Chilero

... that means "cool" here. Instead of "que chevere" like they say in Ecuador, they say "Que chilero" here in Guate. I am constantly making comparisons in head between Eacudor and Guate (Ecuador and a little of Mexico are the only things I have to compare Guatemala to). So far, Guatemalans in general seem to me more conservative and less enthusiastic than Ecuadorians (who are generally more animated and add "-ito" to the end of most words). I'm thinking that this is likely because Guatemalans just ended a brutal civil war in 1996 that lasted for 36+ years.

I started speech therapy and have 15 kids total right now. I am going to add the 15th kid next week. It will take awhile to get into the flow and figure out the best intervention techniques for each child, but it is going pretty well so far! I have some of the kids with special needs, 3 preschoolers, and two school-aged kids.

Last week, I had a difficult day with one of the kids, who I will call JC to protect his identity. I had met him several times and talked with him because he is one of the kids with special needs (in my section). Because we knew each other, I thought it would be fine to take him to speech. I was aware that he bites people's arms, pinches, and pulls hair - but for some reason, I thought I would be able to handle it fine. (He has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and is very hyperactive, so he is often unable to control his behavior.) I did work with a boy at Wells Elementary (when I was a teacher's aid) who hit me and sometimes tried to bite, but he was in kindergarten - so he was small and easier to control. JC is 13, and although he is very small for his age, he is STRONG!

So, JC and I started the long walk from his house to my office. It went well until we got about halfway there. Of course, he started to pinch me and bite (whenever he bites he never breaks the skin, luckily) and pull my hair, and wouldn't stop. I didn't want to give up right away; I thought maybe once we got to my office he would calm down, but not at all. We got to the back door of the library (my office is next to the library, which I have to enter in order to get there) and as I was unlocking the door, JC ran away into the storage room next door. He was running around and jumped in a pile of candy - then he started eating the candy with the wrappers on it. I pulled him out and got him into the library, where he jumped on some random girl sitting in there. Then, when we finally got into my office, he started to eat my sticky notes. (At that point, I had to hold in my laughter. Which I did successfully.) I could finally see that we wouldn't be able to accomplish anything, so we began the long walk back.

Luckily, I talked to the woman in charge, Vilma, back at his house. She showed me how to hold his hands so that he doesn't pinch or bite, and just to say "No" very forecfully (I had been saying no already, but not holding him in the correct position). Then yesterday he came again, this time with his tia (caregiver). Things went much better - we actually accomplished tasks!

This tia, Veronica, is really nice. I was also really encouraged because I talked to her tonight for awhile. She's really nice and told me she wants to come with some more of the kids with special needs to speech therapy with me! She said she wants to watch what I do so that she can try and do it with the kids. This was encouraging because a lot of the time, the tios in that house (for the kids with special needs) sit around and do nothing with the kids; the tios just don't have the education to know what to do with these kids. I thought they just didn't care; but she said she really does want to work with them, she just doesn't know what to do. So I was VERY happy!

Today was a REALLY good day. I was so proud of myself today. One of my kids, "Jose", didn't want to go to speech therapy. I was surprised because last week he was really excited to come to speech last week and worked really well! But today I went to get him from his class, and after we walked a few feet he started running away from me! So of course, I ran after him looking silly (and trying not to laugh because I also found it funny). But, I did a good job. I didn't laugh and kept my serious face and said "NO".

And then I finally got him up to the library (which is right next to my office), and he kept running around and didn't want to go in. So, I finally got a brilliant idea. "Ok, I'll just take you back to my class right now if you don't want to talk today," I said. Sure enough, "NO! QUIERO HABLAR!" (I want to talk) immediately.

Haha. I was so happy. Had a few other kids today and that went well. Cassie and I also went to the choir and sang with the kids! Yay! Then, some of the kids did dances in the dining room to say goodbye (they call it a despedida) to some volunteers who are here from Canada. The kids in my section (Los Especiales) did a cute little dance and I took some pictures. then I went back with them to their house to eat dinner and read them some stories. They are SO CUTE! I love them already; we're bonding and it's really good.

And, I even got a package from my mom. Yay!

This past weekend, my friends Cassie, Samantha, and I took a bus to the town of San Marcos on Lake Atitlan, which is about 2.5 hours from here. San Marcos is called a "magical place" with a spiritual feeling. There are a lot of hippies there, which I love. And it is BEAUTIFUL. The lake is huge and surrounded by mountains. The weather there is hot and humid, so we went swimming in the lake. Being there felt so surreal because of the beauty! The hostel we stayed at was amazing. It was surrounded by greenery and hummingbirds and butterflies. We just went for one night and it was SO relaxing. Samantha has a friend who works at a restaurant there, so we ate really good food.

And that is about it! I really miss you all and think of everyone often. Please e-mail me and update me about your lives! I'm going to post some pictures once I get to the internet cafe this weekend. The connection here at the home is too slow.