We made it!

Back in January the day before I started teaching, I only somewhat jokingly said I hoped that in June I could say we'd made it out alive... Well, today my kids graduated, so I guess that means we did it!

I don’t know that I could ever really describe what this first semester of teaching has been like. The first month was HARD. As I’ve said before, I took over for another teacher and that’s never easy… In the beginning, I was reminded daily that I just didn’t do it right! By about mid-February, we started to figure it out together and at some point in March, I remember telling myself that we were having more good days than bad. This semester has flown by and I can’t believe it’s over! They were a diverse bunch and I learned so much from them, so much more than I ever taught them.

Some pictures from our time together...

 Cochabamba is in a valley, and the view of the mountains is so pretty from school!

 I probably shouldn't post this, but a few months ago, we were learning about the weather. One page in our book had this blank picture and the kids had to draw appropriate clothing for hot and cold weather. This little girl left NOTHING to the imagination in her hot weather picture!

 I think I may have blogged about Murphy el Dinosaurio awhile ago. Before we started our dinosaur unit, I bought this little plastic dinosaur and made an egg for him. He hatched while we were at recess, and when the kids came back in, they named him Murphy. Most of them forgot about him after a couple days but one of my kids was OBSESSED with Murphy. She asked about him multiple times a day and was constantly wanting to be near him.

 In April, kindergarten participated in the Science Fair. We put the kids into groups and each had a topic about plants. They all brought in supplies for our posters and each had a sentence or two to speak at the presentation. They did so well!

 Several of my kids took home a behavior chart every day... Good or bad behavior, it didn't matter. On days the class as a whole was especially wild, I'd write "Behavior Chart" on the board and they knew if their name was written down, they'd take one too. My most difficult child loved "helping" write it on the board some days. This was her first attempt. She understands so much English but prefers not to speak it, so I was impressed with her attempt- Bihevo Ch

 I didn't always eat a snack at the same time as the kids, and they always worried that I would be hungry. If I didn't eat at the same time, I had several that would always offer me part of their snack. Sometimes I'd leave the room for a few minutes and when I came back, I'd find a little pile of snacks on my desk!

The kids loved learning about healthy eating and taking care of our bodies. I saw this idea on Pinterest and they really enjoyed it! You have to fill up your plate with foods of every color of the rainbow if you want to be healthy. We did a few examples together and then they each colored their own healthy food.

 Graduation must be soon! Signing the first set of diplomas...

 Graduation day with our two amazing kinder assistants!

One of my student's parents sent this to me... We received beautiful flowers and gifts from our class during the graduation!

I have many more cute pictures of the kids during graduation but I can't post any pictures of them. Imagine a big group of cute Bolivian kids in tiny caps and gowns! It was a short but sweet ceremony... and now they're off to 1st grade!

#holymatrimorony of #franyelle

Today was the long-awaited wedding day of Franco and Danyelle! We've all been counting the days and the kids were so excited to be a part of their special day. As we knew she would be, Danyelle was a beautiful bride and the whole ceremony and reception was a lot of fun! The ceremony was done in both English and Spanish, and we were so impressed with how well the two cultures were combined. We joked about taking note of how it was done in case any of us would need it in the future... Unfortunately, it would appear that it won't be necessary any time soon so we'll just have to live vicariously through Danyelle and Franco! 

We stayed almost until the end of the reception and the kids would have been happy to stay longer! They loved getting to spend time with several former tías and their families, and they were just so happy to be there. As many marriages of our Bolivian friends aren't so great, we really want them to see what a Godly, healthy relationship looks like and Danyelle and Franco will be a great example to them!

I know many of you in the States are dying to see pictures, so here are a few!

Preparations for us actually began last night. Sarah ironed all the kids clothes so they'd be ready for today... Look at her being so domestic!

Getting everyone's clothes/shoes/hair accessories together before getting them changed.

Sarah, Lindsey, Chelsea, me and Susanne

She'll always be one of my very favorites in all of Bolivia :)

With Tía Marcela waiting on the wedding to begin!

 Flower girls doing their job!

Here comes the bride...

 The ceremony began with both Danyelle's and Franco's parents joining them at the front of the church.

I think it was around this point that one of the kids sitting next to me turned and asked "When is the wedding?" Obviously we didn't explain it well enough to them...

 Primer beso!

 #franyelle... Tía Daniela officially #becameamoron

Mr. and Mrs. Morón

Some of our favorites at the reception... Tía Techy, Tía Sarin, Tía Silvia, me, Tía Marcela, Sarah and Emily

Getting ready to head out for the night!

Just some updates!

I haven't blogged in what feels like forever, but there are a few reasons for that...

-Casa de Amor has been going through a bit of a rough patch for the last several months. I won't go into too many details but the most recent event involved several days of inspections into the hogar. It's been a trying time for us all... We love the kids and want the best for them but sometimes it's hard to determine how to best move forward.

-Last week we received a notice from SEDEGES telling us we can no longer post any pictures of the kids due to some new privacy laws. As for now, my blog posts won't have any pictures. Disappointing, I know! 

-A couple weeks ago, G. left with his adoptive family! They adopted a little girl from another orphanage at the same time, so G. officially has a big sister! 

-We've had several birthdays during the past couple of months but due to school, I haven't been able to be there for the celebrations, hence no pictures!

-Baby M. was admitted to the hospital this past Friday for bronchopneumonia. We each took a shift with him this weekend (I spent yesterday morning with him). He's in a hospital a little bit outside of the city, and the population of patients there is a bit different than that at the city hospitals... Lots of Quechua was being spoken and I was asked multiple times if the "wawa" was really my son! The other mothers kept me entertained... speaking Quechua amongst themselves, looking at me and then one would translate what they had been discussing to find out if what they were discussing was correct! At one point they asked if I spoke Quechua and I answered "ari" ("yes"... although let's be honest, I only know the bad things Tía Silvia taught me!). They thought it was hilarious... Only in Bolivia, y'all.

-School is keeping me far too busy (we have a list a mile long of things to complete before the year ends) and I've really only been able to see the babies briefly on the weekends... They love their church outings and we've even taken them out to lunch the past several Sundays! I look forward to Sunday mornings!

-Speaking of school, we only have 18 more days with the kids as kinder graduation is June 3! We're already practicing for the graduation. They have to learn the American anthem, and whenever I turn on the music, a few of them say "Ms. Hannah, it's your song!" The Bolivian anthem (which I'm learning) is "their song." We're competing to see if they can learn the American anthem before I learn the Bolivian anthem... They've got the first two lines down but after that it's a lot of mumbling! I think I'm winning ;)

-In some ways being at school is a whole different experience from being at the hogar but in other ways I think it may have been the best preparation for teaching. I've definitely become a more patient person which helps with some of my most "behaviorally challenged" students!

That's really all the news for now! Not sure how much I'll be updating this next month, but I'm planning on coming to the States for a few weeks this summer so I may just get to update a few of you in person!

2 Week Catch-Up!

It's been a busy past couple of weeks at school and at the hogar and feels like forever since I last blogged! I've got quite a few pictures that haven't been posted yet!

*Unfortunately this may be the creepiest blog post to date! ;) As you can see, I've blurred out the eyes of our kids... It's really just for their protection... Any tips on how to add an image over their face (instead of blurring them out which as I said just looks creepy!) would be greatly appreciated!

Meet the Parents!

Look who finally got to meet his adoptive parents today!!! We knew the first meeting should be happening soon but weren't sure when, and when Sarah went to the hogar after school, the tías told her all about it! 

He's been Tía Silvia's baby since he arrived at just a week old so understandably, as much as she wants him to have a family, she wasn't happy about the big meeting. His parents are also adopting another child, a little girl about a year older than he is (he just turned 2 in March) from another hogar in Cochabamba. There are some big changes coming for all of them!

I'm hoping I'll be able to meet his new parents at some point before they get to take him home, but we'll see!

Wordless Wednesday~ The Baby Triplets!

Día del Niño at church!

This Tuesday, April 12th is Día del Niño (Children's Day). Our church celebrated with the kids today. All of the big kids are now going to church with one of the tías and we're just taking the younger big kids and the toddlers/babies. The volunteers came and picked up babies and Sarah and I took 7 kids with us so the tías at home were left with very few kids for the morning. We all had a great time!

These two are 6 months old and quite the chunky babies! 

In an attempt to cover up her bald head (I swear her hair hasn't grown even a little since last week!), she got to wear a giant bow... She wasn't a fan though and took it off as soon as we arrived at church!

Had to get an updated picture of these crazy siblings!

Is it just our church that has a superhero themed skit for Children's Day?! Yeah, I thought so. The idea of the skit was cute- A little girl was scared of the dark and the super heroes came to try and protect her from the dark. At the end she realized that having Jesus in her heart is the only real thing that will protect her. However, the actual skit scared our toddlers and there were lots of tears!

She covered her ears and closed her eyes for most of the skit. When we were walking home, she said "You know that skit? I laughed and laughed!" At least she remembers it being a positive experience!

 Little brother on the other hand didn't "laugh and laugh!"

Crazy kids!

She's not been on her best behavior lately and was given the big ultimatum of no outings with me last week if she doesn't start following the rules... It worked. She was SO well behaved this morning!

V. started crying while we were getting lunch ready for everyone and E. took it upon himself to give him a giant stick to play with. I saw it and took it away just in time as he nearly poked himself in the eye!