Anniversario-Dances/Songs/Cheers

Ready for the presentations to begin--each group sat
together with their flags and their mascots.

This year NPH Guatemala celebrated their 15th anniversary! Casa San Andres has been open since 1996 and has become a family and a home to hundreds and hundreds of children, tios, volunteers and employees over the years. This weekend we celebrated the anniversary in style.

Anniversario is no joke here at NPHG--we started rehearsing in our teams over a month ago. The entire house from babies, to tios, volunteers and employees were all divided up onto 15 different teams. Each year the theme is different and this year it was the departments at NPH--so the teams ranged from la escuela (school) to la granja (the farm) with 13 others in between. My team was mantenimiento (maintenance)--with our mascots being a hammer and a nail--creative right?!? We had been rehearsing once or twice a week over the past six weeks to come up with a dance, cheers, a play and other things to represent maintenance and our spirit for NPH. This past Friday was the beginning of annviersario and the big day of presentations of the groups.

Me and Wilson--he was one of
our mascots--a nail.

We started off the day singing "Las Manañitas", a traditional birthday song here in Guatemala, to the kids at 5am. Some of the older kids got up and sang with us and we also set of bombas (small fireworks) to make sure everyone was up and ready for the day. While we were singing outside their windows the lights flicked on and all their faces appeared in the windows--it was too cute. Once everyone was awake we went up to the cancha/basketball court and enjoyed some hot chocolate.

The rest of the day was spent making sure all of the finishing touches were done on our presentations. The presentations began at 2pm and the cancha was filled with spirit--yelling, cheering, singing, dancing and laughing until around 7pm when the events for day one had come to an end. Each group was given the opportunity to present in front of the others and the judges. My group after many (not so fun) rehearsals put on a dance and a play, which all finally came together in the last hours.

Cliníca--all dressed as nurses and doctors!

José was the mascot for the clinic--the red cross.

Granja (farm) representing the animals at NPH.

Jardenaría (garden) covered in flowers.

Escuela (school) came into the cancha on their "school bus".

The day was all about celebration, love, spirit and unity and it could not have been more apparent Friday night--the cancha was on fire with all of the above.

TEAM SPIRIT!

Running of the flags--every hour or so all the teams would run
into the middle with the flags screaming and cheering.

Maná

This past Wednesday a bunch of volunteers/employees went to the Maná concert in Guatemala City. Maná is a band from Mexico who is currently on a world tour (Drama y Luz) and just happened to make a stop off in Guatemala. I did not know much of their music before coming here, but it is very popular and it has quickly become one of my most played on my itunes playlist.

The concert was amazing---we sat extremely far away, but it didn't seem to matter because we had plenty of room to sing and dance. The stadium was outside and it was a cold, but it was a beautiful night with a sky full of stars. The concert was full of energy and the crowd was incredible--everyone singing the lyrics and enjoying the show. At the end of the concert they came on for an encore and fireworks lit up the sky. This was definitely a night I won't forget.

Hand Washing Clothes for Dummies

Here at NPH all the kids and tios/tias wash their clothes by hand in the pilas , yet the volunteers have the luxary of having a washer and dryer (not necessary, but very nice). One night in my section I was talking to my girls as a few of them hand washed their clothes and I was amazed how quickly and efficiently they could get through a pile of dirty laundry. When they saw the look of awe on my face they decided it was time for me to get my hands dirty and help out. Then and there I was giving a lesson on hand washing clothes Guatemalan style.

Step 1: Go out back to the pila with soap and the clothes that need to be washed. One side of the pila is bumpy for washing clothes and the other side is flat for washing dishes.

Step 2: Place a rock or something in/on the drain and fill up the center part of the pila with water.

Step 3: Lay the item you are going to wash in the bumpy side of the sink and pour water on it until it is completely wet.

Step 4: Rub the bar of soap back and forth over the item that you are washing. The bumps in the pila help to provide friction and make it easier to wash.

Step 5: Rinse the item with a bucket/bowl with water until there is no more soap on the item of clothing.

Step 6: Ring out the water and hang the item of clothing on the clothes line to dry.

Step 7: Repeat steps 1-6 with each item of clothing!

All Saints Day--cemeteries, kites, beer, sun and more.

All Saints Day (Día de Todos Los Santos), with is celebrated November 1st, is a time of celebration and joy to remember the saints and loved ones who have died. The day is full of traditions and a mixture of Mayan and Catholic influences throughout Guatemala. Families spend the day at the cemeteries where family members and friends are buried to honor and remember them.

The day is spent restoring and decorating the graves in the cemeteries, eating, drinking and spending time with family. In the cemeteries in Guatemala the families with more money have larger tombs for the deceased and the families with less money burry their loved one's in the ground. A mound of dirt is then placed over the graves in the ground so people can identify where the people are buried. Each year when families gather in the cemeteries they cover the graves with a hard white coat so they will last throughout the colder months and then they cover them with flowers and greens. Unlike the States the cemeteries are bursting with color--the tombs are painted with vibrant colors of pink, green, blue and orange and the smaller graves are adorned with flowers and candles. 

The graves are all covered with a hard white layer and
then adorned with flowers and candles.

A family sitting around the grave of a loved one.

Looking out over the cemetery.

Flying kites in the cemetery.

Another tradition on All Saints Day is the making and flying of kites (which we did here at NPH on Saturday) at the cemeteries. The tradition started years ago to ward off all bad spirits, supposedly the bad spirits would disturb the good spirits and cause them to leave the graves where there families were celebrating. The original purpose of the kites was to be flown over the graves of the dead to keep away all of the bad spirits, yet over the years the tradition has grown and become much more commercial. There are now big festivals held throughout Guatemala, where people make huge kites out of tissue paper and bamboo sticks and put them on display. Some of the creators that we talked to had been working on their kites for over six months--they were all so colorful and intricate. Yet right next to the kite festival was a cemetery where families were continuing to pay tribute to the deceased in the traditional ways. When we walked through the cemetery I looked back over the colorful graves and the families were full of joy and the kites flew overhead amongst the clouds in the sky... this is a tradition I could get used to. 

One of the biggest kites in the festival.

Building the kites out of tissue paper and bamboo.

One of the most intricate kites--each part with a
different design.

Looking back at the festival--wow.

Barriletes

Today was All Saints Day and one of the many traditions in Guatemala is the making and flying of barriletes (kites) during this time of year. This past weekend NPH had its very own kite flying competition between the different sections of kids. Each section made a kite as a team and then were judged on the size of the kite, elevation, use of recyclable materials and creativity--and the volunteers who were around got to be the judges.

The sections all showed up with kites of varying sizes and colors and were all excited to see what their creations could do with a little wind. Kites were made out of everything from tissue paper, to trash bags, to recycled notebook pages and empty chip bags. Each section's kite had its own character and they all flew or tried to fly at varying heights---some over the roof of the comedor and others directly to the ground. It's the effort that counts. Here are some photos from the afternoon.

My girls showing off their kite.

Let's see if it will fly.

The babies had kites too--Luis showing off his kite.

How do I get this thing off the ground?

Up..up...and away.

The section of San Antonio had the biggest kite of all.

Ready? Here we go.

Class of 2011!

Here in Guatemala the school year starts in January and ends in the beginning of October--making this the time of the year for graduation and summer vacation. This past Friday NPH held a graduation ceremony, similar to what you would imagine in the states, for all of the kids graduating from preschool, sixth grade (sexto), ninth grade (tercero básico) and high school (bachillerato). Over one hundred students from NPH and the surrounding towns/villages, who attend the NPH school, were ready to celebrate their accomplishments.

The preparations for graduation started weeks ago with the making of decorations and making sure the comedor (dinning hall), where graduation is
held, was looking its best. The morning of graduation all of the teachers, me included, were in charge of decorating for the big day. Fake diplomas and graduation hats hung from the ceiling, large bouquets of yellow roses were placed by the graduates seats and glittery letters that spelled out class of 2011 were hung on the wall. The comedor was ready for a perfect day!!!

The students marched into the ceremony to the popular song Creeré (believe) and took their seats of honor. The ceremony started soon after with mass, a guest speaker and the handing out of diplomas and academic awards. The students were called up by name to walk across the front of the comedor, shake the directors and teachers hands and receive their diplomas. Every single student returned to their seats, diploma in hand, with a huge smile on their faces.

Graduation Day was a huge success for many because if it were not for NPH they would not have been provided with the schooling to graduate or the people in their lives to push them to achieve their goals. I could not have been happier to be apart of the day or more proud of my students (18 of whom graduated) and my girls (8 of whom graduated).

Felicidades Clase de 2011!!!!!

Graduates from my preschool English Class!

Esme (from my section)-so proud with her
diploma in hand.

Juana (from my section) showing off her diploma.

The graduates!

Lourdes, Juana, Celeste, Esme and me after graduation.

My boys from my tercero básico class--they are all externos,
which means they live outside of NPH and just
 come to attend school. I had such a fun year with them!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Guatemala!