December Already..

I just got back to Montevideo after spending the thanksgiving holiday with the other volunteers and our program coordinator at Centro Emmanuel, an eccumenical center and organic farm in a little pueblo called Colonia Valdense. It was a nice escape from our busy routines and the constant motion of city life, both in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. It was really a wonderful time to reunite with all of the volunteers and share with one another our stories, thoughts and experiences of our individual journeys thus far. We sang songs together, played games and focused in our devotions and bible studies on the ideas of abundance and scarcity, which was quite fitting with the general theme of Thanksgiving itself. We shared a meal of chicken (they don´t have turkeys readily available here in Uruguay), green bean casserole, stuffing, jello salad, homemade bread, and a peach crisp. We all helped with the cooking process and made a delicious thanksgiving dinner Uruguyan style. I am thankful for the community we have together as volunteers and I am thankful for our families and friends back home who celebrated this day without us there. I have much to be thankful for this holiday season!

On a completely different note, I will try to briefly bring my blog up to date... Currently at la obra with the kids club we are making musical instruments from things you could find around the house and preparing songs, dances, a traditional murga performance (costumes, masks and all!) and stories all for the end of the year holiday celebrations. The study center in the mornings is a different story! The students are in the midst of their end of the year exams, which means getting down to business. Not many of them have english exams though, and it is exactly for that reason that I have this moment available to write.

With summer vacations just around the corner, things at the Hogar are, lets just say, full of energy! I am exhausted after a full day of work with those kids, but it is fun to be the one who gets to play games and run around with them. I find myself constantly working on bettering individual relationships with the kids as well as the adults that work in the house. In general developing trust and respect has been a longer and more difficult process than I had imagined. But all I can do is continue to love each one of them for who they are and where they are and those things will come.


The choir is preparing christmas songs and getting ready for holiday performances. I am learning new songs and melodies that, often times, make more sense for a summer christmas than our traditional, ¨let it snow¨ ¨white christmas¨ and so many others... Lots of fun!

For now I have to go work!