Día del Niño (Day of the Child) was officially on Thursday, but we celebrated it pretty much all week long! On Monday, our 6th -- 8th graders loaded up piñatas, pasteles, bolsitas, y refrescos (piñatas, cupcakes, goodie bags, & drinks) and headed to Ajuterique, about a 45 minute drive, to celebrate with the children there. We have a feeding program there, and the kids who attend school also get lunch, which, in that incredibly poor village, is a great incentive to get the kids in school. School is held in the church, which still has a dirt floor and no door, but now has a roof. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with kids who have so little, to see them so genuinely thankful for the things that we brought. I think it was also good for our school kids to see and hopefully help them appreciate what they have.
On Thursday, we celebrated with some of the team at Enlaces. Our celebration consisted of a piñata, cena, bolsitas, y regalos (piñata, dinner, goodie bags & gifts). All of the boys got huge water guns which were, and still are, a huge hit. The boys have been playing with them every day since.
After dinner and cleanup, we continued to fill 1000 bags with candy and popcorn for Friday's celebration here at the Center. We were making pretty good progress when we lost power. Darn! It's pretty tough to pop corn with no power. Then the power came back on and we made more popcorn. Oops, there goes the power again. Now, it's back. Nope, false alarm; it's out again. You get the idea. After the power went out the first time, Sandi and I both went and got some candles and flashlights from our houses. At least we'd be prepared. We actually finished filling bags by candle light. Is that dedication, or what?
Friday, during the day, the school celebrated. All of the classes had piñatas. I was invited by Ena to celebrate with her 2nd grade class. We walked across the street to Pizza Hut. The kids loved playing in their playroom. Lunch was pizza and either Pepsi or horchata. I really wanted the horchata, but was given a Pepsi. Back in the classroom, we had pastel de tres leches (three milks cake). Yum! School was over for everyone by noon. And, now, we have a week off from school.
The celebration at the Center didn't start until 4pm, but by 2:30pm we had people lined up outside in the hot sun! And the line just kept growing. We estimate the final crowd at over 1000 people. It was pretty darn huge. I found it amazing that parents would stand in line for so long just so that their children would get a bag of popcorn and a small cup of pop. And, of course, we had piñatas! We had lots of other games and giveaways during the evening, including more piñatas, toys, shoes and even a few prepaid cell phones. By the time we went home a little after 9pm, everyone was totally wiped. But, it had been a good evening!!
Yesterday I decided to do dinner on the cheap: Beans, rice and chicken. I started my beans about 2pm, hoping that would be enough time for me to eat around 6pm. It wasn't, but I wasn't off by a lot; I was able to eat at 7pm. When I got out my container of rice to measure and start cooking, I noticed something moving on the wall of the container. Hmmm, a little worm. Ugh! I think the beans and chicken will be plenty of protein, thank you. I scooped out the worm and tossed him in the trash. Then, I looked for more but didn't see any. I figured that if there were any more worms that I missed in my rice, the steam and cooking would kill and sanitize them. It looks like I should probably eat my rice faster or switch brands. Today, Sandi told me that she often keeps her rice in the freezer to prevent that problem since it's hard to know how long the rice was sitting in the warehouse before being shipped to the grocery store. So much for FIFO -- First In, First Out.
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