Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Day 5

Some funny and nice stories to begin the blog...
- On the way back from the service project, one girl in our group saw a mother and daughter walking. The little girl tripped, fell, and skinned her hands.  She was crying and the member of our group picked up the little girl, brushed off her skinned hands, and asked her (in Spanish) if she was OK.
- Another student while weaving baskets, which was very difficult, said, "The basket weaver should change his job from basket weaver to confidence destroyer."
- Adele asked a student, "Hi, how are you? The student responded, "Bueno. Oh my god, I am speaking Spanish!"
   Today was another great day in paradise! We met at the corner of main street to all walk down to the preschool where we are working.  The school opened last December (the beginning of the Peruvian school year) for children ages 1 - 5.  The kids at the school stay for the morning, which is developmentally appropriate but it allows the staff to literally build the school and the curriculum while the children are not there.  It was a special treat to be there this morning when all of the kids were there.  The husband of the director of the school,  Jose Manuel, is our contact for the service work.  He guided us on finishing painting the mural that was started by St. Mary's in March and dug holes for a play structure that we will build over the course of our time working at the school.  We will also be working on a garden and planting grass seed as a final project.  Your kids are so excited to provide the school with a clean and safe place to play.
   We divided in to two groups and one group started on the work at the school while the other went to weave baskets; then in the afternoon we switched.  Pancho and Valvina were the artists who taught us how to weave; incidentally, they are also Hannah and Ashlin's host family, so we got to their family and living space quite well.  You will be absolutely blown away by the baskets that the kids made;  Pancho was very hands on in helping the kids - meaning he did a lot of the work for them.  He really wanted the kids to leave with an exceptional finished product.  In fact, we all came back to their home at the end of the day to make sure the baskets were perfecto!



  There was a break from the curriculum today, because it was so full! Angela, Susan, and I had dinner at Carver and Will's host family.  The boys kept us laughing through dinner, which was great for the soul but not great for practicing Spanish.  Nevertheless, it was an energizing meal.  Thinking about tomorrow feels great right now because we are in a routine and there should be nothing new tomorrow! This is a welcome feeling for us all at this point in the trip.  We will meet as a group at the school and work from 8:30 - 12:30, then back to the host families for lunch and back to work again from 2:30 - 5:30.  "Working" in Peru is enjoyable.  There is a lot of snacking, playing and talking while working.  Also, we hope to interact a bit more with the kids at the school tomorrow.  Leaders for today were Will and Skylar.  They kept us focused and moving forward while at the service project.  We have two more days of work this week before we head out for an overnight camping trip near some hotsprings.  Sorry to rub in all of the fun we are having here!  The generosity and positive spirits remain.  It is a bit like a dream, and we are waiting for reality to hit us! However, I feel confident that we will continue on this great path, because the kids have gelled so well.  Again, thanks for sharing them with us for these two weeks.  It might sound trite, but they give Angela, Susan, and me a lot of energy, which helps to get through the days.

1 comments:

mattwillandben said...

William, I loved your basket!!! You look like your having so much fun!!! Again, I can't get over the experience your having and what a life long memory you will have. I can't wait to see the pictures of your family! Love and miss you so much!

Mom and the gang!

Post a Comment