"El no sabe repasar"

My partner couldn't join me today at the foundation because she has a cold and she could the kids there sick.  That would be the last thing we'd want to do since these kids come from families who aren't well-off.  So I went on by myself.  Adriana called a cab for me and it took forever to get one. The rain made all traffic slow down so it took a while to get to the location.

Today I was asked to make 9 copies of a drawing in a book; it was a swan and her baby.  When I say copies I mean I had to copy the drawing directly by hand.  The first one I did free hand and the rest I copies off of that one.  I felt bad because the teacher was waiting for me to finish them, especially after all the kids were done with their "deberes" (their homework).  As soon as I was finished with them I passed them out and they began to color them in.  I had forgotten how creative little kids can be.  They are not limited by reality.  Anita, a 5-year-old, colored her swan with different colors.  It was a rainbow swan and it was beautiful.  Each drawing had something unique to it.

Highlight of the day:  At around 11am, the kids went upstairs to the second floor for dance class.  They joined the older kids who are leading the choreography.  It was a lot of fun to watch and dance along with them.  As the teachers and the director, Galo, put the music on and talked, I talked with two girls from the older group.  Their names are Jessica and Pamela.  They both very much like the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez... they don't like Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana.  So the girls started first.  They danced some modern songs, the kind you hear at clubs, and they had fun with it.  Then the boys danced.  There is one dance that we all danced to, and us three volunteers that were there had to be guys for the routine.  It seems like December 3rd there will be a celebration and dance there so we will all be participating.  Us 'guy' will have to wear a beard.  Can't wait!  It was funny because when the boys danced their part, the teachers told some of them that they need to practice the dance at home, que tenian que "repasar" el baile.  Carmen specifically told one of the older boys that he needed to go over the steps when the room was fairly silent... that's when Anita stood up, pointed at the boy and yelled in her little girl voice, "El no sabe repasar."  Everyone burst out laughing.

I walked up the long and steep stone road with Natacha and Florentina and we headed South on Eloy Alfaro on the bus.  I got off on Rio Coca and passed by the several beautiful flower stands.  I got two bunches for my host mom for only $2! They are beautiful as you can see:

Adriana made good lunch as always.  I enjoyed it and went upstairs straight to my laptop.  I am sad to see I have less than 1gb left on my computer.  I would have brought my external drive but it's nor portable and I would have regretted that it get damaged on the way here.  Now I must find things to delete, buy flash drives... or whatever is good.  I'm considering Photobucket or Flickr, but then I must wait hours for my photographs to upload.  I will try Photobucket tonight I think.

Since Yonseili needed to buy some pants, I accompanied her to Quicentro.  There is a really neat store here, Tennis, that sells really cool clothes, but also pricey.  Then again, all clothes here is.  She bought one very cool pair of pants and at another store, Pasa, 2 long sleeve shirts.  I bought a Milky Way on the way out.  We took taxis going to different destinations: hers to school, mine home.

I didn't do much after that.

Time here is running out...