finished!

For the past three weeks, all of us volunteers have been working abajo in the kids' sections. Since the caregivers of the sections literally work all year long, we help them out during the holiday season by assuming their role as tios. The word "tio" literally means aunt or uncle. Here at NPH, it's what we lovingly call the caregivers of our kids.

Seeing as my boys are in la Casa de Bebes, I worked as a tia there. I'd describe it as babysitting. But not just regular babysitting.. babysitting on steroids! Rather than a family of three siblings, I watched 11 little rascals. Rather than an evening while the parents are away, I worked a 48 hour shift. It's a good thing I had my roommate Hannah as my partner in crime :) While there were certainly moments that tested my patience, I truly enjoyed the change of pace. I was able to hang out with my boys a lot more, get to know the girls who are the same age, and act like a kid all day long. We'd do anything from attending pretend weddings, to coloring competitions, to indoor soccer, to afternoon dance parties! Oh, and we sang "Jingle Bells" about 352 times a day. haha.

As of today, I'm done! Three weeks with tons of rascals definitely wiped me out. For this, disculpame for the lack of blog posts this month. I promise to catch you all up.. just after my vacation. Where are we headed? Well, seeing as it's time to renew our visas, we're headed east to the beaches of Belize! I'll think of you all as I soak in the glorious sunshine during the dead of winter :) Many posts to come upon my return!

Love,

Kristina

feliz, feliz navidad.

While this was my first Christmas away from the family EVER, my newer and much larger family down here definitely made this Guatemalan Christmas one to remember! Sending well wishes from my (adorably festive) loved ones to you and yours :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.

over the river and through the woods..

..to the Christmas market we go! Another Kermes has come and gone. And this one was themed with the season in mind. Each country prepared a typical snack for the holiday season. Carrie, Mark, and I festively represented the states. What did we decide to serve? Why hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini-marshmallows, of course! Although we had some tough competition, the three of us still had fun passing out hot drinks and smiles to the kids.

and the christmas season is off!

Posadas are to Guatemala as Christmas parties are to the states. In the month of December, posadas take place multiple times a week. It is an annual tradition in which people reenact Mary and Joseph's search for a place to stay. So what happens exactly? A group of people wander from place to place via candlelight. Upon arrival, they begin a back-and-forth sing-song with a group inside. The first few places turn away the group outside. The last place always makes room for them, just as the stable did for Mary and Joseph. The group then joyously enters, and the party begins!

For us at NPH, our first posada took all the kids around the house. They even stopped at the volunteer houses (only for us to turn them away). After a few more stops, they were finally taken in at the cafeteria. Once inside, we all participated in a prayer service, followed by a fiesta! It was a wild and crazy period in which all the kids had a swing at pinatas they had made themselves. For me, it was a memorable evening filled with a beautiful sense of community.

"x" marks the spot.

After 4 weeks (mas o menos) of my summer reading program, the pirates finally found the treasure! They were all very anxious to get to the end of their maps. Every time the kids saw me around the house, they would ask, "Vamos a buscar el tesoro?" or "Are we going to look for the treasure?" Uh, of course! A little bit of incentive was all that they needed to walk up that hill to the library.

Each afternoon, a new crew of pirates would stop into the library. Once they creatively colored their maps, they were allowed to check out a book. They then read until they reached 5, 10, or 15 pages. Next, they would visit me so that I could mark their map. The 9 to 12 year old boys were so into it that they were practically toppling over one another to get to me first! It was a little crazy, but also really exciting to see.

On the last day of each section's turn, they were able to pick out a prize from the treasure chest. What prizes were there you ask? My Mom had sent me a bunch of fun little prizes back in October. There was everything from plastic rings to play-dough to slinkies to lizard figurines. The kids loved it. I have enough leftovers that, who knows, I might try another type of program come the new year!