Monday, July 16, 2012

Yefer's Birthday

Yeferson had his big day on July 5th, and we tried to celebrate it in style. I went to Caraz and bought some cake, Dina cooked Cuy Picante, and then we played pin the tail on Tony the Tiger (thanks Uncle Pat). His only gift was a shirt mom had sent down to me awhile ago (which I held on to for the occasion).  Reflecting on the day, it was simple family get together (minus Roger, who is still working on the island). Not too much money was spent, gifts weren't the center point, and Yefer had fun. Like I said, simple, but nice. Unfortunately, I had to go to Huaraz that night, so I left around 5:00PM. But when I cam back the following day, Tony was still pinned to the wall, and Yefer made it a point to thank me again for the cake. Great kid. Here's some pics:

Yeferson and Tony with his new shirt.

Note the table cloth. Happy birthday Yefer.

Yordan really cleaned up for Yefer's big day. 

Random brother picture. 


And here are a few bonus Yordan moments from that day:

Yordan wearing my USA hat. 

Proud American. 


4th of July, 2012

This year's Forth of July celebrations were pretty simple, although fun. I taught a morning class to the 5th graders entitled "Diversity in the USA". Basically, it was my attempt to explain that the United States is more than just "rich/backpacker White people", Maimi and the city of Nueve York (New York). I touched on the racial and cultural diversities in the US, and how we do have unfavorable things like poverty, gangs, etc. To counter balance the negative, I ended the presentation on the "American Dream". Here are the boys after class, with the flags I handed out:



After the class, I jumped on a combi and met up with some other volunteers in the area for a BBQ at local hotel outside of Huaraz. They didn't charge us anything, let us use their grill, and even filled up the pool for us; however, it was a little cold and cloudy to really enjoy swimming (I have other methods of cooling off).

John William grilling some meat.

Note the Hat and Scarf... thanks family. Also not that John William donated his shirt as a  flag. 

Pat approves this burger. 

The pool.