Making Fun

"The only day that has been wasted is one in which you have not laughed."
This is my host father, Mr. Camilio Mas. When I first met him I was surprised that some Maya men like to keep their hair long, something about the longer their hair the more prosperous they will be..... I'm totally kidding. This wig was a gift from some tourists and we've had a lot of fun with it, but I wouldn't let Alejandro leave it in my house because I knew seeing it in the middle of the dark night would scare me. I love how we make our own fun. A >plate can be a frisbee, a clothes line a volleyball net, a board and a block a see-saw , and blow up a balloon and you can play for hours until it pops. I've always been easily entertained and that's a good quality to have while living in a rural village. Another thing I love is that laughter breaks all language barriers. I haven't wasted a day here yet. Loves and hugs!

Birthdays

We had two Mas birthdays in December. Martha turned 13 on the 10th and Alejandro had his 16th birthday on the 18th. We celebrated with cake and balloons. I was able to ask what kind of cake they each wanted to make the treat more special and even found frosting and sprinkles. (I don't know if you can tell, but there is an "A" on Alejandro's cake." According to the writings on the wall the next birthday to celebrate will be Ione's, the end of March. After that, the newest addition, mine! Loves and hugs!

Math Morning Class

A couple weeks before break, Mr. Chub asked if I would be willing to teach a few math classes for PSE extra practice. Right away I started thinking what time would work the best and came up with Tuesday mornings from 9 to 10. I asked Mr. Ical to announce it during class and mae a little note to put on the bulletin board. Florentina and I put together some problems we were going to give as homework but since we didn't have evening classes the week before break, I now had the preparation done. Of course I still made up some proportional parts problems for fun, just in case. I decided since the class was optional I should reward those for coming with treats-rice "krispi" treats. They would have been better had I used margarine, regular mini marshmallows, and fresh cereal instead of 123 vegetable oil, hard jumbo maple vanilla flavored marshmallows, and stale krispis. Hey! You use what you have. I guess they weren't too bad because I brought back an empty bag and there were only five students. We stayed past ten and really they just wanted a short break and then come back, but I said we could just continue next week. We passed around the volleyball for about a half hour and thought about putting up the next week, which didn't happen, but more about the class. The second week there were seven students. We started with a review of percent profit and discount. I'm not sure how many times they've been over this, but some are still not getting it at all. I've realized I've become one of those people who can understand math, but has a hard time explaining. I need to look for some games or other teaching strategies to help these students learn. I even thought of asking Patricio, one of the students who does understand to try explaining in Ke'kchi, maybe it's the language barrier? The last week I made no-bake cookies for the treat and oh my, I shouldn't have found out how easy they are to make and delicious they are so soon. Ha ha! There were eight students. I was happy to see more faces each week. We went onto ratios and spent most of the time on finding the ratio between two amounts of money, one being in dollars and the other in cents. I was surprised how much trouble the conversion was. I asked, "How many cents are in one dollar?" and got blank stares in response. When they guessed "20?" I rephrased the question and wondered if I had 20 cents and they had one dollar if they would trade me. Of course not, so we went found the answer together using what they knew, 4 shillings in a dollar, each shilling worth 25 cents, 4 times 25 equal what? This is not something I thought I would be teaching to standard 6, but it makes me wondered what other little things they were never taught. Most "learning" is rote memory, for example times tables. I don't remember repeating my times table over and over, so I wonder how I learned to multiply, and if I can think of it, I'll pass this on. My only hope is that I was able to help a little and those few students that came to morning class over break learned something.

There is no place...

One of the t-shirts I brought with me has NU's school song on the back and whenever I wear it or it is hanging on the line, Hillaria always sings it. At first to the tune of, "The more we get together." Then one day I went for a walk with Rebecca wearing the shirt and she wanted to learn the song, picking up on the tune as well. When the two girls get together it is their favorite song to sing. Sometimes Hillaria will substitute "Santa Teresa" for "Nebraska," maybe we'll have to change more of the lyrics to make it her own. I also taught the girls " I am a C." They'll have to practice that one a little more before I record it though since I don't have a shirt I could wear backwards with the words on it while recording. Loves and Hugs!

Merry Christmas

As you know from my earlier post my Christmas started with a package from the Graffius family in November and I'm happy to say I held off opening the gifts until Christmas day, bet we'll get to that later. The last day of school before Christmas break we celebrated by playing games in the morning then around 11am, women in the village who offered to cook brought the rice and beans and stew chicken into each class. The students all donated either food or money, which sadly kept a few families from coming. I joined Mr. Chub and the Standard 4's party. Before eating a few students exchanged gifts. It was the sweetest thing as they got in front of the class and said, "This gift is from my heart as a sign of my love for you." Of course there was also music and a little dancing. When I went to town on the Monday before Christmas I was surprised to find four packages at the post office!! The post man wanted me to open up the largest box to check the contents, but I asked if he could just look because I wanted to wait until Christmas. I was going to wait to open all four until Friday, but noticed some popcorn falling out of the box from the American Legion Auxiliary. This package was such a wonderful surprise and its contents were time sensitive-baked goods. I enjoyed digging through the popcorn finding cookies, brownies, lip balm, playing cards, soup base, etc. It was like a little treasure hunt. I was happy to share all the sweets (compete in Ke'kchi) with the Mas family and was shocked how fast they disappeared. Martha explained, "We've never tasted sweets like this before, that's why." One thing Hillaria had tried before was Smarties except she told me they were on a necklace. She was trying to refresh Alejandro's memory, so I asked how long ago that was. Maybe a year. What?! Will someone please send this girl a candy necklace? Haha! For Christmas Eve we lit my stove for the first time and roasted marshmallows making pseudo s'mores. The marshmallows were vanilla maple flavored and we put them between some of those thin waffle wafers. One good thing about being here is there are no expectations and everything sweet is delicious. The roasted marshmallows were good enough to bring Florentino and Ernesto back for a visit Christmas Day. Dad surprised me with a phone call. It was nice to talk to him. I took a couple naps hoping it would be enough to keep me awake for a long-lasting church service. I was prewarned that church would be until midnight, and I want to say we went around 7pm. I don't know what I'll do when I go to church back in the States and am only there an hour and a half tops, it will also be crazy to worship in English again. After four hours of singing and one hour of sermon the night was not over yet. We then went to Miss Louisa's parent's house for caldo and poch. I never really know what to do in large group gatherings around candlelight where everyone is quiet, but like always was taken care of and well fed. When I got my bowl of soup I noticed a white hunk of something about the size of my fist and from past experiences I knew better that to take a bite without further investigation, especially since I had a hard time breaking it with my fingers (no silverware, remember) Luckily, Alejandro was sitting next to me so I quietly asked him what it was. "It's a yam, Miss Amy." This made me chuckle thinking to myself instead of a Christmas ham I would be enjoying a Christmas yam. Okay, maybe it's not that funny, but it made me laugh at least. After we were done eating I got to carry Ione home, escorted by Martha and Alejandro. Side note: This was the first time I was advised to carry my money and lock my doors and windows when leaving the house. I thought, "On Christmas, really?" I guess they have a problem with some of the men drinking too much, gives meaning the song I kept hearing on the radio, "Please, Daddy don't get drunk this Christmas..." It's a pretty ridiculous song especially in that country twange. Anyways, since not one Christmas carol was sung during the 5 hour service I sang myself to sleep with a medley of everyone I could think of. Even though I didn't fall asleep until after 1am, the spirit of Christmas work me up early as usual. Santa had come via the post office and I was excited to open my gifts, or course waiting until the Mas family made their way to my house, the whole 10ft. I let the girls open the wrapped gifts and my goodness, couldn't believe all that was there. How did all that love fit in those boxes? I had a little area for my games before, but now I need a whole shelf! And stickers galore with more on the way. It's amazing to me the ways I'm supported. (Dawn that's is so neat! I can't wait to take them to the school and let the teachers use them as rewards for good work. I'm hoping to encourage more use of positive reinforcement and stickers are perfect!) Aunt Diana sent some baby clothes which got a few laughs. I knew why she sent them, thinking I would find a baby, not make a baby, but everyone else had other ideas. I'm glad some fit Ione and have found a couple other little girls for the rest. I have a new favorite t-shirt that matches my new red slippers, although I'll probably pack the flip-flops away until the ones I wear everyday now break. I was surprised how fast the first pair went. All the candy was tasty, my favorites, Peanut M&M's and Hairbo gummy bears. I added some to the North Loup popcorn I took to a few families. I thought I would share a little of Nebraska with the alcalde, my neighbors who had me over for tamales earlier in the day, the principal Mr. Chub, and the preschool teacher Miss Florentina- she really liked the gummy bears. So I have to say my Christmas was very pleasant. We even spent some time putting togeter a puzzle thanks to Emily and started watching a movie. Yes, we have a TV and DVD player! Another tradition I experienced but wasn't expecting was opening sweet cereal on Christmas. I don't know if Larka knew of my family's sillyness or if it was just a coincidence. Either way it causes some happy tears. This was my first non-white Christmas, but it was still merry and bright. Hope you all enjoyed your own. Loves and Hugs!

Letters and Invites

One afternoon I walked into the Standard 2 and 3 classroom and saw a few girls writing, I jokingly asked, "Are you writing me a letter?" Thier answer, "No... I mean, Yes, Miss Amy," and during break I had three friendly letters in beautifully decorated envelopes. They wrote things from, "You are the only person in Santa Teresa" (I'm not sure what's meant by this) to "Please come to my house..." Soon I was getting more letters and invites just in time for Christmas break. I'm still at the point where I feel I need to be invited over to someone's house and even feel funny when the invitation comes from a 7 year old, but more and more I'm realizing unexpected visitors are welcome. I love it when people show up at my door, even at 6:30 in the morning, why wouldn't anyone else? It's not like there's much else to do in a rural village. I've visited a few homes taking along my cards and Pass the Pigs (and now Barrel of Monkeys). I'll have to leave the games for the next volunteer. Another good thing about visiting are my Ke'kchi lessons that always seems to happen. These usually bring about much laughter as I have trouble pronouncing most words, but I was happy to hear one the little girls saying "ninnau" which means "to know." I guess she was impressed with my vocabulary- mostly animals, food, and kitchen items, but it still made me smile. One of my letters even included an anklet, and another a picture, which almost made me cry as only some families have a few pictures, but Rebecca wanted to give me one so I would remember her and asked, "When you go home I just want one picture so I can remember your face." How sweet. I feel like if I never wanted to spend and afternoon/evening alone in my house I wouldn't have to especially since when I leave I'm asked when I am coming back. "Come back yesterday." (I think little Marvin meant tomorrow. Hehe. Oh, how I love that language barrier.) Loves and Hugs!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Brrr... I never thought I would have the problem of not wanting to get out of bed in the morning because it's so cold. I even find myself wishing there was such a thing as nose warmers and am glad I went a little sock crazy when packing. Cold days are for socks with slippers (flip-flops) and hot cocoa. It must be the rain that makes me want to curl up in my blanket because my thermometer has never shown a temperature lower than 62. I have seem my breath though during my morning walks and when Rebecca and Hillaria came with me to town I was glad I had brought my jacket so I didn't have to see them freeze. Of course, they wanted ice cream. Finally it feels like December, kinda. Wait! It's January already!

My Own Place

I now have my own place! I love it and I didn't have to move far. Actually, I didn't have to move at all. Notice the water tower in the background, one of those little things that brings me joy as it reminds me of home-still living next to the water tower. I had a hard time believing Camilio when he said he could take everything out of the house with my room, letting me stay and rent from them, but the day after I said, "Let's try it," the house was emptied and mine. I'm not sure where they are keeping everything, but they even managed to transfer the phone, which required moving the antenna pole and solar panel. I seemed to make a bigger deal out of the decision, continually going back and forth, each time being set for the last time. Now that I'm no longer in between I feel much more at ease. I've been decorating my place with the pictures and cards you have sent me, practicing my tape lamenating skills so they aren't ruined by the humidity.
Perks of staying close to my host family: The house was pretty much furnished. I got to keep my bed, there are lots of shelves, a counter, table, two chairs, Louisa is letting me borrow dishes and kitchen supplies plus she washes my sheets, Martha was sweeping my floor until Louisa made me a broom, and I can have all the corn tortillas I want and ocassionally they feed me a meal. Did I mention this is all for $100BZ/month ($50US). Sounds like a pretty good landlord to me. One thing I did need to buy was a stove so I could cook in my house. This ended up being not as expensive as I thought it would be as I decided to simply get a table stove. If I want to do any baking I'll have to find a friend with an oven, which may have already happened, but I'll get to that later. Then, not only would I have company, which makes baking more fun, I would also have someone to share the goodies with. I think it will work our pretty well. I was a little too excited when I got the stove, hose, clamps, regulator, and tank home (all brought on the bus). I asked Mr. Mas to hook it up for me, already picturing myself making some hot tea, which is funny because I don't even have a tea kettle. Sadly, the hook-ups didn't match and right away I knew I would have to wait. Surprisingly I wasn't bothered at all thinking to myself, "that's the way it is," although Mr. Mas kept thinking of ways he could make it work, none of which did. I was fine with waiting until my next trip to town, a whole week and a half away. I guess Peace Corps really does make you more patient, but by the night before the next market bus, Alejandro was outside my house saying "Yo'os," (knocking is unheard of). I said, "Okan" (come in) and he went on to tell me he was going to town in the morning. "Maybe there is something that you need?" Add personal shopper to my list of perks. I sent my hose and the hook-ups with him and he came back to then put it together for me. So yes, living on my own and renting from the Mas family is better than I expected it to be. Plus, the money I saved can go towards a ticket home, most likely for Christmas 2010. One holiday season away from family is one too many. Loves and Hugs!!

First things first

I have a slue of updates to post, but first thought I would share with you my latest idea. I think the Caribbean sun has sparked my imagination and love how ideas are formed. Mine usually come as answers to the question, "Why not?" Like why not take individual pictures of every student at the school. Instead of being discouraged by my lack of resources to make this happen, I asked myself why not get some help, inviting others to be part of the story. Then I though why not find a photographer that would be willing to come here, take the pictures, and send back some prints. I mean, I know photographers go to developing countries taking pictures, we've all seen them, usually stirring up some feelings inside. Just think though how a child would feel to have that picture for his own. I then thought I should be the one traveling the world taking school portraits. Now wouldn't that be the life! I can see it happening sometime somehow, but back to Santa Teresa RC School. The kids here just want me to take their picture and of course see it in my camera, "Take my picture, Miss," but really isn't the point of taking pictures to have the print? I think we take advantage of this memory making luxurary. I guess what I'm asking for is help in this little endeavor. I like thinking of ideas but seem to have trouble deciding the best way to make them happen. Maybe you know a photographer looking for charity work, maybe you know a photo processing center willing to make a deal, maybe you'll keep this idea in your prayers and together we'll see where God takes it. Yeah, it's simple and definitely a little thing, I mean nobody's life depends on whether or not they get a picture of themselves, but it just might lift a heart, and to me it's those things that make the difference and give life meaning. Loves and Hugs!