pomp and circumstance.

While it may not seem like that time of year, our graduation ceremony was on Friday! The school system in Guatemala runs from the beginning of January to mid-October. Then a build-up of anticipation typically takes place for two weeks before the big procession.

Earlier in the week, us librarians became the designated decoration-makers. The library floor is still coated with blue and gold glitter. But boy was the ambiance in the cafeteria worth the mess in the library. With dangling diplomas in the air, bouquets of brightly-colored roses, and our glittered banner in the front, it was stunning. An even more stunning sight were the rows of graduates anxiously awaiting the ceremony to begin. After morning mass, it commenced. It was a proud morning as kids graduated from Montessori all the way up to tercero basico. I was a beaming English teacher (along with fellow English teachers Thayer, Sam, and Molly above), as my entire class walked that day!

Yup, even these three troublemakers of mine.. :)

come one, come all!

Regine had the fantastic idea to do something special for the youngsters of NPH. On Thursday afternoon, we invited the Casa de Bebes to attend none other than.. a circus! While there certainly weren't any lions, tigers, or bears, there were kites, a limbo competition, ice cream, and even a nighttime show!

Prior to the big event, we split up into groups to work alongside the kids. I was a part of the costume group. The one thing we knew we had to have were clown noses, and that's exactly what we did! It couldn't have been any cuter to walk into the house that afternoon to see 33 wildly excited red-nosed clowns ready for fun. The first part of the afternoon was spent face painting (yes, even my face too). After that, the kids were able to jump from station to station. Whether it was kite flying or juggling, each and every one was able to find something to suit their tastes.

When it was time to call the group together, Regine asked me if I would like to be the circus announcer for the night. Claro que si! While my grammar may not have been spot on, I had a fun time informing all our little clowns when it was snack time, play time, dinner time, and showtime! They were wooed and wowed by the cartwheels, jump-roping, and even fire-juggling of the performance. After a delicious dinner of pasta and veggies, we all headed to the carpet where none other than yours truly read a bedtime story about a pig going to the circus. It was the perfect way to end an afternoon loaded with fun.

perdoname.

My blog posts were put on a bit of a hiatus this month due to a glitch with the website. But it suddenly started working again, so I'M BACK! And just in time to tell you guys about one of the most event-filled, picture-perfect weeks I've had here thus far.

It started with a great Monday morning. Why was it great? Because it was the first time in a good while that I woke up without a bed bug bite! The previous three weeks had been filled with bug bites on my ankles, wrists, waist, neck, ears, and even face. Those little guys sure were hungry! I had tried a bunch of at-home remedies to rid them, but to no avail. This past weekend I decided to do a deep clean of everything I own. And I mean everything. I placed my mattress, pillow, and chair outside in the sun. I placed my clothes, sheets, and comforter in the washer. And I placed my hope in the two. When I finally felt a little bit better about things, I put my room back together. I made my bed with a bed-bug-killing powder on top (not to be confused with a cherry). Knock on wood, but I think those little buggers might have salir-ed for good.

On Tuesday, I attended my first Latin American baby shower. It was held for one of the elementary teachers. After decorating the library (where else do we hold events?) with pink and blue decorations, we called Lili in for the surprise. She loved it. The rest of the afternoon was filled with games and jokes galore. Of course I joined in on the fun. One of the games asked each party-goer to rip off enough toilet paper to wrap around the stomach of preggers Lili. After the toilet roll was passed around, we each took turns going up front to see if we were over, under, or just right. Five of us were spot on! We then had to have a tie-breaker to determine the real winner. Each of us were given an animal to imitate with sounds and motions. After we all performed, the crowd voted my leon imitation the best! That's rawrr-ight. I walked away with a little bit of lion pride AND a Toy Story alien pen.

The girls' house held a talent show on Wednesday night. I was grabbing dinner in the comedor when a tia saw me and invited me to be one of the judges! How could I say no? Carrie and I headed down around 7:00 to catch the beginning of the show. There was everything from funny skits to hip-shaking dance routines to a cappella singing. My favorite part was when some of my older students decided to take on a modern rendition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It had everything from Shakira songs, to pretend motorcycles, to club-like dance moves. I was laughing the whole time! They definitely won my vote. In addition to many entertaining skits, the best performance of all came from the entire group of girls that night. With them clustered altogether in one section, it was quickly evident that love was one of the main actors of the night. It was incredibly heart-warming and adorable, to say the least.

The events of Thursday and Friday are to come! Complete with pictures, too!

papa smurf and the gang.

What do volunteers do when we need to entertain 300 kids ranging from ages 3 to 20 for a whole afternoon? Dress like the Smurfs, dance like the Smurfs, and watch the new Smurf movie of course! This past Sunday was my 2nd Kermes here. If you remember from an older post of mine, Kermes is a weekend event that us volunteers put on for the kids to have a little bit o' fun :)

Fellow-English-teacher Sam, roomie Hannah, and I were in charge this time around. Once we decided a movie it was, we put on our thinking caps. What movie? What kind of snack? Where would we show it? Easy! We decided to turn the comedor into a movie theater! And not just any movie theater, "Nuestro Pequeno Cine." Moviegoers were welcomed into the theater by us volunteers.. I mean, blue-skinned, hat-wearing Smurfs :) Once all seated, we were ready. Cue the Smurf theme song and our boogying movies! After our ridiculous opening act, the movie began. The kids were laughing and screaming the entire time. We paused the movie halfway through for two things: POPOROPOS or POPCORN and a costume competition! With all the volunteers decked out in blue paint and so many kids dressed up, I think someone's gotta tell Papa Smurf his family just multiplied.

hello, summer?

That's right! School's out for the "summer" here. The school year begins when the calendar year begins. Therefore classes are roughly from the beginning of January until mid-October. While it was a little awkward jumping right into things when I arrived in July, it provided me a wonderful opportunity to become comfortable with the norms here for the first three months. Now I have the next two months to rearrange my curriculum and perfect everything that I did or didn't do this year. While most of the kids will still be around, there are a few kids who travel from the nearby pueblo to receive school here (like the cutey family below). Come January.. they'll be back, and I'll be a brand new teacher!

In typical Guatemalan fashion, there were many activities to commemorate the end of the year. Starting off the morning right, the library (once again) was turned into a discoteca for the students. All the while, their teachers generously prepared a typical Guatemalan meal for lunch. The library-turned-discoteca then became a comedor! The kids entered with plates to be served meat, rice, homemade salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and atol (a delicious drink prepared with cinnamon and rice). In the afternoon, the kids were out playing soccer until another dance party took place. Once it was dark enough, they then started up a bonfire to roast marshmallows! Sounds like quite the celebration to me :)

oh, happy day.

A week ago today, all of Guatemala recognized Dia de Nino. Similar to Father's Day or Mother's Day, it is a time to celebrate being a child (side note: United States.. why don't we have this?). NPH pulled all the stops on Friday (including canceling school) to ensure a day full of festivities and fun. For the other volunteers and myself, the day started at 5:30am. We paused outside each of the houses to wake up the kids singing "Las Mananitas," a well-known song throughout Latin America that sends well wishes to those being woken up. With lyrics and guitars in hand, we sweetly despertar-ed all 300 kids. The best part was watching each head pop through the curtains complete with a huge grin.

The carnival began around 8am. There was everything from a balloon toss, cotton candy, a mini ferris wheel, ice cream, a dunk tank, and even a makeshift mechanic bull! I was stationed at the volleyball sand court. It was here that I got my game on with Molly (another volunteer), Yan (the national director), and ano de servicio boys (like sweetheart Jonathan pictured above). While I probably haven't played volleyball since those dreadful tryouts in 6th grade, I had a great time! Sure, every now and then I helped the other team with a point or two, but I took it all in stride :) I enjoyed myself enough that Jonathan and I have since planned an ano de servicio versus volunteer game to happen this coming week.

The rest of the day was spent watching a clown show, eating chicken and fries for lunch, and then dancing the afternoon away in the comedor! I would consider this year's Dia de Nino to be an absolute success.