my house in the living room. Everyone else except for my roommate, Bridget, and I had returned to work. All of a sudden I heard the glasses on our shelves in the kitchen start to rattle and I felt a little motion. It took me a good 3 seconds to realize that what I was feeling wasn't just the results of the yardwork going on outside...and then it took another 5 seconds before it was over.
I sat there for a minute, not really knowing what to do or say before I called into our room...
"Hey Bridge..."
"Yea"
"Did you feel that??"
"yea"
"Was that an earthquake?"
"I think so?"
Goes to show how much experience we north-easterners have with terremotos. Needless to say, it was eye opening, although harmless. I hope I can say the same for any and all terremotos I ever experience again.
I sat there for a minute, not really knowing what to do or say before I called into our room...
"Hey Bridge..."
"Yea"
"Did you feel that??"
"yea"
"Was that an earthquake?"
"I think so?"
Goes to show how much experience we north-easterners have with terremotos. Needless to say, it was eye opening, although harmless. I hope I can say the same for any and all terremotos I ever experience again.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Señorita NPH
So as I previously wrote, I’ve been sick quite a bit in the last few weeks. BUT one day that I wouldn’t have missed for the world was el primer día del aniversario de la escuela (the first day of the school’s anniversary.) That was the day of Señorita NPH – and how could you miss that??
Every year during the school’s anniversary NPH has a sort of “beauty pageant” of sorts. Each of the girls’ sections is able to elect 5 girls they would like to be included in the competition and then these girls participate in a full day’s worth of events including a “sports” competition (aka walking down the aisle dressed in sports garb…), an evening gown competition (again, walking down the aisle looking all fancy), and a question and answer round, which included questions such as, “what are some values that strong women should possess?” “how should a woman present herself?” and, my personal favorite, “does a woman’s opinion matter, yes or no, and why?” WHAT??? QUE RIDICULO!!
There were about 20 girls in this year’s competition, which lasted from about 9 am until 12:30 and I took a billion pictures (the girls were just too adorable!) At the end of the competition, awards were given to 4 girls: Niña de deportes, Niña NPH, Señorita de deportes, and Señorita NPH: the first two for the younger, elementary school aged girls and the last two for the basico, or middle school aged girls.
And the best part?? One of my girls, Lourdes, won the Niña de deportes!! I was so proud and she looked so adorable up on stage as she was given her sash!
Unfortunately my pictures aren’t uploading right now, but I’ll update them soon!
Every year during the school’s anniversary NPH has a sort of “beauty pageant” of sorts. Each of the girls’ sections is able to elect 5 girls they would like to be included in the competition and then these girls participate in a full day’s worth of events including a “sports” competition (aka walking down the aisle dressed in sports garb…), an evening gown competition (again, walking down the aisle looking all fancy), and a question and answer round, which included questions such as, “what are some values that strong women should possess?” “how should a woman present herself?” and, my personal favorite, “does a woman’s opinion matter, yes or no, and why?” WHAT??? QUE RIDICULO!!
There were about 20 girls in this year’s competition, which lasted from about 9 am until 12:30 and I took a billion pictures (the girls were just too adorable!) At the end of the competition, awards were given to 4 girls: Niña de deportes, Niña NPH, Señorita de deportes, and Señorita NPH: the first two for the younger, elementary school aged girls and the last two for the basico, or middle school aged girls.
And the best part?? One of my girls, Lourdes, won the Niña de deportes!! I was so proud and she looked so adorable up on stage as she was given her sash!
Unfortunately my pictures aren’t uploading right now, but I’ll update them soon!
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