Things are going well

Here's a photo to keep you happy.

Only seven more weeks of actual classroom instruction, then the "summer games." After that...will update you when I decide what comes next.

love, Marian

Teatro, Mom and Dad

The English program teatro came and went. My kids did a great job and two of my classes even won the grand prize: a yogurt pack with corn flakes to mix in. Delicious, I'm told.

Girls: Animal masks and props to perform "What is it? What's it doing?"

Post-teatro soccer game with the girls. That's me after slamming a goal past an eleven-year-old.

My boys also did a great job with "A Day in the Life of Alex."

Second grade boys had the same shtick as my girls.

These two are brothers. Can you tell?

That's all for teatros. I'm nearing the end of spring break and had to end my visit with mom and dad early this morning. They arrived last friday night and we had a great week. We went to Mindo the cloud forest, Papallacta hot springs, the middle of the world (equator) and spent some time wandering around Quito. I think they had a nice time, but here's some proof:

Dad got to try the blow-dart thing at the equator.

Mindo butterfly exhibit with a little boy from the hostel (housekeeper's son) who decided he would take care of us that day.

Parents and I with Madre Cindy and Madre Miguel at the Easter Mass. During mass Dad picked up a toddler who ended up falling asleep on his lap, snoring an everything. It was precious.

Anyone else want to come visit?

Much love,
Marian

Pizza Party

They had been looking forward to this for weeks...the deal I have with them is this: if they win all the stars on their rewards poster they get a reward. Sounds simple, but it took them 7 months to get all their stars. And when I asked what they wanted they had no trouble deciding...

PIZZA

I was floored by how polite they were throughout the whole pizza party. They kept saying thank you and "we really appreciate it," all unprompted. I was amazed! I'm pretty sure teachers aren't often thanked by their students. But my boys were so wonderful about it. Also, Pastor bought this big bag of "Kachitos" to share with everyone (buy some styrofoam and eat it. now you know what a kachito tastes like). And then some of the boys asked for napkins to wrap up their second piece of pizza to take home to their mom, little brother, etc. I just couldn't believe the generosity in these 7 and 8 year olds. Maybe it was just my boys, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the kids share good things (like pizza and candy) with their families. The whole affair reaffirmed the why of what I'm doing here. I love these boys, maybe a little too much sometimes. Is that possible?

After pizza we had our usual computers time. And then a family portrait.

much love,

Marian

P.S: Pizza and many other fun things brought to my students thanks to Theresa and Jerry. My kids and I appreciate everything you've done :)

The Miranda House

First of all, an LMU AB group came and it was so good to have them here. My dear friends Beth and Joanne were on the trip and I loved getting updates from home and just sharing my life with people who know me so well. I brought them to my classes, had Beth and Joanne play music games in music class and asked Kyle and Beth to draw animals on the board in English (Beth's animals always had cankles and Kyle's were a little too complicated-looking for my girls). I cried when they left and unfortunately I'm feeling a little homesick now. A lot of the students from the trip are thinking of coming back to volunteer, especially the seniors in the group, so we'll see what happens...

Last Sunday I went to the Miranda family house. A former volunteer was visiting the center and she wanted to go see this family--I thought, hey, I have all of their children in at least one class...I wanna go. So I asked my high-schooler (one of the older sisters) if that was okay and she said "sure, bring anybody." So four of us volunteers decided to go and we had a lovely time. We started out playing in the park, worked up a huge appetite before lunch, then sat around and played games and scoped out some of the toys the former volunteer had brought (a favorite: little sponge animals that grow when you put them in warm water).



They're a great family (9 kids, a sweet mom and dad works as a janitor at the center) and I'm so glad I invited myself over. As soon as I asked the older sister if I could go, my other high school girls started inviting me to their homes. And when the younger kids found out that I went to the Miranda house they started asking if I could come to their houses too. We'll see where I end up actually going, but I'm learning that it takes a little initiative on my part.

Today the choir kids are singing at a special memorial mass, then after lunch my high school girls are playing soccer in a tournament among the nivelación (levelization) and colegio grades. Should be a great Saturday. Oh, and coming up: the English Teatro will fire up once again for Easter. Expect photos of my second graders wearing masks and pretending to be animals, "What is it? It's a cow. What's it doing? It's watching TV." They love it, it's so silly.

Until then,
Marian

A few things

A number of things I'm pleased about:

• The LMU Alternative Breaks group is coming this Saturday and they'll be staying for a week. AB is dear to my heart so I hope they have a good time--I'm definitely going to plan something extra special for my classes so the AB crew can help out. Can't wait to see them, plus they're bringing me mac n cheese.
  

• My parents are coming in April during Easter vacation. Woo hoo!

• Yesterday I talked to my brother and his wife on Skype while they were sitting in a pub in West Ireland drinking a...beverage.
  

• Three friends are in Japan together. That's nice.

• Today I'm having my second-grade boys play charades. We'll see how they do--I'm sure it'll be amusing.

ciao, Marian

Playing in the park and more from the CMT Choir

These are my English boys playing in the park. Pastor (in the yellow hat) used to sing love songs to me in class but now he's moved on to teasing a little girl named Diana.

Yesterday the choir sang after mass--this video is of a song called Mi Chacra in which they imitate barnyard animals. After this came Row Row Row Your Boat (not on this video) which I so lovingly taught them. Their pronunciation is great, in case you were wondering.

ciao, Marian

The Big Picture

Probably the least useful thing I've ever said to a kid:

"How are you going to survive in the world if you can't make up a sentence about flan?!"