"Welcome to NPH where you're always tired."

It's Saturday!!!!!!!

The two weeks of work on my own have been challenging. I am still learning A LOT about the kids, the language, and what I can do to better myself (in work). One challenge has been the long hours; they drain my body of energy—which sucks.  As I was quite the busy girl during the school year, this transition has been tough!

One of my students hard at work: 

Sign Language Class:

Once a week I participate in a lenguaje de señas class. This past week I had my first class. Well, the instructor never showed up because of lack of communication, but the other volunteers took me to a café and taught me the basics. The class is held at an actual sign language school in Jocotenago, and it was really interesting to be immersed within. It’s hard to believe on top of Spanish I am also learning sign language. I’m really excited!

Horse Therapy:

Every Wednesday, the Especiales (special needs students) and NPH staff go to a farm and ride horses for therapy. It is so much fun and the kids really enjoy the horses, fresh air, and time away from the NPH ranch. I used to ride horses when I was younger and I don’t know how long it has been since I got on a horse. Most of the time I am either walking along the side of the horse for safety, or I am riding the horse with the kids for support.

Special Olympics:

Before leaving the States I was able to take part in the Special Olympics with the family I worked with through UCP. It was one of the best experiences ever. It was so exciting to see the celebration and empowerment of individuals with disabilities.

Small world? YES! Because here in Guatemala I am also going to be taking part in the Special Olympics! Well, we will be the first group of volunteers (if all goes accordingly) to connect NPH to the Special Olympics in Guatemala, which would be amazing.

This past week there was an actual tournament in Guatemala City and four other therapists and I went to watch. We were able to speak with the director of the Special Olympics Guatemala and chat with some of the sociable athletes. I felt like a celebrity because all of the male athletes wanted to take a picture with the women volunteers—go figure.

Address:

For those of you who dare to send me mail, let me warn you, the mail system is very weak here. Letters are not guaranteed arrival but packages stand a better chance. I have already received my first package from Eron full of books and candy. THANK YOU!! It is appreciated and needed. 

For the address you have to write exactly what’s below:

Voluntaria Katie Wendt

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos

Apartado Postal 4

Chimaltenago Guatemala, Centroamérica

**If they ask for any other numbers or postal codes I do not have them. If you write exactly what I have written it should be fine.

Orientation & Work

Orientation:

Orientation is finally over! It was a total of two weeks. It’s safe to say it was probably the most strenuous two weeks of my life. Not only was everything in Spanish 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but it also introduced me to the life I am living for the next year.

Most days of orientation were spent being introduced to others, listening to people speak about their jobs, tours, rules, policies, history and more about NPH. Other days were spent shadowing the person we were taking over for.

Another reason I am happy orientation is over with is because we moved into the actual volunteer houses! As much as I enjoy the company of the other volunteers, I never want to share a hostel type room with seven other women again. Now I am sharing a house with eight women, which sounds worse, but Instead of one big living space we have a house with two women per room, four rooms, one kitchen, two bathrooms and a living room.

The old hostel type room:

The view of my new house:

My new room:

The volunteer house kitchen:

Kitchen with living room on the left:

My job and classroom and first day:

I have officially had two full days of work. For those who have forgotten I am the “Special Education Individual” all the other volunteers call it “therapy” for the kids. I wake up at 6:15 a.m., start work at 7:15 a.m. and finish work at 5 p.m. most days (it depends on documentation/notes). I have a total of 14 kids that I work with, with a variety of disabilities. I am not allowed to share but put all the disabilities you can list in a hat and that’s what I to work with J.

The maximum number of kids I will have in one day is 8 and the minimum for one day is 6. When I have meetings with the other employees I have a minimum of 6 therapies a day. Every day is a little different and I follow a “schedule” as best I can, FLEXABILITY is very important with my schedule.

My classroom is pretty cool and I like it a lot. What the kids do, more or less, is work on everyday skills, for example, tying bows, buttoning buttons, scooping rice and putting it in bowls, twisting bottle caps, ironing, playing music, and more. It also includes classroom type activities like numbers, colors, letters and sounding out words. All of the activities include the child’s senses and they are physically participating, exploring and learning.

My classroom:

My first day was exciting and crazy at the same time. I probably looked like I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I say that because I have to physically go look for the kids and bring them to my classroom. It gets crazy because half the time they are not where they are supposed to be.

First day of work:

The majority of the kids that I work with love me and want to come and work with me. Then there are a couple kids who like to test the water. The water is cold right now because I have some hair missing, bite and pinch marks. I keep telling myself with time things will get better. I know once I get accustomed to the language there will be nothing that can slow me down and as of right now I’m in a car with no wheels. It’s just as frustrating for the kids as it is for me and for this I feel horrible.

Other Jobs:

On top of my 7 to 5 job I am accountable for a specific section of kids and family projects every week/month.

Twice a week, minimum, I am responsible for visiting a section of kids. The sections are arraigned by age and gender. My section consists of 22 boys ages 8-10. If anything this will be fun because I will eat dinner with them, go to their area (room) at night to play games, read books, dance or whatever we want.

Twice a month I am responsible for family projects. Out of the 350 kids at NPH there are a lot of brothers and sisters. The family projects are designed for the brothers and sisters within the larger NPH family to have time together. With all the kids, I imagine it’s easy to forget who your blood is and who isn’t.  So, twice a month I get assigned a family of kids and we spend quality time together. We can go get ice cream, candy, play games and more.

Random thoughts/facts:

My camera got stolenL good thing they are only $100 USD in Antigua.

One of the 9 new volunteers has already quit and is returning home. YIKES.

There is a swing in the volunteer house hanging from the rafters.

A dog followed me all the way home today because it knew I purchased food from the market.  

Arrival, Antigua & NPH

Hola amigos! Happy 5th of July! I'm sorry that I have not blogged sooner but this is the first time I've consistently had internet. I would like to say THANKS again for the love, support, and generous donations I have received. I have so much to tell you all:

The Arrival:

The flight went well. I left Chicago around 5:20 a.m. and arrived in Guatemala around 11:00 a.m. I had one layover in Huston, TX. When the plane got low enough to break through the clouds I was able to see all the greenery, mountains and little towns. It was the most exciting view I have ever seen, and I could not believe I was going to be living here.

Getting through the airport was not as bad as everyone told me it was going to be. Amelia, you were right when you told me my “survival mode” would kick in. I walked through customs without a problem, got my bag, and found my ride.

Right away, I found the NPH driver holding a piece of paper with my name: “Katie Wendt, NPH” and my picture. I do not think I will ever forget my first ride in Guatemala. Everything was so new and I had never experienced differences like this before: the buildings, the streets, the trees, the mountains, the volcanos, the wild dogs, the crazy driving (for the record IL drivers are not bad compared to Guatemalans), I was taking so much in. At this point I cannot believe I am actually in Guatemala on my own.  The driver took me straight to the NPH home for one night (I will talk about NPH later) and the next morning I was off to Antigua for language school. 

Language school & host family:

When I first arrived in Antigua I went straight to the language school, Don Pedro de Alvarado, for my first class. Monday through Friday I had class in the mornings from 8 a.m.-12 p.m., for three weeks. Each student had their own teacher, which is perfect for the different levels of Spanish. Language school was the perfect transition for me into Guatmeala, a great way to meet new people, get acquainted with my surroundings, and adjust overall.

At school and in Antigua I met the most wonderful group of friends: Dee J (23/NY), Dehlia (22/TX), Jesse (20/NY), Alisa (32/CA), and T.J. (30/CA), just to name a few. This was the group I did everything with. Some of us even traveled together to Semuc Champey.


Here is a picture of all my Antigua friends:

During my three week stay in Antigua I lived with the cutest family ever. I stayed with Irma and Salvador, an elderly couple. They live about three long blocks away from the school. It was about a 10 minute walk. From the street, the house was hidden by a huge cement fence and gate. When you unlock the gate and walk inside it is the cutest little yellow house with the most gorgeous gardens.


Photos: My room, one of the gardens and a portion of the house:

There were a lot of people who lived at this house and after three weeks I still do not know everyone’s name or face. My house brothers included: (L-R) Paul (21/NY), Edwardo (17/Guate) and Simone (24/Italy).They were the three other “students” in the house.

My host family would eat every meal together, including lunch, and after dinner the four students would sit around the table and play cards. Some of my favorite moments include my house brothers because all four perspectives created interesting conversations and wild jokes.

Antigua:

Antigua has so many places to see and so many things to do. I was not able to see everything I wanted, but I did not want to cram everything into three weeks considering I have a full year. The market, the churches, the ruins, the parks, the bars (sorry mom), the culture, and the people… I love it all!

I visited Cerro de la Cruz Mirador, Capuchinas Convert, la Merced, Portal de San Buenaventura, Iglesia San Fransisco, Santo Domingo del Cerro and more. Antigua has so much to offer including salsa dancing! Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday there were free salsa dancing lessons that my friends and I attended. Eventually I even took private lessons. Let’s just say… Dancing with the stars, here I come! In all seriousness, salsa dancing is so much fun and the instructors are now my friends here in Guatemala.


Photos: El arco, the market, volcano, salsa dancing, Santo Domingo del Cerro, and San Buenaventura. 

Semuc Champey:

Semuc Champey is the most beautiful place I have ever been with the most breathtaking views. It has turquoise water, waterfalls, rivers, mountains, caves, caverns and more. A group of friends and I took a weekend trip and in total it was an 8 hour drive through the mountains. For the weekend we stayed at a hostel, my first hostel ever, and it was an experience.

In total there were five students who went on the trip. For the ride to and from, a two night stay, and a tour it was $50.00 (USD) per person. CRAZY!


Photos from Semuc Champey:

NPH:

I have now been at NPH for 4 days. I am sad to leave Antigua but it is a .40 cent/ 20 minute bus ride away. I LOVE NPH GUATEMALA! In total there are nine new volunteers, seven girls and two boys from all over the world. Of the new volunteers there are three people from the USA (including me), three people from Spain and three from Europe.

All of the girls are living in a hostel type room until the old volunteers move out on the 13^th. In a way it helps with the bonding process. My Spanish is the worst out of all nine volunteers, I guess it will make me stronger in the end but as of right now it really stinks. We sit for hours and hours listening to the director’s talk (in Spanish) about the history, philosophy, training, jobs, and the kids. Out of the78765489076546789976546 Spanish words spoken I probably have understood about 7 of them.

I am the special education individual. I will work with about 14 kids, in total, with disabilities in a one-on-one setting. I have my own classroom and it is so nice! NPH has a total of about 340 kids and they are all so welcoming and nice. 

On the negative end, my brain hurts so much from listening to Spanish 24/7.

On the 4^th of July NPH had fireworks and ice cream in celebration for the volunteers from the States! There is something special about celebrating a holiday outside the States. It’s hard to describe the feelings.

There are six more days of orientation left, not including the weekend. I officially take over my classroom on the 16^th of July. Wish me luck with my Spanish!

Random facts/thoughts:

Dogs: the dogs here are equivalent to squirrels in IL/WI. They are everywhere, including the roofs. Once in a while you will see a dog being walked on a leash and want to take a picture because it is so rare.  

Today I bought one large carrot for 1Q, it’s about the size of three baseballs put together. This is equivalent to .12 (US) cents. CRAZY!

The Guatemalan women are crazy good at carrying things on their heads. It is amazing.

Tiny kids are in the bars trying to shine shoes or sell candy for money.

There are men with guns everywhere, pretty much in every expensive store or bank. Also, in the banks you are NOT allowed to talk on a cell phone, they will kick you out. Lesson learned.  

For my college friends: bars close at 1 p.m. (so be happy with Madison/IL area bars).