A pictures worth a thousand words...

Booyah the computer is working! Here are some more pictures to help you understand what i'm talking about more. ** I am not allowed to post any pictures with campers in them...I know that's what you want to see, but I can't. Sorry.

Also, I guess I didn't do a good enough job with my last shout out, so I'll try that again...Shout out to Jake Morris for being the best! And more specifically all of the mountain counselors and the challenge team!! I hope everyone is pleased with the specificity :)

Two stories and then pictures!

Also disclaimer...if the stories sound harsh or like i'm laughing at the children, I'm not! I love these kids! They are just ridiculous and the situations are so funny that I laugh at that, not at the kids...

Twin Day!

Every day at camp we have a theme. Some days it is pirate day, twin day, tye-dye fridye, choose your tude tuesday, hat day, superhero day, etc. Well on twin day me and Sarah decided to be team Utah twins, so we wore our similar clothes. This meant we wore red basketball shorts, a white v-neck t-shirt, hat on backwards, hair in a braid, and even similar tennis shoes with tall black socks. Don't worry, we had comfort and a sweet look. Boom baby. Well I got to my bunk that morning to wake up my campers and two of the boys saw me, realized it was twin day, and ran to go find their red shorts and white shirts. They had to wait for the laundry to come back for their shorts, and all day long they kept asking "is it back yet?!" Finally when it arrived they dumped out the bag and changed immediately. They put on hats backwards (one asked if he could borrow one of my extra hats) and even tied their shoes to match how I tie mine. Then they told me they were going to go buy ice cream with their ramabucks (paper money they earn as a reward for being well behaved) but came back with gold beads instead saying, "We tricked you! We got beads for us so we can be extra twins!" then they put on their beads and handed me the extra set they had bought for me. So adorable! I was so lucky, I got to have 3 twins for twin day, and they made sure everyone at camp knew that we were twins. I love these boys! 

You Never Know

You never know what someone is dealing with. You never know what is going on inside. You never know why they are behaving the way they are. One of my campers, a thirteen year old boy who has recently started intimidating the other campers and causing problems in the bunk, had a rough night last night. He was doing great, and then out of no where started acting up and causing problems. He ended up having to leave the bunk for a while until he could calm down and behave. When he came back in it was time for bed so all the kids were laying in bed with the lights off. I heard him calling my name, so I walked over to his bed and he asked if I could go outside and talk with him. As soon as we got outside and sat down on the bench he gave me a big hug and started sobbing into my arm. Turns out he was acting out because he really misses his mom. He wants nothing more than to get a letter from her, but there is no way I can promise that she will write. It broke my heart to see him so sad! We had a nice talk, cried together for a little bit, I tried to cheer him up, and then we went back in and he went to sleep. Poor kid, he just misses his mom and doesn't know how to handle that. You never know what is going on, so be careful not to assume things and judge. 

TWIN DAY! 

This is my lovely walk from my cabin to the bunk I work with and to challenge every day.  Love it!

Oh what a nice grassy area...This is where I play games with the kids at challenge

Bed bugs....not a fan! Cabin heated, bugs gone, moving on.

Welcome to the Challenge Shack. This is the challenge teams office, fun stuff all around.

This is the staff hang out place...it works

Staff hang out quarters angle two

Lake front. Looks amazing yeah?

This is the bunk I work in. Each side is a separate bunk, with 6 kids on each side.
The middle room that divides the bunks is for staff to store things. 

Inside the bunk where I work

Where I live. Hello Sarah.

Postman! We lower that rope ladder a bit and then they climb up the rope ladder and then there are two wires hanging that they cross. They stand on the lower one and hold on to the higher one and side step their way across. 

Pamper Pole! Climb up the post, stand on the platform, jump and touch the ball hanging. Fun!

Giant's Ladder! We lower the logs and the goal is to climb up to the top. This is a partner climb, and is really difficult because each rung gets further and further apart. I could barely reach after the first two ha.

Me and Sarah beasting the indoor giants ladder

I love my job. In between sessions I get to climb and have fun :)

The Nitro! Low ropes course where the team has to start on one box and swing everyone onto another box. Then we usually create a code of how many people we want on each  box and they need to figure it out. 

 

Just Another Day at Ramapo

Time off is very limited, so updating my blog gets forgotten a lot. My apologies. Here are more stories from the last two weeks...

First I need to give a shout out to my  coworkers. They are AMAZING! I definitely would not be able to keep my sanity without them. I am constantly impressed and inspired by conversations I hear between them and the kids and also the solid encouragement everyone gives each other. These people are the best!

Ingenuity
One of the more popular games we play with out kids is called steal the chicken. One person stands in a hula hoop with a rubber chicken on the ground that they are protecting. The other kids are trying to steal the chicken without getting tagged. If they get tagged they run back and get a high five then continue trying to steal the chicken, but if they can successfully steal the chicken then they are in the middle guarding the chicken. One of my kids was playing with a rope one day while we were playing this game and was choosing to sit out, which wasn't like him. After a while he decided to join the game and starting trying to steal the chicken. He had come up with a different strategy, however, and had created a make-shift lasso out of his rope and was trying to lasso the chicken and drag it out. GENIUS! If only he knew how to make a lasso....his rope circle wasn't quite successful, but it was a great idea. Smart kid.

Say what?!
Some of our campers are a little on the strange side. One in particular, Andrea, is absolutely nuts. I cannot stop laughing when I am around him because he says and does the most ridiculous things! Yet at the same time I prefer to keep my distance because he isn't very fond of the world. He absolutely hates a lot of noise, especially crying. One night, as we were doing our minute of silence before entering the bunk, we heard a cry off in the distance and out of no where Andrea shouts (in a nasal Japanese accented voice) "KILL THEM!" What?? It was so random that I couldn't stop laughing. At another occasion he was talking about starting a genocide at the camp. He has also asked about multiple peoples allergies so that he can poison them...this kids has some issues. (He has not acted on those death plots, so don't worry). When he isn't talking about killing everyone, he is singing "Baby" by Justin Bieber. This one is still a mystery to me.

Don't Mess
So one day Andrea (the kids I was just talking about) decided he was upset and then he decided he wanted to tear apart one of the balls we were playing with. He got to sit on a crate and be silent for a little to think about what he did. Well after a little bit he decided he didn't want to stay on the crate anymore; he decided, instead, to run at me and throw his elbow into my back. One major factor that he didn't think through (besides everything else that is logical) before attacking me was the fact that all the other mountain boys were playing a game with me and don't take lightly to people messing with me. They all dropped what they were doing immediately and starting chasing after him saying "He hit you!!  I'm going to beat the *** out of him! He hit you!!" So I then had to chase all the other boys down and calm them down and convince them that if they wanted to help me they needed to come back to the soccer field and keep playing with me. It's nice to know they have my back though :) These boys wont let anyone mess with me, I have my own little team of body guards.

Sneak Attack
One of my campers with Autism was telling me a story at dinner one night. This was a grand old story about a princess locked in a tower with a forest surrounding it. Then one day there was a gallant prince...he paused the story to say "I know! I am the gallant prince!"...okay Will, you can be the prince ha. The prince cut down all the trees in the forest and rescued the princess from the tower. Then he gave her a kiss! *At this point in the story he lunged at me and tried to kiss me...uh nope that's not happening! The little sneak! He ended up kissing my shoulder as I dodged his advances and told him he is not kissing me right now. He then replied "but I just did!" with a big grin on his face. What a story Will....I think i'm going to get him to tell it to another counselor and see what happens ha.

TLP Transfer
The TLP boys are the older boys with special needs, but they are a bit higher functioning and have a little bit more responsibilities around camp. I LOVE these boys! They are hilarious! Every time I see them around camp they always get really excited and wave and say "Hi Natalie! How are you?! Do I get to come to challenge with you today?!?" They are the best! One of the boys told me the other day that when third session comes I need to "switch to TLP from the mountain because I would be perfect in TLP and we want to see you every day!" These kids just know what to say sometimes to make my day!

Endless Entertainment!
JD, one of the most enthusiastic campers here, came to high ropes with me the other day. He always greets me by saying "Natalie I'm so excited to see you! Smile for me Natalie, I'm so excited Natalie". He is great! So he is really scared of heights, but decided he wanted to climb anyways. He got to the top of the pole and stepped on the wire to walk across (with ropes hanging that you hold onto to make your way across) and immediately started yelling "Oh sweet mother molasses!! Where are you Natalie? I can't die like this! Don't let me die like this!! Sweet mother molasses! Sweet mother molasses!! Natalie are you smiling?" I was laughing so hard I was crying! Then when he would take a step towards the next rope (still being about 4 steps away) he would hold out his hand and try to summon the rope using his Spiderman powers. Well...that's not quite going to work out for you bud, but nice try! He tried to spiderman the rope to him every time, and every time I died laughing! Such a funny guy!

Pause the story
One of my campers was struggling to listen at night when we were putting them all to bed. He needed to put something away before he could go to sleep but didn't want to give it up. Because it was a safety issue we couldn't just let it slide. He was laying face down on his bed with his face in his pillow and would not listen to a word any of the counselors said. I walked over there to see if I could help and heard him mumble something about watching his monster show. I had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to try something. I asked him is he could pause his show for a second so we could talk. He then lifted his head up, gave a powerful poke to his pillow, looked at me, and said "okay what?". That really worked?? You've got to be kidding me! So I started talking to him and explaining why he needed to give me the small chew toy, and every time he got bored with what I was saying he would poke his pillow and put his head back down. I had to keep reminding him to pause his show because we weren't done talking yet. He would lift his head back up, poke his pillow, and continue listening. Apparently he was convinced he was really watching a show in his pillow...well good for him if he has that good of an imagination! And thank goodness there was a pause button on that pillow!

Uh...you.
One of my campers returned to join our bunk during breakfast after being in the health center. In one fluid train of sentences he said, "Oops, I forgot to shower! *takes one bite of food and looks at something for a second* What is that smell??" Uh...that's you man! You just told me how you didn't shower and then asked me what smells bad....nice.

Shhhh....
During the talent show that the counselors put on for the kids to show them ideas for appropriate acts and to get them pumped for the camper talent show that follows a week or so later, one of the music counselors played a piece on her bassoon. One of the mountain boys who has autism but is higher functioning for the most part pulled his shirt over his head trying to cover his ears and started shouting " I don't want to hear it!! I don't want to hear it! It sounds bad!" While the other counselors were trying desperately to get him to be quiet I was trying my best to get my campers to stop laughing while trying to control my own laughter. Awful audience etiquette, but dang was that hilarious!!

**I took  more picture of camp, but unfortunately the computers are having technical difficulties and I am not able to upload them from my phone at this time. Gee dang it. I'll post them once I get that figured out.

Story Time!

Alright, so now that I've given an overview of camp, I can begin telling the great stories!!

Charlie the Chicken
In one of the group I facilitate for there are a few boys about 16-17 years old with autism. They are fairly low functioning and less verbal. I taught them a game called Charlie the Chicken where you stand in a circle and pass the chicken behind your back while singing "Charlie the chicken, keep it moving, keep it moving" over and over again and the person in the middle tries to figure out who has the chicken. The game is a struggle with this group, but they love it! These boys are adorable, and now whenever they see me anywhere around camp they get super excited and start singing "Charlie the chicken keep it moving keep it moving" and dancing. You can barely understand what they are saying, but to me it sounds beautiful.

Treasure Hunt
With each group that comes to challenge I make an FVC (full value contract) which includes their expectations while at challenge and what they want to work on improving. Most groups include following directions, listening, being respectful, teamwork, etc. For my mountain boys we are focusing on following directions, so I drew a treasure map and pulled it out the next time they came to challenge. They are supposed to follow my directions (which includes listening, paying attention, and participating) in order to follow the map and make it to the big X which is high ropes, and ultimately good behavior. They LOVED it! I couldn't believe how much they actually liked it and how effective it is! Every time I talk about the map they all pay attention and start listening because they want to continue on to high ropes so badly. Success :)

...Days until....
My man James. He is the best! He is about 17 years old and is lower functioning, but is fairly verbal. His favorite thing to do is count the days. He counts how many days he has left at camp at least 10 times for me during each challenge period. He follows the same script every time and cannot be interrupted in the middle. The script goes like this:
one, two, three, four, five, six... (counting the days on his fingers until he reaches the right amount of days left) days until....pauses until I respond (my response underlined) until what?...until mom comes on the....on what day?...on the....on the 5th (if I get it wrong he says no until I get it right)...what?...the 5th...excuse me? what?...the 5th...yeah. and takes me....where will she take you?...home! and then I go to the shore for....for how long?...for 3 weeks! and then....and then what?...and then I come home on the 27th. and then...then what James?...then I go to New Hampshire...who is in New Hampshire?...Grandpa!!
This gets repeated word for word time and time again. The only thing that changes is the number of days until mom comes. Its hilarious!!

Free Fall
On a different note, there are many crazy things that happen here. Such as one of my campers being bored and frustrated (while I was dealing with another issue and who knows where the other counselors were) and deciding that it would be a good idea to jump off the deck...well that is a 12 ft drop. What the? why is that a good idea?? consequences followed that action. Luckily he didn't injure himself!

Oh really? Haven't heard that one before...
Nathan. Good old Nathan. Love the kid, but its a struggle. He is the camper that sits next to me at meals and drools all over the place and spills half the food he tries to eat. (I love shower time every night!) He has an obsession with crushing the milk cartons, so I have to take them away. Somehow he manages to still find them and has started sitting on them. Why? because he wanted to...who knows. Anyways, another obsession of his is history, planes, and boats. I have heard the story of the titanic at least 100 times this week. I don't know if he forgets that he told me already, or if he just thinks I would benefit from hearing it again, but either way he feels the need to tell me about it every chance he gets. So if any of you want to know more about the titanic, come to this girl! I know ALL about it.

Ahoy Matey
One of the low ropes elements is called the whale watch. It is a big plank of boards that is balanced in the middle. The challenges we give them will vary, but ultimately they are to balance the whole team on the board in various locations without it touching the ground. We call it our ship and they must ask the captain (me) if they may enter my ship before getting on. This is a fun and effective way to make sure no one is getting their toes smashed and keeping order. Dylan, a 12 year old boy with special needs, was in one of my groups this last week. He has a super high pitched voice and is a space cadet. He is wanders, talks to himself, and comes up with the most hilarious things to say. When it was his turn to get on the 'ship' he approached and I asked him "okay dylan, what do you ask me?" and he looks at me for a second, then happily says "Ahoy Matey!" haha well after I stopped laughing I responded and he then proceeded to tell me how much he likes my ship in pirate language. Finally he told me he would like to enter the ship, and that was close enough so I let him on.

Notes
A few of the harder kids at camp have been struggling with behaving (big surprise) so I decided to use a little trickery. I told them that I would write them a note, but I would only give it to them if they wrote me a note in exchange. This has two purposes, one it is creating a bond with the kid, and two it keeps them occupied and quiet for a little. I was expecting goofy notes and was honestly expecting them to have inappropriate content. Well to my surprise, they weren't like that at all! They surprised me and told me that they wished they could spend more time with me and how much they liked challenge with me. It was heart warming. One of the notes (picture below) was just one line, but it needed no more. Precious moments!

Dear Natili
You are my best friend

Is That Even Possible?
One morning began a little different than the rest. One of our 11 year old campers who is nonverbal and has a problem scratching, biting, and pinching when he gets upset (so you keep your distance) got a little frustrated while using the bathroom. This is what I found.

I didn't even know that was possible!!! I envisioned him karate kicking the toilet and it shattering or something. It was terrifying, but at the same time I couldn't stop laughing! That's kind of how things go here, its so ridiculous that its comical! What actually happened was he yanked the toilet off the wall and the lid of the tank fell forward landing on the perfect spot on the seat to shatter the bowl. Incredible!

Vampire or Not?
Ivan. My man Ivan. He is one of the most difficult campers here at camp. He is also in my bunk. He has a reputation...when I arrived I heard all the returners saying " oh Ivan is coming back?? good luck to his counselors" and stuff like that. He is a 14 year old challenge. He has a raspy voice that is incapable of being anything less than a yell. Well lucky me, I get to work with Ivan one on one because he wont respond to anyone but me. As the days progress I learn he has his heart set on marrying me, and is constantly telling me I am the prettiest counselor at camp and that I have very pretty eyes. He is adorable. But also a pain. One day he randomly handed me a piece of paper and said I needed to take the quiz and return it to him. Part two followed the next day. The quiz was to find out if I am a vampire or not...Here are the questions:

Have you noticed you have sharp teeth?
Do you eat people and/or meat a lot?
Do you like garlic?
Do you go to church?
Do you love the dark more than the light?
Have you ever killed someone? Don't lie
Have you ever had blood before?
Do you like crosses?
Do you love black and red?
Do you like bats/are you one?
Can you fly/teleport?
How old are you?
Do you know you are pale?

Off topic questions:
Has any boy ever told you that you are pretty?
Do you love me?

The results............I am a vampire human!! He is convinced I am a vampire ha! Oh these kids, gotta love 'em.

Ramapo in a Nutshell

If you haven't heard, I am spending my summer at a place called Camp Ramapo, located in Rhinebeck NY. This is a camp for kids with special needs. This includes a lot of kids on the Autism Spectrum, along with many other unique needs. Some are nonverbal, and some are all too verbal. Ages range from 4 years old to 20ish depending on functional level. Along with these kids, we have a second group of kids who are here because they have behavioral problems that need to be addressed and quite frankly because they have been kicked out of all the other camps. I work in a special area of camp called challenge. This means the counselors bring their kids to me every other day for a 1 or 2 hour block and I play games with them that are supposed to be team building and teaching them how to model appropriate behavior and then when they prove they can work together I take them into the low ropes course, from which they will graduate into high ropes. After each activity and ropes course I facilitate a debriefing/reflection session allowing the kids to look back and realize what they did well and how it helped them as a team and as an individual. Reflection time is where the magic happens!
The trick is planning games for the wide range of kids we have here at camp. I am in charge of doing recreational therapy for all 175-180 campers here at camp, as well as being assigned to a specific bunk to work more closely with. One period I might have the low functioning, nonverbal kids on the autism spectrum, then the next hour jump right into a group of teenage boys with behavioral problems. Those are about as different as you can get! Then after that a group of 4 year old campers might stroll in...Lets just say that each period is an experience of its own. There are only 8 counselors on the challenge team, out of the 200 counselors at camp. Needless to say, it's a big responsibility. But with responsibility comes great reward; challenge is a magical place where kids come together and dig deeper, finding greatness in themselves and in their bunk mates. Not going to lie, it isn't always peachy and grand, there are many times that I find myself wondering why in the world I am here and if i'm going to make it to the end of the summer. Those great moments, however, are enough to keep me pushing through.
When I am not working challenge, (which is in the morning, during each meal time, and in the evening) I am working with Mountain bunk 20. The kids are divided by age and then by the reason for being at camp, so basically if they are autistic or behavioral. The mountain bunks are comprised of boys age 11-14 with behavioral problems. A lot of them are from the inner city and are just really tough kids. They can be adorable, but there is no doubt why they have been sent to Camp Ramapo...sadly most of these boys have the worst language I have ever heard. Its a constant battle to get them to use words other than curse words and to talk about appropriate topics. In addition, they all think they are huge (most of them are not) and can take on the world in a fight. This results in them trying to fight each other all the time, meaning that I am breaking up fist fights whenever I am with them. They have been trying to start gang wars between the mountain bunks, which lead to even more fun for me. It's a good thing these kids are adorable or I might have a problem dealing with patience. The struggle is real. But so are the rewards.

A typical day:
7:45 am    at the bunk ready to wake up the campers
8:00 am    wake up time...get the campers up and dressed with teeth brushed.
8:30 am    breakfast! (meals are not a break, they are actually the most chaotic time of the day)
9:15 am    back to the bunk for clean up
10:15 am  freeplay (this means running dodgeball and guarding the entrances for the ropes courses for me)
11:15 am  challenge session with the kids.
12:15 pm  challenge session
1:15 pm    lunch
2:00 pm    challenge session
3:00 pm    challenge session
4:00 pm    challenge session
5:00 pm    rest hour with the bunk (keeping the kids "calm" and entertained before dinner)
6:00 pm    dinner
6:45 pm    planning time for the next days sessions
7:45 pm    with bunk preparing them for night time routine
8:30 pm    showers and brushing teeth and what not
10-11 pm  released for the night after the kids are all asleep

We also rotate through night duties, so some nights I am on duty until 12 making sure the kids are still in their bunks or keeping troubled kids entertained so the rest of the bunk can go to sleep.

Its hard to get pictures because I'm not allowed to have my phone on me during the day and the kids aren't allowed to see it, so that means no phone while the sun is up. I'll try to get some more pictures between sessions...

This is the path that takes me to work every day. Welcome to the entrance to high ropes

A few of the elements that way

The pamper pole. This one the climber climbs up the ladder and post to stand on that little platform with their partner. They each take a side and jump off the platform, trying to touch a ball that is suspended about 5 feet away in the air. SO much fun!

A few elements this way. 

Indescribable

3 months has gone and past. It's amazing how fast time goes by. I can't believe this experience is already over! It has been the hardest thing ever to leave my amazing friends, family, and kids. I can't describe the place they have in my heart and how close we have gotten. It has changed my life more than I can say.

Price
expensive plane ticket
more souvenirs than I should have bought
way too much food due to an expanded stomach

Priceless
gained 3 new sisters a brother and a second mom
many friends forever
wonderful changes in my perspective from this beautiful culture
learned how to love unconditionally, to over 50 kids
been told 'I love you and will never forget you' by all of those kids
seen how much the kids loved me by their tears and pleas not to go when I left.
received a note from Victor David (my 12 yr old best friend) saying I am the best friends he's ever had and poems he wrote me about never forgetting me. He says he will wish every night that I return to the Aldea someday...a treasure beyond value

*most of the kids are in the pictures of their houses. Some are missing, mostly the older girls.

It doesn't get any better than Tia Carla. She is truly and angel on this earth.

Casa 1
divas for sure, but the cutest ones out there. Exhausting, but loads of fun

Antonina
She gave me a death grip hug and wouldn't let go begging me not to go. Almost broke my heart.

Casa 2
by far the cutest house in the Aldea. These boys are precious!

Victor David.
 I don't have words to describe the relationship I have with this kid. Best friend is close, but doesn't seem like quite enough. If anything just the relationship I was able to develop with him was enough to make this trip amazing. He will be forever in my heart!

                                      

                                                    Jose
                                                     He will melt your heart in a second. That is a fact.

Casa 9
A mystery. You never know what to expect from this house. Everyone is fighting over who gets to take Lucho home.

Casa 10
There is no description for this house. Energetic crazy house. You always had to watch your back for a sneak attack from these wild girls. 6 of the 11 eggs on my birthday came from this house...

Casa 8
Sweet. They are all so sweet in this house. They definitely weren't shy about showing their love for you and doing all they could to make sure you were taken care of and welcomed.

Casa 5
My second home. My boys!!!! (minus a few who were being bums and sulking because I was leaving and refused to get in the picture) I LOVE these boys! They are hilarious!! I spent most of my nights hanging out in their house goofing off with them. They gave me a hard time a lot, but were also really protective of me and didn't any of the others mess with me. So many good times with my boys!

Miguelito
kept insisting I was his girlfriend. then again would also argue anyone who doubted he was a cat...very precious. Has walking and mental disabilities, but that doesn't make his heart less loving. Loves to mess around with the boys.

Classic!
Doesn't get any better than this. To make it clear Miguel was laughing a second later and proceeded to leave his pants hoisted up high until someone fixed them a long time later against his protests. Ruben-the wedgie giver- is the biggest stud on this planet. That is all there is to say about him. 

Yunior
An amazing guy. He is 16 years old, a very hard worker, and has the kindest personality I have ever seen. He is always going out of his way to take care of others and to make sure everyone is happy. I would look forward to when he came home from work every night so I could go and talk to him about anything. He has the best laugh I have ever heard, I didn't hear it once without it making me laugh. He didn't really know very many of the past volunteers because he works and is gone most of the day, I am so grateful I took the time to get to know him and become close with him. He has blessed my life tremendously. He is one of a kind.

My boys
This is about as normal as it will get for a picture with them. I can't even begin to describe how much i'm going to miss my boys! A blast every second with them. 

Juan Carlos
I don't really know how to put this one into words...Similar to Victor David, best friend just doesn't seem to do it. Younger brother to Yunior he has similar qualities, but with a more spastic flare. My last few days at the Aldea he refused to talk to me and completely ignored me because he was so upset that I was leaving. He finally came around the last night and broke down and told me what was going on. It was so touching to see how much he cared. He kept telling me not to worry because it will only be 3 years until he turns 18 (the age they have to leave the aldea) and then he is coming to the United Sates to find me. I wish that could happen more than anything! Similar to Yunior he works a lot and hasn't gotten to know a lot of the past volunteers, and would tell me how glad he was he got to know me and that I cared enough to get to know him. Getting to know him and being able to help him understand how to be a better person and live a good life was extremely rewarding. I can't imagine what it would have been like without this great relationship.

No question that the price I paid to come was easily outweighed by the priceless benefits I've received. Best decision I could have made. No regrets, no doubts. I recommend this to anyone in a heartbeat!

Pictures!!

Victor being a China! They love to do this and tell me about the Chinas, so funny!

Our big match against the older boys

Manuel...so cute with his little raspy voice and missing teeth

Trust fall. They loved it!

Somehow I don't think that's going to work out for ya bud...

some of my boys :)
Juan Carlos, Junior, Miguel, Ruben

This is what I call cheating

Hiking in Cajamarca, so beautiful!

Birthday eggs...Ruben so generously shared this one with me
(sorry the pic is sideways I forgot to rotate it and it takes ages to upload so its staying like this...)

Classic

We did a craft with the kids where they all made crowns and were princes and princesses

Forget Hawaii, go to Mancora

Border Patrol? Nope just walk right in

Meet Eugine the crab, he was our pet for a little bit

Puenta Sal

Another beach with another name that I dont know...

That is a little monkey I got to hold in Ecuador, sweet I know.

Ugliest puppy known to mankind

Okay so I know I've kind of been slacking in the updating my blog area...I apologize and will try to do better. Internet is really sketchy here and I usually don't have it for that long so sometimes (a.k.a. this past month) I run out of time to do the blog. So here is a quick update on this month;

-I convinced the older boys they weren't too cool for life and to talk to me and now they come over everyday to play futbol or just joke around. They are hilarious!

-Katie and I are teaching a dance class...yep ironic since neither of us dances much

-We went to the temple of the Sun and the Moon which was AWESOME!!

-The kids started school so they are gone in the mornings meaning we take the babies and watch them for a few hours.

-We had a big party for the day of the woman that included lots of dancing and laughing

-I have perfected the art of making crepes

-We went to Cajamarca to visit the other volunteers there. It was a blast! It is gorgeous there! We hiked up to a waterfall  (which was absolutely freezing but worth it to go under it) and to some caves. We also did a bit of shopping in the markets and lots of games and treats

I am now 19!! I had an amazing birthday spent with the kids.

Apparently a big Peruvian tradition is to smash eggs on the birthdaygirl/boy...I ended the day with 11 eggs in my hair, Katie with 9. Most of the time one kid would have the egg and about 5 others would chase you and then hold you down for the one with the egg to come and smash it then they would all rub it in to make sure it was nice and disgusting for you. After smashing their own eggs on us the other volunteers so kindly locked us out of the house and wouldn't let us in making it impossible to avoid all the eggs. Victor David and Juan Carlos each did a sneak attack acting all nice and innocent talking to me then BAM i've got egg oozing down in my face. Then to add to that they shoved our face into the cake smearing chocolate frosting all up in there. Needless to say a long shower was included in the night plans. It was an amazing day!! Then the next day our friends in Trujillo threw a party for us and we got our faces shoved in another cake, this time successfully clogging my nose with frosting. It was really fun though so I can't complain.

Pictures will have to come later because we are leaving in a few minutes to travel up North, I'm way excited!!