a week's worth of celebration.

Why did we have special events all week? Two reasons. Tuesday marked the 5th year since Padre Wasson passed away. For those who don't know, Padre Wasson is the founder not only of NPH Guatemala, but of the nine NPH houses throughout Latin America. For obvious reasons, he is loved and adored. Even though he no longer makes his yearly visits, his presence is still very much felt. Employees and kids alike who knew him only have positive things to say. To commemorate the man who started it all, there was a special mass, a competition to see who could make the best memorium altar (see below), multiple viewings of the same Padre Wasson movie, and a beautiful candlelit service. His life is definitely celebrated in this sense.

The second reason was the school celebrated its anniversary. To celebrate school, we didn't have school (logical, right? haha). Of course the kids loved it. Thursday and Friday were spent doing various activities. Thursday took on a beauty pageant/fashion show vibe. It is the yearly custom to elect girls to five different categories. One girl from each grade competed in everything from dancing, to costume changes, to a question and answer portion! It made me smile to see a few girls all dolled up and the rest of the kids mesmerized by it all.

While Thursday was spent inside the sparkly pink cafeteria, Friday was spent outside in the beautiful sunshine! The whole day took on field day activities. Kids could pass the time playing sports outside, competing in a chess tournament, watching movies, and even dancing in the library-turned-discoteca! A few kindergarteners and I played soccer, followed by an epic game of monkey in the middle. Then, as the librarian, I spent a good portion of my time in the transformed club. That morning boys came to remove all the tables and chairs. We then opened every window and started up the music. It wasn't that popular in the morning, but by lunchtime it was bumpin'! As the only gringa in the whole place, I naturally received a lot of looks for my lack of Shakira-shaking hips and for my rojo-like-a-tomato face. Despite this, I had an absolute blast "working" the day away :)