Since school ended at the end of October, I have been keeping busy leading camps.  On Mondays, I lead my cooking club with a few girls in Xenajtajuyup.  We have met 3 times so far, and crepes seemed to be the biggest hit.  They were inexpensive and easy to make, very hands on for them, and delicious. We melted chocolate inside the crepes along with slices of fresh strawberries and bananas.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, Christina and I are teaching a theater camp in the Casa de la Cultura.  This has been so much fun for us and the kids.  We have 20 kids and teenagers ranging from about 9 to 16 years old preparing for a two-night performance of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or Como el Grinch Robó la Navidad, in December.  We found the poem online in Spanish and then wrote script for the play ourselves.  One of our first days of camp we did several different acting and improv games to get the kids comfortable with each other and acting silly.  Within a few days we assigned parts and now things are coming together nicely.  Use of the Teatro Municipal is being donated and the alcalde (mayor) is supposedly funding us Q3,000.

Xenajtajuyup after Clausura (Graduation)

Xenajtajuyup Clausura, Nov. 3

I attempted to start a book club to meet in the mornings in the Casa de la Cultura.  I was hoping to bring the joy of reading to teenagers here and had the perfect book picked out.  I read The Hunger Games last year, and then found it in Spanish in a bookstore.  This book really deals with a lot of the themes I’ve been charged with teaching in the schools – decision-making, teamwork, leadership, values, and communication – and is a great read.  Sadly, no one wanted to join.  A little disappointing, but not surprising; I have yet to meet a Guatemalan who reads for pleasure.

Last week I attended Reconnect, a training for volunteers three months into service.  I worked one morning specifically with the volunteers in my program, Youth Development, and another afternoon gave a GAD (Gender & Development) presentation to both the YD and Healthy Homes volunteers.  I have been keeping busy with GAD responsibilities these last few months as the GLOW coordinator, helping volunteers plan and organize camps for girls, and approving applications to access funds.  I recently became the Media Specialist as well, and am responsible for compiling and editing the GAD newsletter, the Gender Blender, as well as for keeping the website up-to-date.  You can check out the latest issue here http://gadguatemala.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/5/2/3752316/genderblenderoct2011.pdf