One of the little girls during Horse therapy
Doing a sensory activity with one of the little guys: a nasty combination of cooked spaghetti, marshmallows, jello, and chocolate pudding
Friday afternoon activity: the water balloon toss which of course turned into a huge water fight with the older kids and some of the staff :)
Out rappelling at Flor de Pachote: 70m down
I apologize to all my devoted readers that it has now been like 3 weeks since I last posted! HAha Im just kidding.
Well as I said in the last post, Christmas is gearing up here. We are starting to make and hang up Christmas decorations at work. And I actually had a conversation with my host mom Layla about if she would like a Christmas tree for the house and she said that everyday is special and so many families dont get a Christmas tree but after I rationalized that it is like a birthday cake on your birthday....something extra to celebrate, she agreed and said if I wanted to buy a tree or some lights, we can definitely decorate the house a little bit. So I am not sure when we will do that, but I think we will get some lights and decorate the place a little bit. And Christmas music is going to start playing, as soon as I find some!
The last few weeks have been really great at work. There have been some struggles and differences in opinion as far as how to discipline the kids, how to position the kids and feed kids who require a lot of extra time (bottle vs spoon), but this last tuesday was the grand presentation! Gabbi and I gave a presentation on Feeding, Positioning the kids in bed, Providing extra sensation for those kids who dont respond to natural stimuli (i.e. music, lights, people around them etc...hyper and hyposensitivity), we also talked about disciplining the kids and how to re-enforce consequences when there are so many people that work with the kids and everyone has a difference of opinion. Especially for example in my case. It is tough to communicate with the kids as is, and the older ones really dont listen when I try to tell them what to do (i.e. not run in the street, pick up there garbage, dont hit other kids etc) and so it actually becomes a game for them. And everyone has a different opinion about how to have them listen, so just working through that and working with what I believe is appropriate as well. There was a lot of great conversation about all of the topics and we will see how things change....poco a poco I am assuming but still hopeful.
Last weekend I went rapelling with some friends which was sooooo much fun. I have never been and so it was a little exhilarating with a 70m drop. And yet another activity added to the list of tourist activities!! Javier my host brother came with us, but due to a slight miscommunication, he ended up coming even though he doesnt actually enjoy rapelling. I guess I forgot to actually tell him the activity when we were talking on the phone (which is really hard by the way when i can't act anything out haha)..oops again, but we went out to a movie the next day so I think it was a pretty good weekend in general. He is actually going to Guatemala for the week to play baseball so that will be pretty awesome for him, if all the paperwork goes through.
And actually tomorrow I am going to a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the American people from MCC which means I need to figure out a dish to make. Not totally sure yet as my family is sending stuffing in a care package and I plan on learning the lesson of sharing after I eat it!
So this next week will again be a transition as Gabbi has left back for the states and I am flying solo at Hogar Belen. I am a bit apprehensive about working solo with the kids, but at the same time I am thankful for the time she was here and excited for the next phase. However, I think it will be a good opportunity to get to know the ladies at Hogar Belen a little better and practice more Spanish.
I apologize to all my devoted readers that it has now been like 3 weeks since I last posted! HAha Im just kidding.
Well as I said in the last post, Christmas is gearing up here. We are starting to make and hang up Christmas decorations at work. And I actually had a conversation with my host mom Layla about if she would like a Christmas tree for the house and she said that everyday is special and so many families dont get a Christmas tree but after I rationalized that it is like a birthday cake on your birthday....something extra to celebrate, she agreed and said if I wanted to buy a tree or some lights, we can definitely decorate the house a little bit. So I am not sure when we will do that, but I think we will get some lights and decorate the place a little bit. And Christmas music is going to start playing, as soon as I find some!
The last few weeks have been really great at work. There have been some struggles and differences in opinion as far as how to discipline the kids, how to position the kids and feed kids who require a lot of extra time (bottle vs spoon), but this last tuesday was the grand presentation! Gabbi and I gave a presentation on Feeding, Positioning the kids in bed, Providing extra sensation for those kids who dont respond to natural stimuli (i.e. music, lights, people around them etc...hyper and hyposensitivity), we also talked about disciplining the kids and how to re-enforce consequences when there are so many people that work with the kids and everyone has a difference of opinion. Especially for example in my case. It is tough to communicate with the kids as is, and the older ones really dont listen when I try to tell them what to do (i.e. not run in the street, pick up there garbage, dont hit other kids etc) and so it actually becomes a game for them. And everyone has a different opinion about how to have them listen, so just working through that and working with what I believe is appropriate as well. There was a lot of great conversation about all of the topics and we will see how things change....poco a poco I am assuming but still hopeful.
Last weekend I went rapelling with some friends which was sooooo much fun. I have never been and so it was a little exhilarating with a 70m drop. And yet another activity added to the list of tourist activities!! Javier my host brother came with us, but due to a slight miscommunication, he ended up coming even though he doesnt actually enjoy rapelling. I guess I forgot to actually tell him the activity when we were talking on the phone (which is really hard by the way when i can't act anything out haha)..oops again, but we went out to a movie the next day so I think it was a pretty good weekend in general. He is actually going to Guatemala for the week to play baseball so that will be pretty awesome for him, if all the paperwork goes through.
And actually tomorrow I am going to a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the American people from MCC which means I need to figure out a dish to make. Not totally sure yet as my family is sending stuffing in a care package and I plan on learning the lesson of sharing after I eat it!
So this next week will again be a transition as Gabbi has left back for the states and I am flying solo at Hogar Belen. I am a bit apprehensive about working solo with the kids, but at the same time I am thankful for the time she was here and excited for the next phase. However, I think it will be a good opportunity to get to know the ladies at Hogar Belen a little better and practice more Spanish.
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