a new job and NPH vacations

Sorry, this is really old... It's from July 12. I'll post something more recent soon!

The week after I came back from Honduras I got a new job- volunteer coordinator. Since the old volunteer coordinator left the next Sunday, it was about time that we decided who was going to do it. No one really wanted to do it (because it meant giving up part of what we were doing before, and we all liked our jobs) but several of us decided we wouldn't mind. We decided I probably had the most time, so I took the job. I'm planning to keep working in the mornings in aula de recurso and try to do my coordinator work mostly in the afternoon. But the week after I came back from Honduras, the kids also had exams AGAIN. So I used that whole week to do coordinator work because it took a while to figure out how everything worked. It's mostly reading and answering emails and being the connecting person between the volunteers and the directors. Also I have to read applications from new volunteers and do certifications and evaluations for volunteers that are leaving. So it's sometimes a lot of work, but sometimes not so much.

Also on that Wednesday a new volunteer arrived, Lola, a psychologist from Spain. So I did orientation for her that week as well. It wasn't too involved because you can't do anything too elaborate with just one person. So I just showed her around and answered her questions.

The Saturday after I got back from Honduras was the big family carnival. Sana spent a lot of time organizing games and food and prizes. The kids had to be with their brothers and sisters in order to participate in the games. They could win tokens and then spend them on food and other prizes. The morning went really well, but around noon it started to rain. So we weren't able to do any games anymore, but we were almost out of prizes anyway, so it was ok. The kids still had a really good time and got to see their siblings from Managua and Casa Asis. That Saturday night was the despedida (goodbye) for Manh Hung, Birgit, Katharina, and Julia. So they gave the kids a chance to say something, and then we had a DJ, both for the family carnival and for the goodbye.

That weekend was my descanso, but since Lola had just arrived, and I had some evaluations to do for volunteers who were leaving, I stayed at NPH. I rested some, but I also did quite a bit of work. Also, none of us could leave until Sunday because of the family carnival. Monday I went to Rivas to buy a battery in the hopes that if we hooked it up to our internet router, the internet would work better. I think it's working better, but we still have problems…

Later that week I was busy with coordinator stuff again. The kids were testing and then starting vacations, so I could do aula de recurso anyway. There were some visitors here from the States, and since both the directors had to leave Friday for a retreat, they put me in charge. So I made sure the visitors were ok and had stuff to do Friday, and then made sure they got away ok on Saturday. Thursday night we also went out because Katharina was leaving. Last Sunday I made apple crisp to celebrate 4th of July (two days late) so that was exciting because we never have apples here. Fruit like pineapple and mangos are literally falling off trees (well, the mangos are, pineapple don't grow on trees- see the monastery pictures in my blog if you want to see how pineapples grow). But no apples here

This past week has been vacations, so we've been organizing tons of activities for the kids. Monday we had a movie night. Tuesday the kids all went to the beach, but I went to Rivas with Lola and Sana to do some work. (Tuesday was also the half-way point of my year here, so I'm more than half done now, CRAZY!!!) Wednesday morning we did a water game where the kids were in teams and had to transport water from the lake up to the houses (about a 5 min walk). There were various ways they had to do it- passing it in a bottle over their heads, a relay race (with water in the bottle), passing it under their legs. It went pretty well except the kids are super competitive so there was a lot of accusations of cheating (at least some justified) and then the ones who didn't win got mad. So it was frustrating in that way, but I think the kids had fun. Thursday we organized games all day. We split the kids in half, and half played basketball, soccer, and volleyball in the morning, and did other random games (three legged race, wheelbarrow race, piggyback race, make a pyramid, obstacle course, etc) in the afternoon. The other half of kids did the reverse. They were in teams, but for the random games it was only one team at a time, and we recorded the time to compare later to see who was faster. So that eliminated a lot of the cheating and accusations of cheating. We also gave points for things like organization, team spirit, and things like that, so that helped with the attitudes also.

Later on Thursday Herthy (the NPH IT guy) was here, and he taught me some tricks to try when our internet acts up. So now I know some things I can try, like a way to check if the problem is with the router or that the antenna is not getting signal. The problem now is that the router is in another building, and I don't have a key, so if I know the problem is with the router, I still can't do anything, unless I call someone to unlock it. But it's still better than before.

This weekend is my descanso, but I'm here at NPH because I go on vacation on Thursday because my family is coming!! So I decided that coming back Monday night and then leaving Thursday morning would be silly. I was going to work Monday, but now there's no class, so I can't do aula de recurso anyway, which was the whole idea for working. Oh well… So I'm just doing stuff around here, cleaning, baking, writing to all of you, watching movies, getting caught up on my paperwork, etc.