January 26, 2010

Winter Vacations

After School Program Update-

The rainy season has come to Arbolito, bringing in the mud, grillos (giant crickets that fly), and heat. The change in climate has coincided with the start of school vacations (until April). At Semillas, our attendance which has been a consistent 40 children has now risen to about 80-100 everyday. With the kids out of school, we have a new sense of purpose for the program. We are becoming more academic. Instead of helping with homework, we can now make the lesson plans to help the children with reading comprehension and math. We still want to have fun with the kids, but we want them to improve their basic skills. An example is that we have written an article about Guayaquil´s soccer team, or Che Guevera and challenge our kids to read it and respond to questions. Literacy is not taken for granted here.

On a lighter note, we have really begun to fall in love with the children at Semillas. There is about a pool of 200 kids that come, and we are now very familiar with names, faces, and especially, personalities. Every Friday we have been having games and competitions that have been fun for the kids where we give out prizes. Obstacle courses, soccer competitions, relay races, and capture the flag with the kids 4-7years old is always amusing to watch. We have also had field trips, taking the kids to Downtown Guayaquil, Local parks, an Iguana Park, and Cathedral. Next Friday, we are plannign to take them to a local pool.




January 3, 2010

holidays

so the holidays are over in duran

for christmas, there were no presents under the tree
for news years eve, there was no alcohol

but that does not mean there was no holiday spirit.

for christmas, we celebrated at mass twice. during the night mass, i played joseph in the nativity play. the next morning, we exchanged secret santas that we spent under a dollar for. then we spent some time greeting our neighbors and ended up at damien house to wish all of our friends over there a happy holiday. it was a simple christmas here. i was glad to get a phonecall from my family. hearing their voices reminded me that christmas is coming together and celebrating with loved ones. celebrating the life of Christ and the community we have.

new years eve was spent outside. the day before we made our äño viejo¨which is a paper machet doll that is to be blown up at midnite. after it was painted and ready to go, we stuffed it with firecrackers and soaked it in gasoline. there was no countdown, which made it a little bit easier to be away from tiffany. but at midnite, we lit the fire and you could see the whole neighborhood light up with fires outside of every house, and fireworks in the air. then our neighbors came around saying feliz año and we spent the night dancing. remember that full moon?

the celebrations were a bit different, and i surely missed you all. but i was still able to be in the present moment, in duran, with my new friends, in my new culture, with my new community, with my new family.

and next week, tiffany is coming in to visit. life is pretty good here.

Xmas eve

Laura at Damien House on Christmas with our friend, Fortunatu. She woke up at 6:30am that morning to do wound care for all the patients

Getting ready for 2010


Happy New Year!