All the kids were excited for the party, apparently this is something that happens every year so the kids knew it would be good. First order of business: gain unconditional love from the horde of children by offering balloons. Leo was an easy sell.
They had face painting for the little ones
I discovered early on that this was going to be an interactive event, something that I usually take great pains to avoid. First they hauled up Nona to sing her Happy Birthday. That was sweet :)
After lulling us into a false sense of security, they pulled up Charlotte and Marlene. They dressed them as clowns, made them hula hoop and dance in front of the kids and then watched them try to make balloon animals. It was all really funny at their expense.
The universe must have been pissed that I was laughing at them, because of course I was chosen next. I was mentally prepared to be dressed as a clown, I even reviewed a few choice dance moves in my head. They pulled up two butch dudes from the Payless staff too, and they asked the three of us to flex our muscles for the kids. I immediately saw this was heading towards dangerous territory.
They said we were going to be having a sports contest. WORST NIGHTMARE EVER. I hate sports. I've managed to avoid playing any soccer with the kids for an entire year because I knew they would never respect me after seeing how pathic my coordination was. I now had over 100 pairs of eyes on me, and just in case I could have fooled them into thinking I was an unskilled, yet mediocre player, I had to show my moves while flanked by two Guatemalan men who probably play on soccer teams. Payless Clown uses Social Anxiety! It's super effective!!
Here I am wondering which is more socially damaging: falling on my face while attempting soccer moves or vomiting to get out of said activity.
Here is my fellow competitor bouncing the ball off both knees, his chest, his head, and then rolling it down his back. Notice the horror behind my eyes.
I took the ball in my hands, bounced it once off my knee and then watched it roll away. SUCCESS!
I had better luck with tryin to twirl a basketball on my finger. Better luck meaning that we all sucked equally.
Then they asked us to put a funnel in our pants, balance a ball on our faces and try to get it to roll into the funnel. I knew exactly where this was going. Surprisingly, having the clown pour water down my pants was the least embarassing part of the experience! Hooray, it was over!
Despite my less than stellar performance, the kids shouted my name and declared me the winner :) I like to think that's because they love me, and not because they didn't know the names of the two Payless dudes.
After the staff humiliation was over, it was time for pinatas! The kids loved these, obviously. Here's a little guy going in for the kill
Here's what happens when you dump a bunch of candy in front of hungry kids. I like to call it "The Wolf Pack"
All the kids got a new pair of shoes afterwards and a few toys, it was really nice. (side note: trying shoes on 75 kids= my new personal hell)
Picture time with Santa
Then came the best part of the day...
Dominos donated 80 pizzas to us! Dude, pizza here is expensive. A medium runs about Q80, so a donation like this is worth Q6400 (around $850!) It was a special treat for the kids and volunteers :) We all got to eat our fill.
The party was a ton of fun, and it helped us kill almost a full day with the kids, so that was an added bonus. We also started our religious celebrations. We're doing Posadas every week. The clinic is in charge of it this week, so I'll post pictures and explain it a bit more later. Padre Reynaldo also came to visit. He's the priest from NPH Honduras. Since NPH Guatemala doesn't have its own priest, he comes once every other month to do mass and special religious activities. He's a really cool dude, he usually hangs out with the volunteers a lot since he's also from Germany.
Here he is explaining the advent candles which the kids are in charge of lighting each week.
Only two more weeks until Christmas!! Crazy! It still doesn't feel like Christmas here, it's hard to get into the spirit without the crazy commercialism that's usally thrown at us around the holidays. The other day Charlotte and I went to Miraflores, the big American mall in the capital. It was totally decked out with Christmas trees and Christmas music, we both got really excited. Out in Parramos it's just like any other time of the year though. There aren't any Christmas lights or anything, the only way I can tell it's winter is by the super cold nights. It was 40 degrees out last night! That might not sound so bad to folks back home, but these houses don't have any insulation, the roofs are plastic shingles.
Time has been flying these last few weeks, which I'm super happy about! I keep telling myself that once I get to Christmas I'm done. I have two weeks off after the holidays (during which my friend Dan will be here for adventure-making), then two weeks of new-volunteer orientation, then I'm on my way home! To help me mark the passing of time, I've decided to stop trimming my beard until I get home. Right now it's only slightly poofy, I hope to have something to be proud of by the time I walk off the plane, after which it will be immediately sheared in preparation for job interviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment