Birthday Celebrations!

This past Friday the school celebrated the children's birthdays. We had 32 birthday boys and girls for the months of January and February! It was also Dia del Amor, the Latin American version of Valentine's Day. The schools celebrate this special day with the teachers bringing in treats for their students and decorating the classrooms. Many of the teachers brought in traditional Guatemalan fare. Chicharras, chuchitos, tamales and tostadas were all part of the snacks. We combined this with a couple bananas for each child from our fruit program and atol. After the snack time festivities we lined up the birthday children and the teachers handed out presents. It was especially nice to see the Kindergarten children's excitement who participated in the party for the first time. The piñatas were next on the agenda and we split the children up according to grades. The Kindergarten and 1st Grade, 2nd and 3rd and finally the 4th, 5th and 6th graders got their opportunity to break the piñata. They were loaded with all kinds of sweets and trinkets and all students were able to come away with some prizes as we threw them from the balcony to the play court where the piñatas were located. The piñatas were a hit and the birthday boys and girls got first crack at them before they finally came apart. The children built up quite an appetite and the mothers had prepared for them a lunch of pasta and vegetables including carrots, potatoes and squash. Next week the teachers and students will be busy again as the children will be working on their dance routines for the civics festival at the start of the month.

Birthday Celebrations!