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!

Across the River

Sometimes I get so caught up in the daily life here that I need to take a moment to realize where I am and how lucky I am to have the family I have, the friends I have, the home I have, the love, the comfort and the security. Today I was sitting outside my house and looked across the river onto the "village" where some of my students live. There is so much poverty in this country amongst so much beauty.

Beauty Pageants and Soccer Games

This Thursday and Friday marked the anniversary of the school here at NPH Guatemala. What do we do to celebrate the anniversary of the school you ask?? Not have school. We have spent the past two days celebrating with a mixture of class, style and of course soccer. Thursday was a day of cultural events and by cultural events I mean a beauty pageant. We had our very own NPH beauty pageant. It was the real deal-- there were different categories, the girls changed outfits and there was even a question and answer portion. One girl from each grade was elected to participate in the pageant, which gave us a total of ten girls competing from the ages of four to sixteen. The started with a sports outfit and each girl walked down the "runway" and continued with traditional dress and evening wear. The girls also put on a dance for the audience and at the end they were each asked a question. After a morning of glitz and glamour the winners were announced...drumroll please......

There were six different categories and here are the winners
showing off their sashes,  crowns and even wands!

Mariela (from my section) in the question and
answer portion of the pageant.

Even Yeimy (preschool candidate) got to say
her share in front of the audience.

Yeimy being crowned "Niña NPH".

Juana (from my section) being crowned
 "Señorita Independencia".

So proud of Juana (with her sister, Estrella and Enma)

Tia Eva and Juana
(Estrella and Enma in the background)

Beauty Queen!

After a day full of glitz and glam yesterday today was a day full of sports, predominantly soccer. Another school came to visit for the day and there were soccer matches all morning. My girls played in two games in the morning and of course WON!!!! But don't worry the princesses from yesterday were not playing they were all in their cute outfits still sporting their sashes and crowns! It was quite the celebration!

Flor and Yohana going for the goal.

Fighting for the ball.

Action shot-Estrella!

"Señorita Independencia" and Esme cheering 

on the sidelines.

In Memory of Padre Wasson

This past Tuesday marked the 5th anniversary of Padre Wasson's death. For those of you who don't know Padre Wasson is the founder and creater of NPH and in many of these kids eyes he has given them a life to live. NPH was founded years ago when Padre Wasson was the father/priest at a church in Mexico. A boy stole the money from the donation plate at the church and was taken to jail. Padre Wasson asked for the boy to be released into his custody and the boy came to live with Padre Wasson. Within the next few weeks Padre Wasson was living with eight young boys who had been living on the streets in Mexico and needed love and care. Padre Wasson's family began small in Mexico and has now grown to nine different countries and includes thousands of children who otherwise would have been abandonded, neglected, abused, malnourished, homeless and the list goes on.


Padre Wasson created a home and a family for these children and they are all eternally grateful. Their gratitude was shown this past Tuesday when the whole home gathered together to say their thanks and remember Padre Wasson. All of the children, tias, tios, volunteers, and employees, dressed in white, gathered together in the center of the soccer field (which was surrounded by candles) to sing songs, pray, watch a movie and pay their respects to a man who is loved and missed.

Why I LOVE Fridays

1. I can get up at 7:30 instead of the unfortunate hour of 6:15.

2. I get to teach the well behaved preschoolers for an hour and play games, sing songs and have fun.

3. I get to play with the babies ( a group of six boys between the ages of 2 and 3) for an hour after Montessori class.

4. I only have one class and have nothing to do the rest of the day.

5. The weekend begins tomorrow!

Tuesdays with Jonathan and Elmer (Francis too!)

After Jess left (boo hoo) last month Molly and I have taken over the Año de Servicio (Year of Service) class which consists of three amazing and hilarious individuals, Jonathan, Elmer and Francis. Each Tuesday they come to the English office and we talk, joke around, read, eat and practice English for an hour in the afternoon. Elmer works in the Carpentería (wood work) workshop, Jonathan works on the farm with the animals and Francis works in the school. We talk about their jobs and our  jobs and just hang out because they are more or less the same age as us.

Yesterday we started reading short stories and each class we are going to read another story so they can practice pronunciation and increase their vocabulary. We started with one of my preschoolers favorites (haha), Matthew and Tilly, which is a story about two friends who get in a fight, but in the end realize how important their friendship is.

After reading the story Molly and I thought it would be fun for Jonathan and Elmer to write stories about their friendship because they have been at NPH for many years together. They were hesitant, but Molly and I said we would write one about our friendship as well (and it had to include photos).

Here is a glimpse at what we all came up with:

Jonathans story: One day in the NPH house there was a boy and his
name is Jonathan. Once he meant to sleep on the sidewalk of the
dinning hall but he couldn't because he needs to work with the
cows and the coats. (The picture to the right is of a cow named Elmer).

Elmer's story: One day Elmer is drawing a cow in Jonathan's widow
and Jonathan is angry because he is cleaning his window. Jonathan
began to yell at Elmer and Elmer began to cry.

Molly and Thayer's story (part 1): One day Thayer and Molly
arrived at the Guatemala City airpot. They were very scared
and excited to start their year volunteering at NPH. They were
both English teachers and taught ver hard classes.

Molly and Thayer's story (part 2): They would help each other
when times got hard. They have shared many laughs and tears
and have become the best of friends and do everything together.
THE END.

Teaching--almost seven months in and two to go.

Teaching classes from preschool through ninth grade could not be more challenging and tiring, yet in the same breath rewarding and fun. Every morning I wake up by 6:15 to be up at school to start my first class at 6:45. My first class of the day is with 26 seventh grades--how much better can it get. This is one of my most challenging classes because the kids have little motivation and they are at the age where they think they know everything and don't need anyone's help. It has been a challenge for me to get them to listen and respect me and actually have any interest in English at all, but things have started to come around. Seven months into the school year almost my whole class just passed their last test.

My second class of the day is my 26 rambunctious second graders. They are very cute, but they are a handful!!! With this class we have been learning vocabulary and have been able to play fun games and do fun activities. I have had a hard time trying to find a behavior management plan that works for these guys, but six months in I am starting to have success. I created a stoplight and each child has their own car (thanks to Appletree) and if they behave all class they stay on green, yet if they have trouble listening or staying in their desks they can move to yellow or red. At the end of class we look at the stoplight and all the students who are on green can receive a sticker. When they earn four stickers they can receive a prize! They love this system and they are so motivated...it has really changed the face of second grade. I also have a class behavior system where they have to work together to fill up a jar with cotton balls. Each class when they behave or do something well I had a cotton ball. When the jar is full they are able to watch a movie. I have finally got them staying in their seats and today they were even raising their hands instead of screaming my name.

My last class of the day is my ninth grade class--which is a group of 18 students. This is my favorite class by far because they behave and are interested in learning English and that allows us to do so much more in the class. We have written short stories, put on skits and conversations, played many games, listened to song lyrics and are even able to hold class outside sometimes. This class also has their own journals and at the beginning of class they are able to write in their journals in English and then I can respond. It is a great way to practice writing and it also allows them to tell my certain things and express themselves. I never thought I would like teaching older kids, but this class has really showed me how much fun it can be. 

And every Friday morning I teach my little preschoolers in the Montessori school. This class is always a blast and is a great way to start my day. We have class outside on picnic tables and listen to songs, read books, play games, cut, color and paste. We have recently been studying the parts of the body. We traced their bodies with chalk and they filled in the names of their body parts. We also played simon says and sang the hokey pokey and head, shoulders, knees and toes. Its a perfect dose of preschool!

I can't believe that we only have two months left in the school year and then we will move on to teaching  select students in summer classes. When the school year began in January I did not think I could ever do this---now two months left I can't believe how far we have come---my students and I together. 

All Around the World

This weekend was our second to last Kermés- a day where the volunteers plan games for the kids at NPH. The theme of Kermés on Saturday was games from around the world. Each volunteer or group of volunteers from different countries were in charge of hosting a game for the children. The games consisted of TWISTER from the U.S.A. , to three legged races from Austria, to blowing the cotton ball (snow) to the top of the snowy mountains from Switzerland. Every group made a sign for their game and country and most volunteers got into the spirit and dressed in their countries colors--so yes Molly and I were dressed in red, white, and blue (red sox hat and all.)

Here are some pictures from the afternoon:

The USA sign for our game of Twister--big hit!

Wilson getting into the game...yet he only wanted to
put his hands and feet on the red and blue circles.

The boys loving it!

The girls-Yaime, Salome and Joseline!

Fredy, José and Brayan!

Spijkerpoepen from Holland!

The object of the game: A nail that is tied on to a string is
attached to your back with a clip. You then have to bend over
and try to get thenail into the bottle. So all in all it looks
like your pooping. HILARIOUS.

Uno...Dos...Tres....

In Germany they try and knock each other off the bench
with sticks wrapped in foam.

Even the little ones got into it.

"Blow the snow to the mountians."

Object of the game: Blow the cotton ball (snow) across
the table to the top of the mountains to win.