Oh man, well first of all for everyone you should know that I shouldn't have been here this last week. I was scheduled to leave the 21st but I changed my flight because I love it so much! And what a week it was! Tuesday I got to do my last workshops with CIPI, it was great. It was raining so in an hour I got together stuff for about 8 games, we only did 3, but I'm glad I still got it in me. I randomly remembered a game we did in school to learn measurement where we measured how far we could jump. I did it with the boys and it was a big hit! On the way home I stopped by the market with my friend and had a full Salvadorean experience, after plenty of haggling I got hit on, cussed out, and we did our share of asking for directions. All in all I guess it was a good experience :).
Wednesday was Hogar del Nino which I always love. They are doing a project of painting small murals in the children's bedrooms to help stimulate their minds and all that jazz. I did a mural of butterflies! It was a little more intense than you would expect, but we got it finished after about 6 hours and so I consider it a success. I had a friend Ziomara that stayed in the room with me the whole time! I probably understood about a quarter of what she said, but it was good to have the company.
Thursday I went back to CIPI, but this time to work on a mural. We already did a mural in the girls' cafeteria, now they're working on a mural in the boys' dormitories. I was a little weary at first on how this would work out because honestly the boys have serious issues with following the rules, but it turned out okay. All we did Thursday was trace out the designs from a projector and outlined them with marker. They look so good! One is a map of different places in the world which was beautifully designed by Jeanette and Jaclyn, the other is under the sea! I'm sad I won't be able to be there for the finished product but it was fun to be there for that part. I got to play with the boys a little bit more too so it was definitely worth it :).
That evening I went to English class, and had such a surprise! My class threw me a farewell party! I came in with balloons everywhere and little things written on all the balloons like "You are special to us" and "Bay bay Heidy" (meaning bye bye) One of the students drew a cartoon of me getting to the airport, flying in the plane, and then skydiving down to my house and family. At the end of class we had pupusas and drinks. I miss them already! Fortunately I gave them my email address and we're already in contact.
Well I still have a lot more to write but I'll be done for now. Just you wait until I get to my last weekend...INCREDIBLE!!!!!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
What a great day!
So, let´s start with last weekend first. On thursday some of us took a day off to see the sights around San Salvador. It was so fun! We went the anthropology museum, art museum, a few cathedrals, and then shopping in the center. I got some fun stuff, probably my favorite thing was the anthropology museum because we learned so much about Salvadorean history. Later that night we went to an orchestra performance at the opera house. It wasn´t that great, but a good experience nonetheless.
this past weekend was a blast! We headed out to Suchitoto that night, it was pouring rain! When we got there we were a little lost at first but then we found our hotel. It's owned by an American and it's called El Rincon del Gringo. He was way nice, he actually took us to his bar and we talked with some of the locals about stuff.
The next morning we had breakfast (with the best licuados ever!) did some shopping then headed off for La Palma. This is a town in the northern part of El Salvador and about twenty minutes out is El Pital, which is the highest point in the country. We arrived a little late but fortunately one of our group met someone who knew a guy who could take us up to the mountain. It was incredible! It was super fun because we got to see the Honduras border too. We also met a little local named Kevin, he didn't really have much of a sense of humor but we thought he was hilarious. To get to the highest point you have to cross a log over this huge crevice which was a little scary! But definitely worth it. The one thing I regretted though was that everyone told us how cold it was up there but I didn't think anything of it. I thought they were exaggerating as locals and that we'd be fine. Well it was pretty darn cold!
The next day (after a wonderful hotel with warm showers and a pretty sweet waterslide) we got home and had church and all that fun stuff. Now for Monday, it was a blast! We went with a group called Bibliobus, which is kind of a travel library in an old school bus. We did a field trip to a school. It was so fun, while we were waiting for all the kids to get in I taught them a song in Spanish which I loved! A guy named Jorge first read a book which he wrote himself, it was called Arroz con Leche. We got to read a pop-up book to them too. Then there was a hysterical puppet show and we played games with the kids while they took others into the bus. I know it doesn't sound that much fun but for a teacher like me I was in heaven! I'm just sad I only got to do it once! After that we did some shopping which is always fun, I went to this teacher store and got Spanish posters and books and everything. I loved it!
this past weekend was a blast! We headed out to Suchitoto that night, it was pouring rain! When we got there we were a little lost at first but then we found our hotel. It's owned by an American and it's called El Rincon del Gringo. He was way nice, he actually took us to his bar and we talked with some of the locals about stuff.
The next morning we had breakfast (with the best licuados ever!) did some shopping then headed off for La Palma. This is a town in the northern part of El Salvador and about twenty minutes out is El Pital, which is the highest point in the country. We arrived a little late but fortunately one of our group met someone who knew a guy who could take us up to the mountain. It was incredible! It was super fun because we got to see the Honduras border too. We also met a little local named Kevin, he didn't really have much of a sense of humor but we thought he was hilarious. To get to the highest point you have to cross a log over this huge crevice which was a little scary! But definitely worth it. The one thing I regretted though was that everyone told us how cold it was up there but I didn't think anything of it. I thought they were exaggerating as locals and that we'd be fine. Well it was pretty darn cold!
The next day (after a wonderful hotel with warm showers and a pretty sweet waterslide) we got home and had church and all that fun stuff. Now for Monday, it was a blast! We went with a group called Bibliobus, which is kind of a travel library in an old school bus. We did a field trip to a school. It was so fun, while we were waiting for all the kids to get in I taught them a song in Spanish which I loved! A guy named Jorge first read a book which he wrote himself, it was called Arroz con Leche. We got to read a pop-up book to them too. Then there was a hysterical puppet show and we played games with the kids while they took others into the bus. I know it doesn't sound that much fun but for a teacher like me I was in heaven! I'm just sad I only got to do it once! After that we did some shopping which is always fun, I went to this teacher store and got Spanish posters and books and everything. I loved it!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Mensajitos mensajiiiii-tooooo-ooooos!
So this is about our AMAZING weekend last weekend! First of all we went to a YSA dance which was as always such a blast! I´m getting the hang of these latin dances, and I can even sing along with some of the popular songs! I still don´t get asked a ton because I´m not as blonde, but I think it´s for the best because I´m not stuck with someone then. On Saturday we took the bus to Juayua which is a small artisan town on ruta de los flores. We took a quick hike up to los chorros which was amazing! It´s this natural waterfall which has been turned into a type of pool and we went swimming in there! I even jumped off a little ledge, which was hysterical because all the teenage boys were showing me where to jump and they even counted to three for me. The other cool part was you got to go through this small tunnel in the water to get to another waterfall, I felt like I was in the fugitive! A few from our group took a wrong turn and got stuck by this grated fence, freaky! Fortunately they were able to climb out and be safe :).
After los chorros we went down to the town for a food festival that they have. We got to try some authentic stuff but not as much as I had hoped. The plate of food I had was still super good, it was carne asada with casamiento and chorizo, yummmm! We did some shopping around the town and even took a carriage ride for a buck! I got a few cool skirts which you all should be jealous about :). It was a pretty chill and fun day.
But the best is yet to come, that night back home we went to Neptunos! Neptunos is...you guessed it...a karaoke bar! It was basically amazing, I sang come together and feel good inc which got me a pretty good applause! I think they were a little confused though, but impressed that I could do the rapping section. It was so fun to sing along to the songs in Spanish too, I honestly had the time of my life. Jeanette and America stole the show with killing me softly, they got up and started dancing with everyone and blew everyone out of the water! Oh goodness, I can´t wait to go back! And I´m totally going to sing some corny eighties song because they play them all the time here!
After los chorros we went down to the town for a food festival that they have. We got to try some authentic stuff but not as much as I had hoped. The plate of food I had was still super good, it was carne asada with casamiento and chorizo, yummmm! We did some shopping around the town and even took a carriage ride for a buck! I got a few cool skirts which you all should be jealous about :). It was a pretty chill and fun day.
But the best is yet to come, that night back home we went to Neptunos! Neptunos is...you guessed it...a karaoke bar! It was basically amazing, I sang come together and feel good inc which got me a pretty good applause! I think they were a little confused though, but impressed that I could do the rapping section. It was so fun to sing along to the songs in Spanish too, I honestly had the time of my life. Jeanette and America stole the show with killing me softly, they got up and started dancing with everyone and blew everyone out of the water! Oh goodness, I can´t wait to go back! And I´m totally going to sing some corny eighties song because they play them all the time here!
Sus suenos pueden ser realidad
So this past week has been CIPI CIPI CIPI!!! It´s been a blast. CIPI is the orphanage we work at for abused boys and troubled teen girls. We were painting a mural in the girls cafeteria which was beautifully designed by the lovely Jeanette. It took us about two weeks, we had to take off all the old paint, sand down the walls, put a silicon base coat on, draw the mural from a projector, paint it, and then outline and add details. It was a lot of work but it turned out SOOOOOOO good in the end! On Monday we had a type of inauguration with people from the administration and all the girls. It was so sweet! The mural is of all these women in their careers and it says your dreams can become a reality on it. I honestly don´t think anyone was expecting it to look so good, and it looks amazing! Yesterday I also spent three hours with the boys which was a blast as always. It´s not as progressive with them because it´s a little more crazy, but I just love being around them and playing with them. It´s fun to get to know them on more of a personal level too. I am just so blessed to be here and get to know such wonderful little spirits! I know that sounds cheesy but I know that the Lord is aware of all of them and taking care of them in the best way possible. It´ll definitely be hard to leave!
Today was also a blast with kids, we´ve been working in smaller villages to help with making square foot gardens, a pharmacy, and basic hygiene. Today we had a health fair in the school. Our station was about hand washing and we did this cute skit of cooking food with pudding on our hands and trying to share it with the kids. It was way fun, especially when they tried to eat it after it was all dirty! Then we had pictures to match with the times when we should wash our hands which was fun too. It was great to see how the school system works here and be around kids again! I´ve still got it that´s for sure!
Today was also a blast with kids, we´ve been working in smaller villages to help with making square foot gardens, a pharmacy, and basic hygiene. Today we had a health fair in the school. Our station was about hand washing and we did this cute skit of cooking food with pudding on our hands and trying to share it with the kids. It was way fun, especially when they tried to eat it after it was all dirty! Then we had pictures to match with the times when we should wash our hands which was fun too. It was great to see how the school system works here and be around kids again! I´ve still got it that´s for sure!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
What a weekend...birthday weekend that is!
We had such a blast this past weekend, I'll have to start from the beginning.
We took a cab to Costa Del Sol and got there around 7:30. We were staying at Hotel Haydee Mar, which is Heidi in Spanish! The hotel wasn't the nicest, but it was totally cute with some pools, hammocks, air conditioning, and a lot of misspelled signs. We got some pupusas at a little store and then went to the beach. The beach was way cool, but it was a little weird getting there because we had to go down this alleyway which was basically going through people's open houses. It was way dark but lightning was coming from everywhere and it was so cool! We had bought a ton of fireworks (like over $300!) and set them all off on the beach. It was so crazy fun! And of course I got a pretty sweet firework for me and my birthday :) And then the insanity began, we all bought a case of roman candles and had a roman candle war! It was so fun, at first we were a little nervous to shoot fire at each other but we had such a blast! Then a few of us stayed up super late and played in the gross pool that we couldn't see down to our waists in.
Saturday morning a few of us got up super early to go with some fisherman out into the ocean. At first I was a little skeptical about doing it but we had such a blast! It was way cool to see the sunrise, and getting out into the ocean was so cool! I got to go on some rapids after all this summer! It was way crazy too because the boat is way stiff so we would shoot up super high and slam down. We set out the net which was about 300 meters long and then drove around and did some swimming. When we got the fish we got to hold some of them too! I actually wasn't too excited about holding the fish but I did it :).
The rest of the day included swimming in the beach, eating ice cream, and just hanging out. It was so fun! I'm so glad that we all went :)
For the fourth of July I made four apple pies! I was a little nervous about how they'd turn out but they were pretty good! We had a huge dinner with pasta and potato salads, jello, chips, hamburgers, and watermelon. I had brought some corny fourth of july posters and hanging stars to decorate with too which was fun.
So since the weekend was such a crazy blast my actual birthday was a little more chill. I did habitat for humanity which takes about three hours to get there. I got some gatorade! We ended up sanding the walls of the finished houses before they got painted. We got home, I was exhausted, we had dinner, and we ate some ice cream cake! It was basically perfect!
Yesterday was a little birthday gift for me too. At CIPI we went to do some workshops and the boys were going to the park! I got to go with them and it was so fun. It was hysterical, they would all run to a place, play there for about two minutes, and then one kid would yell something else and they'd go charging somewhere else. It was great to spend time with them though :)
We took a cab to Costa Del Sol and got there around 7:30. We were staying at Hotel Haydee Mar, which is Heidi in Spanish! The hotel wasn't the nicest, but it was totally cute with some pools, hammocks, air conditioning, and a lot of misspelled signs. We got some pupusas at a little store and then went to the beach. The beach was way cool, but it was a little weird getting there because we had to go down this alleyway which was basically going through people's open houses. It was way dark but lightning was coming from everywhere and it was so cool! We had bought a ton of fireworks (like over $300!) and set them all off on the beach. It was so crazy fun! And of course I got a pretty sweet firework for me and my birthday :) And then the insanity began, we all bought a case of roman candles and had a roman candle war! It was so fun, at first we were a little nervous to shoot fire at each other but we had such a blast! Then a few of us stayed up super late and played in the gross pool that we couldn't see down to our waists in.
Saturday morning a few of us got up super early to go with some fisherman out into the ocean. At first I was a little skeptical about doing it but we had such a blast! It was way cool to see the sunrise, and getting out into the ocean was so cool! I got to go on some rapids after all this summer! It was way crazy too because the boat is way stiff so we would shoot up super high and slam down. We set out the net which was about 300 meters long and then drove around and did some swimming. When we got the fish we got to hold some of them too! I actually wasn't too excited about holding the fish but I did it :).
The rest of the day included swimming in the beach, eating ice cream, and just hanging out. It was so fun! I'm so glad that we all went :)
For the fourth of July I made four apple pies! I was a little nervous about how they'd turn out but they were pretty good! We had a huge dinner with pasta and potato salads, jello, chips, hamburgers, and watermelon. I had brought some corny fourth of july posters and hanging stars to decorate with too which was fun.
So since the weekend was such a crazy blast my actual birthday was a little more chill. I did habitat for humanity which takes about three hours to get there. I got some gatorade! We ended up sanding the walls of the finished houses before they got painted. We got home, I was exhausted, we had dinner, and we ate some ice cream cake! It was basically perfect!
Yesterday was a little birthday gift for me too. At CIPI we went to do some workshops and the boys were going to the park! I got to go with them and it was so fun. It was hysterical, they would all run to a place, play there for about two minutes, and then one kid would yell something else and they'd go charging somewhere else. It was great to spend time with them though :)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
My little lost boys...
Well I have twenty minutes before English class so I`ll make this quick. This has been an awesome week! We`ve been working really hard and making a lot of progress. Monday we met with the ministry of education about their literacy program but unfortunately we won{t be able to help them while we}re here because the training takes about as long as we{re here. But it was definitely an adventure getting there! It was pouring rain, just today my shoes are finally dry!
Tuesday was wonderful however! I am now teaching a math hour at CIPI, which is an orphanage for troubled teenage girls and abused boys from the ages of 8-14ish. I taught the boys last Friday and it was honestly a nightmare. Everything I planned took about 20 minutes and they were going crazy! You really can{t blame them because they don{t have hardly any expectations at all. It was really hard for me to go home that day, I felt bad that things didn{t go well and especially that I wasn{t sure how to best manage their behavior. Well Tuesday came along and I tried to do a simple rewards system so that the boys that listen and get along (as in don{t start punching each other) can get a marshmallow. It worked great! It was a complete 180 turn around and I was so relieved. Some other volunteers told me that they were asking for me too after I left. We also did some reading time for them and it was so cute! They loved looking at the books and honestly they followed directions better than I expected. These boys completely remind me of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys, they are so sweet but just need a Wendy or any type of structure to help them. I{m glad I can do whatever possible to help that out.
Yesterday was fun too, we went with FUDEM to do some eye screenings in two different schools. There were five of us and we got some students to fill out the other students{ names so we got done super fast. Samuel who works with Fudem took us to Puerta del Diablo which is this beautiful lookout point and then to a fun market for lunch. English class happened to be cancelled because of the impending rain (rule #1 in El Salvador, blame everything on the rain)
Today I was at CIPI again working on a mural project we{re doing in the girl{s cafeteria. It{s taking a little longer than we expected because we have to take off the first coat of paint and that{s what we did today. It was a lot of work! The heat was not helping either :). But the girls worked with us and we listened to some good latin music which was a blast. Hopefully tomorrow we{ll get it going.
This weekend is going to be awesome! Because of my birthday (which is on Monday), and the fourth of July, we{re going to Costa del Sol to spend the night and light off fireworks. I{ve figured everything out for the whole group and even made a deal at the hotel we{re staying at (Which happens to be Hotel Haydee!) We got a ton of fireworks today and I{ll have much to share later!
Tuesday was wonderful however! I am now teaching a math hour at CIPI, which is an orphanage for troubled teenage girls and abused boys from the ages of 8-14ish. I taught the boys last Friday and it was honestly a nightmare. Everything I planned took about 20 minutes and they were going crazy! You really can{t blame them because they don{t have hardly any expectations at all. It was really hard for me to go home that day, I felt bad that things didn{t go well and especially that I wasn{t sure how to best manage their behavior. Well Tuesday came along and I tried to do a simple rewards system so that the boys that listen and get along (as in don{t start punching each other) can get a marshmallow. It worked great! It was a complete 180 turn around and I was so relieved. Some other volunteers told me that they were asking for me too after I left. We also did some reading time for them and it was so cute! They loved looking at the books and honestly they followed directions better than I expected. These boys completely remind me of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys, they are so sweet but just need a Wendy or any type of structure to help them. I{m glad I can do whatever possible to help that out.
Yesterday was fun too, we went with FUDEM to do some eye screenings in two different schools. There were five of us and we got some students to fill out the other students{ names so we got done super fast. Samuel who works with Fudem took us to Puerta del Diablo which is this beautiful lookout point and then to a fun market for lunch. English class happened to be cancelled because of the impending rain (rule #1 in El Salvador, blame everything on the rain)
Today I was at CIPI again working on a mural project we{re doing in the girl{s cafeteria. It{s taking a little longer than we expected because we have to take off the first coat of paint and that{s what we did today. It was a lot of work! The heat was not helping either :). But the girls worked with us and we listened to some good latin music which was a blast. Hopefully tomorrow we{ll get it going.
This weekend is going to be awesome! Because of my birthday (which is on Monday), and the fourth of July, we{re going to Costa del Sol to spend the night and light off fireworks. I{ve figured everything out for the whole group and even made a deal at the hotel we{re staying at (Which happens to be Hotel Haydee!) We got a ton of fireworks today and I{ll have much to share later!
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