Nudos Humanos and other Delights

I've realized over the past few weeks that life here just isn't going to calm down. I've learned that I need to shift my line of thinking with this new job of mine and accept that due to the cyclical nature of VE, our work is never done. This is both overwhelming and exciting to me and I'm on my way to learning how to leave the office at a normal hour even if there's more I could be doing. There's always more to do, but it's important that I leave time for myself. And for blogging!

Since my last post, I've decided to stay put in this apartment with Chris, Jess and Paul. I've found the living room to be quite welcoming, and in June I'll move into Paul's room when he returns to the States. Here are a couple photos of the view from our balcony, the first of the view during the Santiago Marathon and the second, looking in the other direction, of the sunset a few nights ago:

In Entre Todas news, I've transitioned to one afternoon a week with the girls since I'm at the VE office the rest of the time. It has become a treat to go see them every Wednesday afternoon and I marvel at how positive each of these visits has been. I don't know if it's because I've known them for quite some time now, but I feel like huge steps forward have been made in terms of the girls' comfort level around me, as well as around the other volunteers. Chris continues to develop a fantastic rapport with them, and one of the new volunteers has a wonderful calm presence that the girls respond well to. There are quite a few new girls at the hogar and I think their coming in and seeing us as an established aspect of Entre Todas has helped the overall attitude towards us as well. We're also running the pilot of VE's English program ("Incredible English!") at Entre Todas, and the girls constantly speak to us in the bits of English they know. Sometimes that's limited to, "What's your name, baby?" but we take what we can get.

I've continued the cooking workshop I started a couple of months ago and have now made chocolate chip cookies (twice), chocolate cake, and apple crisp with various groups of girls. They absolutely love being in the kitchen when it doesn't involve helping prepare a standard meal. Even the hardest-to-impress girls participate and declare the project "bacán," which is a Chilean-ism for "cool." Moments like this sometimes make me wonder where I am and why the girls are so friendly with me; I can only hope it means progress has been made.

As we did for Christmas, a few of us decided to spend Easter Sunday with the girls. Ann, who had dressed up as Santa on Christmas, dressed up as the Easter Bunny, which the girls found hilarious. One of the tías hid chocolate for them around the house, and we brought the fixings for make-your-own-sundaes. It felt good to bring some silliness and gluttony to their day, which they had been passing in front of the TV before our arrival.

A major lesson I've learned about relating to the girls is that I should just be myself. Crazy, I know. I think I used to try to make them think I was cool, but things have gotten a lot better for me since I've started making my usual bad jokes around them and generally being a big nerd. A few weeks ago, while playing a terrifying Chilean version of dodge ball with a few of the girls at a park, the ball hit me in the head. The girls laughed, of course, but started laughing harder when I started flapping my arms, squinting one eye and screaming "I had two eyes when I got here, I don't know what happened!" One of the girls stopped short and shouted "Tíííía, que foooome!" ("Fome" is another Chilean-ism that means "lame"). The girl and I exchanged a smile and I knew, even if she thought I was fome, it was the right reaction for me to have upon being slammed in the head with the ball. Lately, every time I leave the hogar I think, "Wow, that was such a good day." That almost never used to be the case, so something good is happening.

Yesterday the whole Entre Todas volunteer crew went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant where one of the girls works. She's twenty and is moving out of Entre Todas soon, so we wanted to make sure we visited her at work before she moves away. We thought she was a hostess at the restaurant but as it turns out, she waits tables, and was our server! There were six of us and she handled it beautifully. As an ex-server myself, I was nervous for her--I always used to hate waiting on people I knew--but she was incredibly confident, poised and professional. She even tried to refuse a tip from us since we're her friends, but of course we insisted. We also insisted on taking a group photo, which embarrassed her to no end, but we were all thrilled to be able to provide her with that "there's a big group of people here who are proud of me" type of embarrassment.

In more general VE news, we had our Jornada weekend retreat two weekends ago in Cajón del Maipo, a gorgeous spot in the mountains about an hour outside Santiago. Here are the traditional Jornada group photos:


The weekend was brilliant. As I described after my first Jornada, the retreat is just my style, and probably my favorite aspect of VE. I had a few critiques of the last Jornada, however, and had the opportunity to make some additions to the weekend this time around. I felt strongly that the energy needed to stay positive throughout the whole weekend, so I inserted a few silly games including the classic "Ha ha" game where people lie down in a zig zag pattern with their heads on each others' stomachs and each add one "ha" until the whole group is in hysterics, every one's heads bouncing on each others' laughing stomachs. I also added an activity called "Human Knots" which, when translated into Spanish, becomes a hilarious false cognate: "Nudos Humanos." Here's an example of a fantastic Nudo Humano:


I also added a poster activity from a retreat I attended in high school. Each person had their own poster with two columns ("Something I learned about Volunteer X this weekend:" and "Something I appreciate about Volunteer X:") and other volunteers filled in the columns throughout the weekend. Although the additions I made were small, I think they were fairly successful in keeping the mood positive despite challenging group games that occasionally cause frustration.

In addition to the large group games, lively small group discussions and personal reflection time, there was lots of relaxing down time, delicious food, a few sing-alongs, and plenty of moments like this:
Outside of VE-related activities, we've managed to keep a jam-packed social schedule. Last Sunday, Lindsay, Jessica and I went to Pomaire, a tiny town outside Santiago known for its pottery. We each bought a bunch of traditional Chilean bowls for less than the cost of our transportation to and from the town. Other note-worthy events include an Easter egg scavenger hunt around Santiago organized by our very own Paul Mannix, an entertaining/educational/delicious Passover Seder hosted by a group of volunteers with varying degrees of connection to the Jewish tradition, and, of course, the usual theme parties and late night gchats, as if we don't see each other enough.

Although my stress level has been high lately because of work, I continue to feel content here. My friends are an amazing support system, and although many of them will be departing within the next month or two, I have confidence that there will continue to be people around who make me excited to go to work every morning. Geek.

She means we're bouncing into [Santiago]

Tonight I found myself on a miniature trampoline, surrounded by Chileans on their own miniature trampolines, bouncing along to American techno music while a toned Chilean man shouted garbled Spanish instructions into a headset. As most of you know my affinity for trampolines (and garbled Spanish, for that matter), this was pretty much an ideal situation for me.

My friend Lindsay has a gym membership here in Santiago and as a result has the pleasure of attending "Powerjump" classes a few times a week. I was so jealous when she told me about the class that she called the gym and asked if her friend who's "looking for a gym" could try a class. They obliged, as Chileans usually do, so there we were, two red-faced gringas trying desperately not to fly off our little trampolines. I don't want to say that it was the most amazing and/or ridiculous moment I've had thus far in Chile, but I couldn't help but think as I jumped and shouted "Hey! Hey! Hey!" along with the other participants that I'm doing something quite right with my life right now.

Patagonia! (Please pass the band-aids)

On March 12, my friend Ryan and I headed to Patagonia for a six-day trek in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in the southern tip of Chile! We completed the "W," a famous route that brings hikers to a glacier, through a rocky valley, and to the Torres del Paine themselves. We flew down to Punta Arenas, then bussed to Puerto Natales where we took another bus into the park. This map shows all three locations, all down at the end of the world!

After entering the park, we took a ferry across Lago Pehoé:

From there we hiked to our first campsite near Glacier Grey. We had hail for our first ten minutes which made me laugh as people had warned me about the crazy weather in Patagonia. The wind there is unlike anything I've every experienced. I was blown fully over twice during the trek and had quite a few close calls, especially with my balance thrown off by my big backpack. Here's our first site of the glacier from a distance:

I was pretty excited:

Along the trail the first day we met an extraordinary man named Ian from New Zealand. He's sixty-nine years-old, has one fake hip, and maintained about the same pace as we did wearing Teva sandals. Sigh. We camped next to him at our first campsite and in chatting with him I discovered he'd lived in Maine for two years and went contra dancing every Saturday at the Wescustago Hall in North Yarmouth for those two years. Yimes!

Here's a view from the first campsite, complete with icebergs from the glacier:


Also along the trail on that first day I developed some fierce blisters on my heels. I thought my hiking boots were broken in enough, but I was sorely mistaken. Here's a shot of my heels a few days later:

The blisters made the trek painful, but when I look back on the trip, I think more about the incredible place and the incredible people I met than about how much my feet hurt. Which they certainly did.

On our second day we headed back to the refugio and campsite by the lake where we got off the ferry. Before we headed back, though, we took a quick hike to a viewpoint to get a better view of Glacier Grey:


We ended up staying our whole third day at the campsite by the lake because it was pouring when we woke up and a few people who headed out on the trail came back because the weather was so miserable. There's a quincho at this campsite, which is a little enclosed gazebo-style hut where campers can cook and hang out, so it was a lovely day playing games and socializing with other trekkers in a dry, relatively warm environment.

On the fourth day we headed to the French Valley which makes up the center prong of the "W." We didn't actually make it to the very top of this climb because it started hailing and was getting dark, but the views we did get were stunning:


On our fifth day, we headed toward the third prong of the "W," at the top of which sit the Torres themselves. This hike took us along Lake Nordenskjold with its other-worldly green water:


On the morning of our sixth day, we woke up at 5 a.m. to try to have the traditional sunrise-on-the-Torres experience. We opened the tent door to a snowy, cloudy day, but decided to make the forty-five minute climb to the base of the Torres anyway, just in case. We passed many disappointed hikers shielding themselves from sleet on the trail, but when we arrived, the clouds parted a bit and we were able to see this much of the Torres:


I was glad we hiked up, even if our view left a bit to be desired. It poured for the rest of the day so we were soaked by the time we hiked down to the refugio near the park entrance, but a wood stove, a cup of hot chocolate and switching to flip-flops healed all. That night, back in Puerto Natales, we returned to the amazing vegetarian restaurant we had found and shared a beautiful meal with a couple of people we had met on the trail. Climbing into a real bed that night, complete with a down comforter, will be among my highlights of 2009.

Overall, it felt wonderful to be back in a place where I was in awe of everything around me. I love Santiago and all its smoggy personality but a reminder of the epic possibilities of nature is always welcome. I also found myself feeling incredibly nostalgic for the camping days of my childhood. As soon as I heard our tent zipper for the first time, I felt this visceral yank into my memories and suddenly wanted to be sitting around a picnic table with my parents by the light of a lantern, drinking cocoa from my purple camping mug with its matching spoon and fork. The nostalgia travelled with me for the duration of the trip and I felt a strong sense of gratitude to my parents for providing the outdoor experiences they did when I was so young. Though the trip was not without its ups and downs, I feel extremely lucky to have had the experience.

Orientation! Couch surfing! Business cards!

Today I became the type of person who can say, "Here, let me give you my card." Brooke, VE's Executive Director, surprised me this afternoon with a field trip to a swanky graphic design firm in Las Condes, an upscale part of Santiago, to pick up our new business cards! Check it out:


Life has been pretty wild since the last time I posted here! First off, I've moved out of my first apartment and am currently sleeping on a fold-out in the living room of my friends Jess, Paul, and Chris's apartment. Though my apartment in Ñuñoa was beautiful, the situation grew increasingly uncomfortable with the couple who lives there. I wasn't allowed to have more than one friend over at a time, and didn't feel welcome to be in the living room when they were home. Also, it can't go unsaid that when my friend Julia and I both lived there, we got reprimanded for having a holiday cookie party. I simply can't live with anti-cookie types.

So even though I'm living out of a suitcase, I'm much happier and more relaxed living with Jess, Paul and Chris. I can sing in the shower, sprawl in the living room, plus the apartment is as central as one could hope for, right in Plaza Italia, about a three minute walk from the VE office. Now that I'm full-time there, I couldn't ask for a better location.

My move came at a bit of a crazy time: I told the couple I would move out on March 1, the day before Orientation began for the new class of volunteers. They told me to be out before noon, so I ended up moving on February 28th as I needed to pick up one of the new volunteers at the airport at 6:45 a.m. on the 1st. February 28th also happened to be VE Palooza, a traditional VE event where good-bye speeches are given for volunteers leaving in the next three months. Palooza also includes silly prizes, such as "Best Fanny Pack" (fanny packs are cool in Chile, I promise). Though the day was hectic, Palooza was thoroughly enjoyable. The Director of Volunteer Relations traditionally hosts the event, so Daniel and I co-hosted. Here we are presenting Paul (left) the prize for Best Dance Moves:


The next day, whether we were ready or not, Orientation Week took off, starting with the traditional welcome dinner at Hostal de Sammy. The six new volunteers, hailing from England, Austria, Hungary and the United States, are pretty much fantastic. I loved getting to know them over the course of the week and felt even more fortunate to have the opportunity to closely watch the Orientation Program knowing I'll be running it the next time around. Over the course of the week I accompanied Daniel and the newbies to the majority of the presentations, being introduced to the speakers as the next Director of Volunteer Relations. After the days' official activities would end, Daniel and I would work on tasks for the next day, revising our own presentations while attempting to keep up on other work, such as the March budget. It was a happy marathon--by the end of the week we were giddy and delirious, hovering ravenously around the coffee pot. Ann, our Director of Programs and Operations, laughed at my naive excitement as I gushed about working in the Office after midnight and spending three hours in a public health clinic with one of the new volunteers. "Oh, the honeymoon stage," she said.

The week assured me further that this is where I want to be. Despite the sleep deprivation I felt thrilled to be doing such important work. And halfway through the next week I took off for a ten-day trip to the southern tip of Chile to take a trek in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. But that's a topic for my next post!

Big news, small victories.

First things first, it appears as though I'll be in Chile a bit longer than I initially planned! It was always my hope to stay longer, but I had no idea that I would stay for such an exciting reason. Tomorrow morning I'll be signing a contract, good through the end of June 2010, as VE's next Director of Volunteer Relations! As I've made quite clear throughout this blog, I've been over the moon for VE since I got here, so the opportunity to be involved on this level feels like yet another glorious piece falling into place. There have been many instances over the past three months where I've had a strong sense of being where I'm supposed to be, not only because of the work but because of the connections I've made with people here. To be recognized as having the potential to do this sort of job shows me not only that I am where I'm supposed to be, but also that I've made progress building confidence and maintaining "Mariah-ness" in all areas of my life. My dear best friend mentioned noticing this shift in me a year or so ago, this ability to relax and maintain my authentic personality around people I'm not completely comfortable with, and I've since realized just how significant a shift it's been. When I arrived in Chile, I made it my goal to maintain Mariah-ness from Day 1 and for some reason, something clicked and I've felt a sense of contentment from the very beginning.

That being said, I'm still terrified! But it's a good kind of terror. Daniel, the current DVR, does a truly fantastic job, and I can't quite picture anyone else in the role. I'll learn as much as I can from him in the next two months before he leaves, then I'll make the job my own. My schedule will change completely, as my time will be spent in the VE office rather than at Entre Todas, though I'll still get to see the girls about once a week. The job itself is basically my dream job at this point in my life--in a nutshell, the DVR makes sure the volunteers are happy, trained, supported, and motivated. Of course there's a long list of actual responsibilities, among them organizing the arrival of new volunteers, running Orientation and Jornada, coordinating the bi-weekly general VE meetings, and much, much more! The position will challenge many aspects of my personality, I'll get to be my goofy, fired-up self all the time, plus I can walk around the office barefooted. Happiness.

In other news, my co-workers Chris, Brooke and I recently went on vacation with the Entre Todas girls in El Tabo, a little coastal town near Isla Negra, where Pablo Neruda had a home. Though the girls and three tías stayed in El Tabo for a full week, we went for four days, knowing the experience would be a bit on the intense side. Though I felt apprehensive going in, the trip ended up being much more calm and pleasant than I expected. We stayed in a "colonia," which was a large house with three rooms of bunk beds, a kitchen, a large common space for sharing meals, and an asphalt area outside set up for soccer. The colonia was a fifteen-minute walk from the "downtown" of El Tabo and the beach. A group of boys from another hogar was also staying in the colonia, so there were plenty of hormones flying around. On our first night, we had a "dance" in the large common space (with the lights off and everything!). Couples were forming and dissolving left and right. We had never really seen the girls flirt before, so it was truly a trip. During this dance, I had a bit of a breakthrough with one of the seventeen-year-old girls who doesn't usually open up to me--we started dancing together, doing silly ho-down dance moves alternated with a few Chilean(?) steps. We were seriously cracking each other up, then all of a sudden we were alone in the center of the dance floor, swinging each other 'round and 'round for all to see. We "performed" for a few fantastic moments, then it was over, but I was ecstatic.

When it came time to go to sleep that first night, one of the tías sheepishly told us there were no beds left in the room with the girls and that we'd be sleeping in the room with the tías from the other hogar as well as the younger boys. It was all fine and dandy when we went to sleep and the little ones were all already sleeping; however, when 8 a.m. rolled around and I was convinced I was in a rowboat in rough seas, I opened my eyes and realized I was just on a wobbly top bunk with a few small boys bouncing on the bunk beneath me. The boys were harmless, although one of them did tattle on Brooke for not making her bed neatly enough.

The contrast between the two groups was fascinating. The boys prayed before every meal, sometimes singing an “educational” song as well. One of the songs simply cannot go without repeating. Chris, Brooke and I stared at each other in disbelief as one the tíos led the boys in a song called “The Little Bird,” about a little bird that wants to fly but keeps getting into trouble. At first, the bird drinks too much whiskey and gets cirrhosis. Then the little bird smokes five hundred cigarettes and gets cancer. Then the bird uses cocaine and overdoses. Finally, the bird tries heroin and dies of AIDS from a dirty needle. The song, of course, had a bright, cheery melody and all the boys merrily sang along. My, oh my.

We ate our first dinner and breakfast with the girls, then after breakfast sat down with our tías for tea and ended up having a lovely conversation with them. I think we passed some sort of test by doing this, because for every meal after that, we ate with the tías after the girls finished. There’s not usually a lot of communication with the tías when we’re at Entre Todas, so to have this time to get to know them a bit felt significant. By the end of the four days, I felt we had developed some semblance of a rapport with them and even hugged them good-bye.

Eating with the tías also gave Brooke, Chris and me some down time with each other to read or play cards, which definitely eased the stress of the trip. We walked into town with the girls on the second night and had more down time with each other when the tías let the girls run free for an hour and a half. The three of us decided to reward ourselves with some ice cream. We stood in front of the ice cream cooler, gazing at the flavors indecisively. We finally asked the slouching ice cream shop employee if we could try a couple of flavors. He sighed and reached for a spoon, scooping some mint chocolate chip for me to try. Brooke asked to try the Swiss chocolate and the employee looked at me impatiently, reaching out for the sample spoon in my mouth. Now, mind you, I had a nasty cold during this trip, so my initial thought was, “Oh, I don’t want to give Brooke my germs.” The employee held out his hand insistently, though, so I handed him the spoon. I tried to suppress a gasp as he dipped my sample spoon into the Swiss chocolate and handed it to Brooke. We looked at each other, smiled, and she popped it in her mouth. We each received, of course, a fresh spoon with our dish of ice cream.

Overall, the trip was what I expected: not traumatizing, not amazing, but not without it’s small victories. It was great to see the girls enjoy the beach, crowded as it was, and generally nice to see them constantly over the course of a few days. Brooke and I leapt into action when one of the girls had bad cramps, and we tried as best we could to comfort one of the girls who had her heart temporarily broken by one of the boys from the other hogar. I love these day-to-day happenings. When nothing we do feels like it makes any difference, I always hope that these times of just being with the girls give them a sense of worth.

Chili for Chile!

Since arriving in Chile a little over two months ago, I've had a lot of time to ponder the concept of family. Some of the most powerful moments for me with the girls have involved my realization that their life at the hogar is not summer camp but rather real life. Many of them would prefer to live with their families despite whatever factor requires them to live in the institution. Daily exposure to this situation creates for me a growing sense of gratitude for my incredible family and for my unlimited access to them. I feel like I gush to my friends about my family a lot, and maybe that's annoying, but I think the gushing is warranted.

Along this vein, I'd like to share some photos with you of an event my dad organized. He's a minister at a UCC church in my hometown of North Yarmouth, Maine and recently helped the youth group organize a fundraiser for me called Chili for Chile! I'm giddy from seeing the photos and feel utterly overwhelmed by the love and care and hard work of the community. Although the idea of the kids organizing a fundraiser for me made me a little sqeamish at first, Dad reminded me that it's also about educating them and raising their awareness of the world around them.

So here we go! Here's the amazing cake!


Here are the organizers themselves, what an adorable and festive group!


Dad had his computer set up for a slideshow of my pictures thus far and displayed the binder filled with the print-outs of my blog he's been making and posting on a bulletin board at church.


The chili! It was a chili cook-off--I'm sure the competition was stiff to say the least. There were EIGHTEEN different types of chili, plus cornbread and rice, etc. Egad!


Raffle table!


The kids limbo-ed!

And a piñata, of course!

Mmmm.

I don't know how I got to be such a lucky person! I feel absolutely floored by all of this. I feel refreshed and almost as though I have a renewed sense of energy for the work because of this wave of love I've received. Time to pass it on.

Jornada! Argentina! Progress!

As much as I love learning about Chilean culture and slang, sometimes the highlight of my day is learning a new British term or custom from my dear co-worker at Entre Todas, Chris Wiggins, or as we've taken to calling him, Lord Wiggins. "Oh look, that car is driving with its bonnet (hood) up," he'll say, or "You Americans are so obsessed with peanut butter, I just don't understand it!" His hates the way we say "awesome" so much and insists that things like a dish of ice cream or a choice '80s pop song simply cannot be awesome. This weekend, however, when a group of us headed to Mendoza, Argentina, Chris allowed me to use "awesome" to describe the scenery we saw from the bus along the way. The road cuts right through the Andes, so everywhere you look you see raw, rugged beauty. It's always good to be reminded of just how awe-inspiring nature can be. Here are a few shots from the drive:

Lovely parks and outdoor cafés fill Mendoza, which is also one of the eight wine capitols of the world (according to whom, I have no idea). We relaxed, ate good food, perused an artesan market, took tours of two wineries and an olive oil factory, and enjoyed the challenges of coordinating multiple groups of people in a foreign country with no cell phones! We spent two and half hours in a long line of buses at the border on our way back, but we managed to make our own fun:

The previous weekend also took place in a beautiful spot, Cajón del Maipo. The entire VE family headed to a beautiful retreat center for Jornada, our weekend retreat that takes place about a month and a half after each new class arrives. Over the course of the weekend we worked in groups, both large and small, discussing why we had come to Chile and VE, as well as relevant issues such as poverty and social exclusion. We also had time to ourselves to reflect on our experiences thus far. Sitting on a bench surrounded by mountains and flowering trees, I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to get my head on straight. We also participated in various group-building activities and challenges that brought me back to the days of summer camp, youth group, and a singing group a bunch of my closest friends and I were in throughout junior high and high school. It felt really great to revisit this type of activity where people are made to be a bit vulnerable but are therefore more open to learning about themselves and each other.

There was also plenty of time for enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the retreat center and, of course, the pool! No shortage of silliness here:

On Friday night, right after midnight when it was officially my birthday, three of my friends presented me with a birthday Jornada survival kit including a loaf of gluten-free bread, a gluten-free cake mix, a pack of Starburst, a mix CD and two cards made by Entre Todas girls! I was pretty much floored and felt completely happy to be where I was. On Saturday night Brooke, one of the volunteers who cooked for us all weekend, made the cake which was presented to me complete with birthday candles and a roaring rendition of "Cumpleaños Feliz." Happiness.

My favorite activity of the weekend came on Saturday night at the last meeting of our smaller groups. We took turns holding a candle, each person making affirming comments to the person holding the candle. My group had great energy and zest from the get-go, so although this activity was really just a formal version of what we'd been doing all weekend, it was a wonderful time to share together.

On Sunday morning we took the traditional Jornada group pictures:

Woot!

Finally, in Entre Todas news, I've been feeling really pumped about the progress we've been making. This past week we implemented a few of our projects quite successfully. On Tuesday Chris and I took six girls to a large park with a soccer ball and frisbee in hand. Though the girls weren't all participating the whole time, each one participated at one point with a smile on her face! Taking the girls out of the hogar always garners positive results to some degree, but to see them running around, throwing a frisbee, etc, was really exciting. They had a blast running through the sprinklers set up to water the fields at the park and at one point all eight of us played a fierce game of Monkey in the Middle with the soccer ball.

On Wednesday we held the first installment of our cooking project with three girls. I started by telling them we would be making chocolate chip cookies and asking them to brainstorm on a piece of paper what ingredients they thought we'd need. To my surprise, they did this quite enthusiastically! After I handed out copies of the recipe, we had a discussion about why certain ingredients are important. As we calmly discussed the purpose of baking soda, I marveled in my mind how patient and engaged the girls were being. When we moved to the kitchen and began the actual cooking, I was shocked at how well the girls listened to me and how they allowed each other to participate equally. They were absolute gems throughout the whole process, and although I couldn't eat the cookies, Chris informs me they were "absolutely lush!" There was drama with some of the other girls who didn't get to participate--a couple of the girls who never, ever give us the time of day came up to the kitchen window and yelled at us for not telling everyone about the project. It shook me to have them yell like that, and we're still in the process of figuring out how to choose the other group we'll work with in the kitchen, but I know I need to not let their uneven emotions get to me. I have to remember that for those three girls, it was a brilliant day.

On Thursday, Chris and I stopped at a grocery store on our way to work to buy cookies and juice for a silent reading hour. I made a little sign for the door of the room where we read that said "Zona de Leer" (Reading Area) and for over an hour (!!!) we had three girls reading silently with us. They were excited about the juice and cookies, but they stayed long after the supplies had dwindled. Two of the girls even thanked me when they left the room! After the reading hour, the girls practiced a couple of their dances for the upcoming VE Art Festival. At one point they made me get up and dance with them which, of course, resulted in me getting made fun of a lot, but it felt really good to be silly with them in that way. I danced around for a long time with the six-year-old, spinning around on the floor, etc, generally giggling and being crazy with her, which she loves. After we danced she was clingy and snuggled with me for about twenty minutes--when she's sweet, she's unbelievably sweet, and I'm reminded that she's just a six-year-old who needs to be hugged. At Jornada I thought a lot about human touch, a theme I've frequently considered for a few years now. It's so complicated with these girls who live outside a family setting and don't have access to the kind of nurturing physical touch they need. They also most likely have had negative experiences with human touch and therefore have walls up to protect themselves.

Things have been feeling better, overall, though. A few of the girls I had trouble interacting with at first have really warmed up to me and a couple of the girls now greet me with hugs everyday. It's not perfect, of course, but for the moment I'm in a good place about it. Next week we'll be going on vacation with the girls for four or five days, so that will be a completely different experience, but I'm excited about it. Keep the progress coming.