´tis the season!

well---here we are, middle of diciembre---still can´t believe it! sorry for the lapse in time between entries. ya know, when i used to follow past volunteers blogs, i would get so frustrated when they wouldn´t post for months, but now that i´m here, i can finally see why it´s so hard to blog frequently. there is just no time!---always something to do (practice spanish, visit neighbors, read a good book, hang with my housemates, prepare HIV charlas, cook dinner, work out, write letters) but i promise i will try to be more intentional about sharing funny moments and new ideas with you!

so to start off, i wanted to tell you all that for the past few weeks i´ve been singing with our church group Nueva Generación. well now that you´re all laughing, let me explain. our music at church is awesome, and for me music is a huge part of why i feel so much at mass. well....i´m in ecuador, trying to deepen my faith and grow in spirituality, so i figured why not knock myself out and join the group! ha---keep in mind i can barely speak spanish, so singing in spanish could quite possibly be one of the funniest things---especially since i hold a microphone. yes. i hold a microphone. AND, you can´t put on the whole "apples and oranges" front on when you don´t know the words--that just doesn´t vale here, and i haven´t learned the spanish cover up for not knowing words. so because you can´t be here to listen to me sing, let me try and describe what this experience is like---this past weekend we sang campanas de belen (bells of bethlehem i think)--and this was me "BELEN, CAMPANAS DE BELEN, y los angeles baaAAbumm nuestro los baa bummm" yupp...that´s me, just hummin´along, trying to come up with words that i have no idea what should be. but i figure, what the hell--i like to sing, i like church music, and i like being a part of a group with people my own age. oh yeah that´s right, new gen (as i call it) is all people our age, and they´re awesome! such great people. therefore, why not? why not make a fool of myself? i´ve really got nothing to lose :-)

another tidbit i wanted to tell you about was that we had our employee christmas party last night--and let me just tell you---it was a BALL! wow, i think everyone had a really good time. we invited all of our guards and their families, and the people who help run our afterschool programs with us---it was just so special to be able to spend time with them. we are so close with our guards because well, they are with us literally 24-7, so meeting their families, and dancing and singing with them, was just awesome.

so here´s how things went down. karla and amy headed up the food committee- we ate pasta, mango, rice, and pineapple--how´s that for a ecua-american meal, it was delicious though!---decorations were cute, a little tacky, but cute nonetheless, and the entertainment, well that was definitely the highlight. all three of our houses decided that we would put on "dances" for our guests--you can imagine the competative spirit that arrose with that notion--they were absolutely hilarious, i was laughing like a little kid! a little synopsis includes john as a donkey, dan and tom as reindeer, and casa tomás reinventing an ecua christmas song with rostro lyrics! they were all really creative and fun! i think megan our director may have posted a video of them on facebook, so if you can access that--you may get a good laugh!

all in all though, last night was just a great holiday moment, it felt like that was christmas day for us---dancing, laughing, eating, sharing---so beautiful. the little kids were so cute--elvis´s son, one of our semillas kids as well, asked me as we were passing around chocolate, "lupita, how many can i have?", and i told him, "as many as you want", and his face just lit up! and he was like "i´m gonna put a few in my pocket to take home for later", i was like "absolutely!"--my heart melted....

let´s see, what else, what else----oh funny moment with chiquititos at semillas! ha, i have to tell you---so i was doing the vowels with them the other day, they love it---they scream out "A, E, I, O, U, cuantás vacas tienes tu"---so after we moved on from that, we do--MA, ME, MI, MO, MU, and so on with all the letters---well we learning new words for MA, ME, etc---so i was going okay, can anyone tell me a word that begins with MA---and then they would yell, mariposa, mapa, mano, mango, manzana---yadda yadda, well i asked jhon piel--one of the cutest little kids, probs one of my favs even though i shouldn´t have one----if he could think of a word...so he gets into pensive mood for a few seconds and then shouts out "PAPAYA!!!!"---when i tell you i was laughing so hard i was crying, it was one of those adorable children moments, that you just can´t replicate...and it gets better..... everytime i asked him for a response, for ME, for MI, etc, he would continue to yell out PAPAYA!!! needless to say, i got my quota of belly laughs that day. it was just like, umm jhon piel, papaya begins with PA, we´re workin on MA now. and he´d be like ooooooh okay....repeat papaya.....think again....repeat papaya. too much.

semillas has just been so great though. seriously. it´s a blast. it doesn´t stress me out anymore, and it doesn´t make me cringe---it´s just a part of my day, and a fun part of my day for that matter. i think i´m learning how cool kids really are. they are funny and full of personality. and as bad and nasty as they can be sometimes, most days i leave there laughing at funny moments. christmas is going to be hard though. i´m already feeling strange about it. as rostro volunteers we´re not allowed to "gift give", and that´s a really hard thing for me. i want to give these kids new shoes, and pencils, and backpacks, and hair bands, and new markers, and we´re just not allowed to do that. i know christmas is NOT about gifts, i mean i fully understand that, but that doesn´t change the fact that i want to give these kids everything i possibly can. it´s something i´m definitely struggling with. hopefully though we´ll be able to have a christmas party for them and do games with prizes and sweets---a little something to spread holiday cheer. and prizes don´t fall under the gift giving category so that´s a good thing!

i´m trying to think if there´s anything else i wanted to share with you guys today, there probably is but i just can´t think anymore right now. it´s so hard to keep track when everyday is filled with so many moments that i wish i could tell you immediately after they happen. i just want to pick up the phone and be like, i´ve got the funniest story for you---i always have to make mental notes and be like, oh this is definitely "write home worthy"....but a lot of the details inevitably get left out!

the gist of this blog is that: things are positive here. really good for that matter. as anxious as i was about experiencing christmas here without my family, i think that after all--it´s going to be a really moving experience. something i will always have. as difficult as it may be.

and on that note, i´ve got to get out of this sauna-esque cyber---i know i say it all the time, but seriously, you are always in my thoughts...always!! you may think i´m too busy to think about you, but it´s not true, on my bus rides, during semillas activities, thoughts of people from home always cross my mind. i´m thinking "hmmm i wonder what katie´s up to right now in DC? she´s probably on a run, or i bet Jen is at the clinic giving flu shots---or it´s sunday, i bet my parents are out having breakfast at some new local"----it´s constant, really. i miss you. punto. i miss you all so much, and not being with you during the holiday season is hard for me, hard, but not impossible. distance is nothing. we´re still connected.

alright, i´ve gotta run, LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUU!! always,
keep smiling :-)
jamie