While I was gone on descanso, several old volunteers came to the house to visit. One of these volunteers had been with many of my girls during her time here. As a treat for the girls she cared for and on her last night in Miacatlan, she took them all to pizza in town and asked Wesleigh, Monika, and I to go too as girls were invited from all our sections.
Fooling around before we left.
Getting ready at the doors. A lot of girls to keep track of.
Stuffing our faces at the place. The pizza was AMAZING!
Thursday a memorial service was held at the house for a Pequeno who had died a year ago that day. It was a rather surreal and sad experience. The kids left school briefly and then returned directly after. The girl was in the Cuernavaca house when it happened and so I think it was more removed from our kids. A memorial was also held that morning in Cuernavaca. I'm glad they did it though and overall it was good for everyone.
That night I made the mistake of telling my girls they could put their water bottles in the volunteer freezer to have cold water for their extended PE class the next day. This turned into me squeezing about twenty bottles of varying sizes into our little freezer and then hauling them out the next morning at 6:30am so the girls could have them for school. Bad idea. There were so many that quite a few didn't even freeze a little bit to the shock of the girls. I had to apologize profusely for the inconvenience it caused the volunteers when they tried to get into the freezer. I should have put a warning sign.
Over the course of the weekend a group from Penn State ran several workshops with the kids on the topic of peppers. I felt pretty bad for the group in their attempts to control the kids. Friday we had an introductory workshop with most of the primary school kids. I'm not sure what the group expected, but there were only about four of them and they didn't seem to have much experience working with kids. Plus the kids at the house are pretty unruly when they don't care that much about what they're supposed to be doing. The workshop culminated in each grade planting their own seed and I was the only encargada there to help on Sunday. Big disaster. But we survived unscathed even if the group went home a little disappointed in the reception of their project. The purpose was to teach the kids about peppers and plant their own to be placed in the greenhouse and eventually on the farm. I'm not sure how much they learned or how much time they will ever put into those peppers, but it's the thought that counts sometimes.
Saturday one of my girls discovered a louse in my hair and I had Wesleigh check. Yes, I finally caught the lice bug and am trying to get rid of it. I feel rather detached from it though; it's so normal here and doesn't bother me at all. Plus I'm not sure how to determine if I've actually eradicated it or not. Oh well. It will go away eventually. :-D
Overall, the weekend was pretty chill. A lot of just hanging out in the section watching TV or movies (or for me, reading). Saturday night the whole house went to the late mass which was a lot cooler temperature-wise, but even less space than at Sunday's normal mass. Saturday night, Grandes A boys and girls had their own special convivencia in the school. This means a kind of party with extra and different food, music, dancing, and games. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The party broke up when a huge storm rolled in forcing us and our electronics into safe shelter. Sunday was broken up by the final Penn State workshop and water games around the house.
Awww! They love each other! Pool game.
The object of this game was to retrieve the gum ball dropped into the water using only your mouth. I was pretty impressed with the skill.
My fellow encargada in the white ball cap and our girls posing with her at her station.
One of my girls helping teach the new boy how to swim. He had never been swimming prior to coming to the house and so everyone was chipping in to help make him water proof in no time.
Wesleigh with her new god-brother. Her parents are sponsoring a couple kids in the house now after their visit a couple months ago.
Me sneaking some time in with kinder. I have one of the new girls on my back and one of her sisters is below. Aren't they too cute?!?
Yes, that's my laundry out there and yes, I had to wash it all over again the next day. The rainy episodes take getting used to. And that's Wesleigh in the back.
Those white spots in the air and on the ground are actual balls of ice. They really hurt when they hit you too!
