This is from June 7... Just a little late.
I've now completed my week of training (May 25-30). That was spent in Denver, CO. We had lots of training sessions every day, on everything from our specific jobs on site to how to cook meals for 70 people. It was a very busy week but also very important. Then on the 30th I left Denver with my team (Jillian, Joe, and Bill) and we drove two days to Toppenish, WA. It was a long drive, but a very pretty one. We went through lots of mountains! Toppenish is in a nice area, the Yakima River valley. We're right to the east of the Cascades and in a big farming area. It's a little weird to me that there's so much farming 'cause the soil is light brown and it hardly every rains. But they grow a lot of everything: cherries, peaches, apples, grapes, hops, mint, asparagas, wheat, corn, etc etc. I think they just irrigate a lot. Toppenish itself is also very beautiful because it has tons of murals all over everywhere.
So we got here last Sunday night and spend all this last week unpacking and organizing. Mostly we mixed paint. A LOT of paint. I think we have like 150 1-gallon buckets and then a bunch of big 5-gallon buckets. So we had to mix it all to make sure it was good. And then we started organizing stuff here at the church too. And we've been getting to know the culture. Friday the Yakama Nation museum was free so we went over too look at that. Saturday we had a day off so we did a lot of cultural things. First, we went to see the mural-in-a-day here in Toppenish. Every year on the first Sat in June they paint a new mural all in one day. Then we went over to White Swan for treaty days (when the Yakama people signed the treaty with the US). So we went to the rodeo for a bit and then went to the powwow for a bit. And then we had to come back here to go to a graduation open house for our next door neighbors. They're a Mexican family and they always adopt the YouthWorks staff. They fed us dinner Friday night because we stopped by and they wanted us to eat. And then they fed us last night too because of the open house. And their kids helped carry lots of paint. So that's a great help.
This next week we're going to continue setting things up and organizing because our first group come in next Saturday! They're all new to YouthWorks so that's nice because then our first week isn't people who are comparing us to all their previous YW trips. Sometiems you can get people who think they know YW better than you do because they've been on trips for 6 years in a row. So it'll be nice to have the first week be new people. And then we'll all be more comfortable in our jobs by the time the alumni groups come.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
My next adventure
So I've been back in the States for a while, working and taking online classes. But soon I'll be starting my next adventure: working as a site director for YouthWorks. YouthWorks is an organization that runs mission trips for jr high and high school youth. I'll be in charge of the site on the Yakama Indian Reservation near Yakima, Washington. I'll have three staff working for me, one in charge of running a kids' club (sorta like a summer-long Bible school), one in charge of organizing work projects (mostly painting houses), and one in charge of coordinating cultural evening activites and evening clubs (worship services). I'm sort of in charge of supervising the whole thing. For more information on YouthWorks go to www.youthworks.com. I'll be posting here from time to time during the summer.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Promociones
Reina (one of the girls graduating) waiting to walk in. The kids relatives were invited and everyone picked someone to walk in with them, a family member, a tio, a friend, whoever. It looks like Reina picked her grandpa.
Receiving the diploma.
Here's what the diplomas looked like.
Kids looking at their diplomas.
Some of the kids who graduated with Jayden and Marlon.Sunday, December 14, 2008
icing the cakes
beginning the icing on the manufactured 15.
Now you can't even tell the 5 is made up of random chunks of cake!
The finished 1.
The finished 5. 
Round cakes in various stages of icing.
baking cakes
ingredients... lots of them!
Mixing the cake in the big mixer.
Baking the cakes.
Un-burning the cakes.
The long cakes that would eventually form the number 15.quincianeras, dia de visita, "summer" vacation, purisimas, gradiation...
If you couldn't guess from the subject, it's been busy here since school got out! Monday, Nov 24 we celebrated the quincianera (15th birthday) of all the kids who turned 15 in 2008. It's a much bigger deal for the girls, but they celebrate with the boys too. So I helped make the cakes, and we sure made a LOT of cakes. I think we made 16 or so round cakes and then a few loooong pan cakes that we then cut to make a "15". We baked all Sunday afternoon from about 3 until 8 at night. And then all Monday morning we iced cakes. I'm not so good at icing. I can get it on the cake, but it doesn't look so pretty. So the others made it pretty. :-)
The actual celebration started in the late afternoon with a mass, and then afterwards there was a big dinner and celebration. It was a really nice day and the kids all really enjoyed it I think.
The next week was the first week of vacation, but we didn't really have a whole lot planned. A lot of us used that week to write reports. And then Thursday was Thanksgiving, which we cooked with Shirley in the monastery. It was a really nice meal, and then my family called later and I got to talk to lots of people, so that was nice.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the last dia de visita of 2008 (the day the kids' family members come visit. So we all went to San Jorge. And what do you know, it picked THAT day to be rainy all day. Even though the rainy season is officially over, and it hadn't rained for a week or two... So that was annoying 'cause everyone was kinda wet and muddy. But things went pretty well and I didn't see too many sad kids, so that was good.
The next week we started vacation activities. I'm working in the library, so that's pretty fun. Except that when the kids get there, there are like 15 kids yelling "Elizabeth!! Get me a book! I want a book!! Not that book, another book!!" But mostly it's ok. And when there are kids that are actually interested in finding a good book to read, then that's fun to help them.
In the afternoons we were busy with purisimas. They actually started the Friday after Thankgiving, but since I had descanso I didn't go until later. It took me a while to figure out what we were celebrating, but finally I figured out it was the conception of Mary, not Mary's conception of Jesus. At first I thought maybe it was the conception of Jesus, but nope. I guess Dec 8 is the actual day, but in Nicaragua they celebrate for 9 days before. I'm not sure why, but they do! The celebrations involve making an alter to put Mary on, and shooting very loud firecrakers, and singing (out of tune, 'cause everyone here sings out of tune), and there were some prayers, but usually the kids were making too much noise and I couldn't hear that part. And then afterwards whoever is hosting hands out food to everyone, which is really the only thing most of the kids seem to care about.
So Saturday the 6th it was the volunteers' turn to host. Since NPH is trying to save money, we made cookies 'cause cookie ingredients aren't too expensive. So Saturday morning Lola and I made 700 cookies, and put them in bags. It was pretty crazy, but the kids liked it, so that was good. Then Sunday was the "griteria" which meant that three different places made alters and the kids just went and yelled (gritar) and sang and then got food. And then since Monday was the actual day of the Immaculate Conception, they had a bigger (and more serious) celebration and prayed the rosary (I think). So the whole purisimas thing was interesting to see, because there's certainly nothing like it in the States.
On Wednesday of this past week (the 10th), the volunteers hosted a gathering for the tios. So I made cookies again (but not so many!) and they tios all came over in the evening and we had a nice time. We'd done it a few times before, so we wanted to do it one more time before the end of the year.
Thursday we went out to eat in Moyogalpa for Kiki's birthday, so that was fun. And then I'm going to make her a cake for Monday at the volunteer dinner.
Friday started my descanso, but I couldn't go anywhere because yesterday was promociones (graduation). They make a big deal about graduation from primary school (6th grade) because so many Nicaraguans don't finish secondary school. Even among the kids at NPH, there are a lot who probably won't, because amoung the graduates (of 6th grade) the ages ranged from 12 to 18 year old. So some of the older ones will probably go to a technical school rather than to high school. So yesterday afternoon we had a mass and a ceremony in the church, and then a nice dinner afterwards.
The rest of this descanso I'm just going to relax, 'cause there has been so much going on!! If all the activities and events weren't enough, NPH is also dealing with two separate "crises". First, this thing with the government (that I've written about before) is still being a problem. In every official meeting with the government, they say that NPH is fine, and we can keep working. But then they randomly send list of 20 kids that we have to send home. NPH is already one of only 4 centers that has been allowed to remail open. I think the government kinda wants the remaining centers to be more "transitional" centers where kids just come for a few weeks until something else can be worked out. But that's not really at all what NPH as an organization is about. So the directors are talking to the governement and NPH international is sending letters, so we'll see what happens. And if that wasn't enough, NPH international is also REALLY short on money, because the economic problems int he world are really affecting their donations. Budgets have been reduced by 30%, so pretty much anything that's nice essential is getting cut. They're really trying to have enough money to feed and clothe and house and care for the kids. So if you're looking for a place to donate for Christmas, you could consider NPH (www.nph.org). Because of both these reasons, none of the kids are going to move to the new property in Jinotepe. It would cost more money to maintain another house and then we'd ahve to deal with different government offices. So everyone is staying here.
Oh! And the NPH Nicaragua soccer teams did really well in a tournament between all the NPH homes. The girls won and the boys came in second. So that was exciting!
The actual celebration started in the late afternoon with a mass, and then afterwards there was a big dinner and celebration. It was a really nice day and the kids all really enjoyed it I think.
The next week was the first week of vacation, but we didn't really have a whole lot planned. A lot of us used that week to write reports. And then Thursday was Thanksgiving, which we cooked with Shirley in the monastery. It was a really nice meal, and then my family called later and I got to talk to lots of people, so that was nice.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the last dia de visita of 2008 (the day the kids' family members come visit. So we all went to San Jorge. And what do you know, it picked THAT day to be rainy all day. Even though the rainy season is officially over, and it hadn't rained for a week or two... So that was annoying 'cause everyone was kinda wet and muddy. But things went pretty well and I didn't see too many sad kids, so that was good.
The next week we started vacation activities. I'm working in the library, so that's pretty fun. Except that when the kids get there, there are like 15 kids yelling "Elizabeth!! Get me a book! I want a book!! Not that book, another book!!" But mostly it's ok. And when there are kids that are actually interested in finding a good book to read, then that's fun to help them.
In the afternoons we were busy with purisimas. They actually started the Friday after Thankgiving, but since I had descanso I didn't go until later. It took me a while to figure out what we were celebrating, but finally I figured out it was the conception of Mary, not Mary's conception of Jesus. At first I thought maybe it was the conception of Jesus, but nope. I guess Dec 8 is the actual day, but in Nicaragua they celebrate for 9 days before. I'm not sure why, but they do! The celebrations involve making an alter to put Mary on, and shooting very loud firecrakers, and singing (out of tune, 'cause everyone here sings out of tune), and there were some prayers, but usually the kids were making too much noise and I couldn't hear that part. And then afterwards whoever is hosting hands out food to everyone, which is really the only thing most of the kids seem to care about.
So Saturday the 6th it was the volunteers' turn to host. Since NPH is trying to save money, we made cookies 'cause cookie ingredients aren't too expensive. So Saturday morning Lola and I made 700 cookies, and put them in bags. It was pretty crazy, but the kids liked it, so that was good. Then Sunday was the "griteria" which meant that three different places made alters and the kids just went and yelled (gritar) and sang and then got food. And then since Monday was the actual day of the Immaculate Conception, they had a bigger (and more serious) celebration and prayed the rosary (I think). So the whole purisimas thing was interesting to see, because there's certainly nothing like it in the States.
On Wednesday of this past week (the 10th), the volunteers hosted a gathering for the tios. So I made cookies again (but not so many!) and they tios all came over in the evening and we had a nice time. We'd done it a few times before, so we wanted to do it one more time before the end of the year.
Thursday we went out to eat in Moyogalpa for Kiki's birthday, so that was fun. And then I'm going to make her a cake for Monday at the volunteer dinner.
Friday started my descanso, but I couldn't go anywhere because yesterday was promociones (graduation). They make a big deal about graduation from primary school (6th grade) because so many Nicaraguans don't finish secondary school. Even among the kids at NPH, there are a lot who probably won't, because amoung the graduates (of 6th grade) the ages ranged from 12 to 18 year old. So some of the older ones will probably go to a technical school rather than to high school. So yesterday afternoon we had a mass and a ceremony in the church, and then a nice dinner afterwards.
The rest of this descanso I'm just going to relax, 'cause there has been so much going on!! If all the activities and events weren't enough, NPH is also dealing with two separate "crises". First, this thing with the government (that I've written about before) is still being a problem. In every official meeting with the government, they say that NPH is fine, and we can keep working. But then they randomly send list of 20 kids that we have to send home. NPH is already one of only 4 centers that has been allowed to remail open. I think the government kinda wants the remaining centers to be more "transitional" centers where kids just come for a few weeks until something else can be worked out. But that's not really at all what NPH as an organization is about. So the directors are talking to the governement and NPH international is sending letters, so we'll see what happens. And if that wasn't enough, NPH international is also REALLY short on money, because the economic problems int he world are really affecting their donations. Budgets have been reduced by 30%, so pretty much anything that's nice essential is getting cut. They're really trying to have enough money to feed and clothe and house and care for the kids. So if you're looking for a place to donate for Christmas, you could consider NPH (www.nph.org). Because of both these reasons, none of the kids are going to move to the new property in Jinotepe. It would cost more money to maintain another house and then we'd ahve to deal with different government offices. So everyone is staying here.
Oh! And the NPH Nicaragua soccer teams did really well in a tournament between all the NPH homes. The girls won and the boys came in second. So that was exciting!
Friday, November 21, 2008
final exams, a weekend in Salinas, and my comatose computer
This is from today!
It's been a really long time, but things have been really busy here. The first few weeks of November I was trying to fit in as many aula de recurso appointments as possible, because final exams were coming up. The exact starting date was a mystery for a good while. First I was told it was the 17th, then the 14th, then the 13th. Around the time they told me they'd start the 13th, the also announced that there wouldn't be classes the 7th or 10th (Friday and Monday) because Sunday the 9th was the elections in NIcaragua so the goverenment have given everyone those days off. I'm not really sure why... So that took two MORE school days away, so there was even less opportunity to work with my kids.
Because of the shortened time, Michelle needed to do some extra reviews, so I helped her with review sessions on the 9th. I quickly understood why she wanted help, 'cause the kids yelled "teacher teacher" and didn't wait very patiently at all. But I think we helped them somewhat, at least the ones that showed up!
Then when I got back to class on the 11th, the teachers told me that they weren't going to start exams 'til the 17th. The secondary school was going to start the 13th, but the primary kids didn't start so early. So I got an extra few days of classes. On the 14th I should have had descanso, but because of an event on the 15th, our descanso was changed to Sunday-Wed (just that once). So Michelle was giving her test on the 14th, so I offered to help out. Somehow she is supposed to give a test in three rooms simultaneously. I dunno how anyone ever manages that... The other teachers help to proctor, but still... kids taking tests usually have questions. So I took over first year. The kids asked a lot of questions, some legitimate questions about the directions, and some just "how do you say ____ in English". Nice try kids... but I'm not going to fall for that.
Saturday the 15th was a big event sponsored by ANF, America Nicaragua Foundation, or something like that. So there were a bunch of games going on all day, and we had a nice lunch and the kids from Casa Asis came. It was nice, but we were very tired at the end!
Sunday Michelle and I left for descanso. We went to Salinas to visit my host family. So we had a very relaxing descanso. We read books, watched movies, went to church, and corrected the English tests. We also enjoyed my host mom's good food. A lot of my friends weren't around (because it's final exam time, so those in University were still gone and those in secondary school were busy in school). But I saw a few people. For those of you who know Salinas people, I saw Agustin and his wife (Petrona) and their two month old baby daughter who's name I can't remember 'cause I've never heard it before. But the baby is super cute. I also saw Arelyz one night, she says hi to everyone. And I saw Alma, who invited me to her wedding on Dec 27. I don't think any of us know her fiance because he's in Costa Rica. He's an engineer or something... Anyway, and the family also sends greetings to everyone.
We left pretty early on Wednesday (the 6:30 bus) so that we'd have time to go to the grocery store and still catcht h 10:30 ferry. Michelle had to get back to meet with some kids that afternoon. We got lucky and met up with Shirley and some people she knows on the ferry, and got a ride back to NPH. It's always great when that happens.
Oh, and my computer... So before I left on descanso, I had realized that many times my computer didn't want to come on. The power light would come on, and the lights that indicate num lock or caps lock would too, but it wouldn't make any noise, and after like 10 seconds the lights would go back off. I was eventually able to urge it on, but it made me very wary of turning it off. So the weeks before descanso I was just making it "sleep" rather than actually shutting it off, and it stayed working. But I didn't feel like I should leave it sleeping when I left for 4 days, so I turned it off, realizing it might never come on again. Sure enough, when I got back, it did NOT want to come on, even though I pushed the on button many many times. So I decided it was probably dead. Yesterday I got tio Benito to let me in the Cyber, so I used a computer there. Today I decided to try it again, what the heck?!? Stranger things have happened. And what do you know, the first time, it comes right on! I don't get it. So I decided it was just a coma, rather than death. I just know I'm not going to turn it off again until I have to!! I'm hoping it'll last another 6 weeks. Then I leave NPH and go to Salinas, and I don't need it in Salinas. And then I go home, where hopefully there will be a nice new computer that my parents found in some Christmas sale waiting for me. And then I can pay them back with my nice grad school loan money. So really, it doesn't have to work for that much longer!!! If anyone has any tips for extending the life of an almost dead computer, I'd love to hear them!!
So today was the last day of classes. Monday is the quincianeras celebration (15th birthday party for all the girls who turned 15 this year). And then starts vacation schedule, but we haven't really planned anything yet... Thursday Michelle and I are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner with Shirley, and the other volunteers and the monastery workers are going to help us eat. And then Friday starts the Purisimas, which is something to do with Mary, but I'm not really sure what. But it's 9 days long, and we're responsible for one day. BUt they put us at the end, so we can watch everyone else and figure out what to do. So we'll see what's up with that!
Oh and my kids!!! Out of the 18 kids that I worked with this year (some I worked with all year, some I stopped partway through 'cause they didn't need it, and some I started partway through) 12 passed all their classes, 3 failed only one class, so they have to take an exam in January, and if they pass it with 60% they pass the year, and 3 failed a lot of classes and failed the year. Two of those it was because they didn't try, and 1 I think really has problems. Also, all three of those failed 5 classes or so first semester, so i didn't really figure they could pass. So I was pretty happy with how things turned out!!
It's been a really long time, but things have been really busy here. The first few weeks of November I was trying to fit in as many aula de recurso appointments as possible, because final exams were coming up. The exact starting date was a mystery for a good while. First I was told it was the 17th, then the 14th, then the 13th. Around the time they told me they'd start the 13th, the also announced that there wouldn't be classes the 7th or 10th (Friday and Monday) because Sunday the 9th was the elections in NIcaragua so the goverenment have given everyone those days off. I'm not really sure why... So that took two MORE school days away, so there was even less opportunity to work with my kids.
Because of the shortened time, Michelle needed to do some extra reviews, so I helped her with review sessions on the 9th. I quickly understood why she wanted help, 'cause the kids yelled "teacher teacher" and didn't wait very patiently at all. But I think we helped them somewhat, at least the ones that showed up!
Then when I got back to class on the 11th, the teachers told me that they weren't going to start exams 'til the 17th. The secondary school was going to start the 13th, but the primary kids didn't start so early. So I got an extra few days of classes. On the 14th I should have had descanso, but because of an event on the 15th, our descanso was changed to Sunday-Wed (just that once). So Michelle was giving her test on the 14th, so I offered to help out. Somehow she is supposed to give a test in three rooms simultaneously. I dunno how anyone ever manages that... The other teachers help to proctor, but still... kids taking tests usually have questions. So I took over first year. The kids asked a lot of questions, some legitimate questions about the directions, and some just "how do you say ____ in English". Nice try kids... but I'm not going to fall for that.
Saturday the 15th was a big event sponsored by ANF, America Nicaragua Foundation, or something like that. So there were a bunch of games going on all day, and we had a nice lunch and the kids from Casa Asis came. It was nice, but we were very tired at the end!
Sunday Michelle and I left for descanso. We went to Salinas to visit my host family. So we had a very relaxing descanso. We read books, watched movies, went to church, and corrected the English tests. We also enjoyed my host mom's good food. A lot of my friends weren't around (because it's final exam time, so those in University were still gone and those in secondary school were busy in school). But I saw a few people. For those of you who know Salinas people, I saw Agustin and his wife (Petrona) and their two month old baby daughter who's name I can't remember 'cause I've never heard it before. But the baby is super cute. I also saw Arelyz one night, she says hi to everyone. And I saw Alma, who invited me to her wedding on Dec 27. I don't think any of us know her fiance because he's in Costa Rica. He's an engineer or something... Anyway, and the family also sends greetings to everyone.
We left pretty early on Wednesday (the 6:30 bus) so that we'd have time to go to the grocery store and still catcht h 10:30 ferry. Michelle had to get back to meet with some kids that afternoon. We got lucky and met up with Shirley and some people she knows on the ferry, and got a ride back to NPH. It's always great when that happens.
Oh, and my computer... So before I left on descanso, I had realized that many times my computer didn't want to come on. The power light would come on, and the lights that indicate num lock or caps lock would too, but it wouldn't make any noise, and after like 10 seconds the lights would go back off. I was eventually able to urge it on, but it made me very wary of turning it off. So the weeks before descanso I was just making it "sleep" rather than actually shutting it off, and it stayed working. But I didn't feel like I should leave it sleeping when I left for 4 days, so I turned it off, realizing it might never come on again. Sure enough, when I got back, it did NOT want to come on, even though I pushed the on button many many times. So I decided it was probably dead. Yesterday I got tio Benito to let me in the Cyber, so I used a computer there. Today I decided to try it again, what the heck?!? Stranger things have happened. And what do you know, the first time, it comes right on! I don't get it. So I decided it was just a coma, rather than death. I just know I'm not going to turn it off again until I have to!! I'm hoping it'll last another 6 weeks. Then I leave NPH and go to Salinas, and I don't need it in Salinas. And then I go home, where hopefully there will be a nice new computer that my parents found in some Christmas sale waiting for me. And then I can pay them back with my nice grad school loan money. So really, it doesn't have to work for that much longer!!! If anyone has any tips for extending the life of an almost dead computer, I'd love to hear them!!
So today was the last day of classes. Monday is the quincianeras celebration (15th birthday party for all the girls who turned 15 this year). And then starts vacation schedule, but we haven't really planned anything yet... Thursday Michelle and I are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner with Shirley, and the other volunteers and the monastery workers are going to help us eat. And then Friday starts the Purisimas, which is something to do with Mary, but I'm not really sure what. But it's 9 days long, and we're responsible for one day. BUt they put us at the end, so we can watch everyone else and figure out what to do. So we'll see what's up with that!
Oh and my kids!!! Out of the 18 kids that I worked with this year (some I worked with all year, some I stopped partway through 'cause they didn't need it, and some I started partway through) 12 passed all their classes, 3 failed only one class, so they have to take an exam in January, and if they pass it with 60% they pass the year, and 3 failed a lot of classes and failed the year. Two of those it was because they didn't try, and 1 I think really has problems. Also, all three of those failed 5 classes or so first semester, so i didn't really figure they could pass. So I was pretty happy with how things turned out!!
oops, this is from Nov 4. I forgot to post it here...
The last two weeks of October I was able to work with all my students, which was super exciting, especially because the school year is almost done. The 24th of October was confirmation, which was actually in the morning during school. Then afterwards there was a big lunch with the workers from San Jorge. That weekend there wasn't a whole lot going on. We watched some movies in the girls' house, 'cause they like to do that.
On the 28th the NPH directors met with the Nicaraguan government and were told that the government doesn't have plans to close NPH. So contruction is continuing at the new property, and the move is supposedly happening as planned in December.
On Oct 30 everyone at NPH got tested for tuberculosis, because there are two kids who have it. So even though my descanso started Friday, I stuck around to have it "read" on Saturday by the doctor. The good news is that I don't ahve TB. The bad news is that some of the kids do, but not too many. I think the total number was 10... And out of 250, and in a country where TB is commin, that's not too bad. So hopefully tehy all follow their treatment!
Saturday after seeing the doctor, Michelle, Kiki and I left for Granada. The weekend in Granada was nice. We didn't do much, but it was relaxing! And I got some shopping done, which was nice!
So the next two weeks I'm going to try to work with all my students as much as possible 'cause final exams start Nov 13!! So soon! Crazy! And then I'm afraid the rest of the year will be full of reports and more reports... Ho hum.
Well, I don't think a whole lot more is happening here. We're watching election results tonight in Casa Azul where there's cable. YAY CNN!!! So that's much better than sitting at a computer hitting refresh, refresh.
The last two weeks of October I was able to work with all my students, which was super exciting, especially because the school year is almost done. The 24th of October was confirmation, which was actually in the morning during school. Then afterwards there was a big lunch with the workers from San Jorge. That weekend there wasn't a whole lot going on. We watched some movies in the girls' house, 'cause they like to do that.
On the 28th the NPH directors met with the Nicaraguan government and were told that the government doesn't have plans to close NPH. So contruction is continuing at the new property, and the move is supposedly happening as planned in December.
On Oct 30 everyone at NPH got tested for tuberculosis, because there are two kids who have it. So even though my descanso started Friday, I stuck around to have it "read" on Saturday by the doctor. The good news is that I don't ahve TB. The bad news is that some of the kids do, but not too many. I think the total number was 10... And out of 250, and in a country where TB is commin, that's not too bad. So hopefully tehy all follow their treatment!
Saturday after seeing the doctor, Michelle, Kiki and I left for Granada. The weekend in Granada was nice. We didn't do much, but it was relaxing! And I got some shopping done, which was nice!
So the next two weeks I'm going to try to work with all my students as much as possible 'cause final exams start Nov 13!! So soon! Crazy! And then I'm afraid the rest of the year will be full of reports and more reports... Ho hum.
Well, I don't think a whole lot more is happening here. We're watching election results tonight in Casa Azul where there's cable. YAY CNN!!! So that's much better than sitting at a computer hitting refresh, refresh.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
more Padre Wasson day
These are in reverse order again...
Vigilia- lots of songs and prayers in the evening
The alter/ memorial to Padre Wasson
First comunion kids
The choir
Vigilia- lots of songs and prayers in the evening
The alter/ memorial to Padre Wasson
First comunion kids
The choir
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