How can this not make you smile....

Edgar, Edwin and Wilson--the cutest brothers!

Christmas in September!

I love Christmas and always have, but I really set a new record when I made Christmas cookies this past weekend. There is nothing like rolling out cookie dough to make a tree, stars, santa and snowmen cookies in 70 degree weather in SEPTEMBER. Don't think I am crazy...this all had a purpose.

All the baking materials ready to go!

My tercero básico class (9th grade) has been studying traditional holidays in the United States. We already studied Thanksgiving and next week we will be talking about the famous ball dropping in NYC and New Years traditions.

I let my class in on all the US Christmas traditions (or more like the Lawson Christmas traditions). We read T'was the Night Before Christmas, sang Jingle Bells and Silent Night and topped it all off with Christmas cookies. Don't worry we also talked about the religious significance of Christmas, NPH being a Catholic organization and all.

Santa Claus cookie cutter!

The finished product!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL A FEW MONTHS EARLY!
xox

We are thankful for...

This week I have been teaching my tercero básico (9th grade) class about traditional holidays in the United States and how we celebrate them. We have been talking about Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. On Thursday we talked about Thanksgiving and the meaning behind the holiday and why people sit around and eat turkey. We talked about how Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks and praises for all the good things you have in your life. After reading a few stories and doing a writing exercise (and watching a youtube clip of the Macy's day parade) I asked them to all think about things that they are thankful for. This is what they came up with:

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Just a night with my girls--bringing me back to the days of being 13!

Waffles turned pancakes turned cake!

Two weeks ago I was supposed to have project with Luis, one of the special education students, and his friend Benito. Unfortunately parasites were attacking my stomach and I had to cancel. Luis was very upset, but I promised we would do the project the following week. This past Monday rolled around and Luis was at the English room door asking, "proyecto hoy tia?" He wanted to know if we were going to have the project on Monday. I told him that we were going to have the project on Thursday at 4pm. For the next three days, at least three times a day, I had Luis showing up at my window in English saying, "proyecto...jueves...4...si??" Yes Luis we are having project on Thursday at 4pm. The next conversation was what are we going to do for project. I had had such success with waffles over the past few projects I suggested that. Luis was just so excited he could not decide. Every time he came to visit this week he suggested that we do something different, from going to Parramos, to making a cake, to a movie, to pancakes, to waffles, to buying hair gell...who knows. I decided to make the executive decision and waffles it was!

I told Luis I would come pick him up at his section at 4pm yet at 3:30 on Thursday Luis was ready and waiting outside the English room. I had all the materials to make waffles and watch Cars, Luis loves cars and trucks so that was a big hit. We made the batter and as I plugged in the waffle maker the electricity went out...how convenient. What now? I decided the best choice was to run home and make pancakes on the stove top while Sam stayed and hung out with Luis. As I was leaving Luis kept saying, "Vas a hacer un pastel...si tia?". He wanted to know if I was going to make a cake and I told him that I was going to make pancakes. His response, "No tia...un pastel por favor." Luis really wanted a cake. Now what? 

I ran home and made the two biggest pancakes ever--they took up the whole pan. Then I covered them in chocolate frosting that was left over from Nanna's project and found a little powdered sugar---it was the best looking cake I have ever seen. I brought the cakes/pancakes back up to English and Luis was so excited he could barely speak. His only response was,  "un pastel...un pastel!!!!!" Yes Luis a cake...just for you.

I have always wanted a dog...

So as many of you know there are an obscene amount of stray dogs in most of Latin America. Here in Guatemala, especially Parramos, is no exception. You can not walk down the street without passing at least ten stray dogs. It is so sad because they are all too thin and not fed, yet they continue to have babies--so the process never stops. There are also many stray dogs that wonder through NPH--they squeeze under the gate or dig holes under the fence. Most of them are gross and I stay far from them, but there is one that as stolen our hearts...Mari! Mari has been living outside of house 4 at NPH for over a year. The volunteers that lived here before us fed her and so she continued to come back. At first we were not sure how we felt about having a stray dog around, but she quickly made it very clear that she was not leaving and we all fell in love (or well most of us did). Mari spends most of her days lounging on our patio in the sun or occasionally heading off for walks through the NPH grounds. She usually eats our leftovers and the rare bag of dog food when some thinks of buying it. Mari has really become a pet to us all (well definitely myself and Yvonne and I think the others like her) and she gets so excited when we get home from work or come outside in the morning--she jumps up and down and can't control herself. I have always wanted a dog and now my dream as finally come true. 

Here are some shots of Mari--the funniest is she lays in our doorway, but never tries to enter the house. What a great pet!

Not a bad way to end the week

Last night I went down to my section to hang out with my girls since I had been sick most of the week and had not seen much of them. I was expecting to meet them in the dinning hall and then hang out in the section for a bit. When I went up to the dinning hall they were not there so I made my way down to the section, but they were not there either. As I was about to head back to my house I heard giggling and screams coming from the around the outside of the girl's house. I walked around back to see what was going on and my girls were having a bonfire and eating dinner together. It was too cute! I joined in and we roasted marshmallows, told stories and sang along to the radio. As it started to get cold some of the girls went into the section. Next thing I know they are all up in the section yelling "disco". What do they mean by disco?? Turning the section into a disco involves one girl being in charge of the lights where she flickers them on and off and one girl in charge of the music. The rest are singing and dancing wildly around the section. It could not have been more fun. As we all got tired out the girls dragged their mattresses and blankets into the sala (living room) and we all hunkered down to watch a scary movie. The next hour involved shrieks, screams and girls hiding behind me and under my arms. An hour or so later while I was walking back to my house I could not stop smiling thinking about the evening I had just spent with the girls. Not a bad way to end the week!