Scavenger Hunt

This week in English club for the high schoolers, I had them do a massive scavenger hunt all over the foundation. All of the clues were in English, and one team member had to be blindfolded. They got really into it, and had a lot of laughs.

Quinceanera!

Last Sunday we celebrated one of the girl's 15th birthday. I learned all of the different traditions that happen for a Quinceanera. The girl always wears a pink dress and is given high heel shoes as a symbol of moving into adulthood. We had a huge BBQ and lots of cake and goodies. Majori looked beautiful!

Going to the zoo!

Last weekend we took three children with special needs to the zoo. The zoo is about 45 minutes outside of Quito, so some Ecuadorian friends came with us, and were nice enough to drive everyone. We saw giant tortoises, bears, kangaroos, monkeys, and much more! The kids had fun getting up close to the animals at the petting zoo area.

At the entrance to the zoo


At the petting zoo

the giant tortoises

English Clubs

This week I started an English club with my students who live at the orphanage. On Tuesday I had all of the elementary school students, and on Thursday it was all of the high schoolers. It was a pretty chaotic experience with kids running everywhere. So I will be making some changes for this coming week, and limiting the amount of kids who are involved. On Tuesday, we made puppets and on Thursday we did an activity with peanut butter and jelly. It was the first time that the kids had tried PB & J. I'm pretty sure no English was learned, but they had a good time.

Making Puppets

Experiencing PB & J

Pizza Making and Play Time

On Saturday our original plan was to go to McDonalds and play in the indoor playground. When we arrived we realized we were crashing a birthday party and that they weren't serving lunch yet. A quick backup plan was made, when we discovered a pizza place next door where the kids could make their own pizzas. They were adorable in their chef hats and aprons.

Playing on the see-saw

Making pizza

Concentrating on spreading the sauce

S'mores

Last night some of the other volunteers from the orphanage and I had a taco dinner and made s'mores. This is the first time my Norwegian friend and Ecuadorian friend had ever tried s'more before - so I figured this should be documented.

Cara's s'more went up in flames

Isaac turns two!

We had a birthday party for one of the boys at the orphanage who turned two yesterday. Each of the kids had a decorated visor to wear with their name, and everyone enjoyed a delicious cake.

Isaac blowing out his candle

CocinArte

We are doing a cooking/art class with some of the older kids and special needs kids at the orphanage. This past week we made the all time favorite cup of dirt. I started the class by asking the kids if anybody had eaten worms before, and they were all grossed out. We proceeded to mix dirt (pudding), rocks (crushed oreos), and worms (gummy worms), to make our fabulous creation.

The kids with their cups of dirt

One of the tias joining in on the fun

Snakes and Spiders and Frogs, Oh My!

We took two boys to the vivarium on Friday where we saw all kinds of exciting creatures. We even pet a boa! Then we played at a park for a little while, and finished the day with going on some paddleboats. The four year old wanted to paddle, and the six year old wanted to steer - result? we went in circles for quite some time. At the end of the trip, the four year old said "I'm going to behave really well tomorrow, so that I can go on another field trip."

Checking out some reptiles

Some more friends

Playing on the play structure

On our way to the paddle boats

Making Ice Cream

Last week we had an ice cream making party with the kids at the foundation. I had done this in high school chemistry class and it is so much fun! You put milk, vanilla, and sugar in a small bag. In a large bag you put a lot of ice and salt. Then the kids mix these two together, and you get vanilla ice cream. You have to shake the mixture for about 5 minutes!

Yum Yum

Shaking up the mixture to make ice cream

Water Park!

Today was the first day of our weekly paseos (mini-fieldtrips). We take two kids from the orphanage and go on a little adventure. Today we went to Quito's Yaku water museum. The kids had a great time sliding down slides, crawling through tunnels, and learning about how water is filtered (it was very educational)! The highlight though was the bubble room where you could create huge bubbles. The day wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the heladeria to eat some ice cream. The girls playing in a huge tub of bubbles


Getting some speed on the slide

Farewell Party

Last week we had an adoption party for Marina. She was adopted by an American couple who live in California. They have been down to the orphanage many times before, and after seeing a picture of her in a slideshow, they knew that she was their daughter. The party consisted of ice cream and oreos, musical chairs, and a viewing of Chicken Little. She is adapting well to her new life in the United States.

Marina and her new dad

Playing Musical Chairs