Lists and Art Pics

(This week's Guest Blog comes from Miss Sonia Patel, who also happens to be next up for the PD Interviews. These days Sonia can be tracked to virtually any location in the house due to her computer's broken fan, which makes it sound like it will initiate liftoff about every 30 seconds. She's been involved in both Art Classes and the Preventive Health Center since the beginning, and has played a huge role in the success of both programs. Sonia's also a total baller because she'll be attending med school at Georgetown next year. Because class starts on August 2nd, Sonia's leaving early, and this is her last Guest Blog... Enjoy!)

"Over the past 11 months, certain events have become especially memorable for me. While some have been surprisingly horrific at the time of their occurrences, they now, with the more traditionally happy events, land themselves on my list of “things that I will most truly and dearly miss about Ecuador.” Since this is my last guest blog, I only find it appropriate to share that list with you. Enjoy!

1. Eating dessert once a week…directly from the pan

2. Waking up with my body covered in bug bites

3. Teaching children’s art to precious 8 year olds (and the occasional 2 year old) who haven’t quite learned how to follow directions.

4. Building casitas for gas tanks

5. Coming together for dinner and discussing the day’s embarrassing moments

6. Playing catch phrase for 4 hours

7. Opening the Preventative Health Center

8. Not communicating with a person who has stepped in poop for 24 hours

9. Climbing the Andes Mountains

10. Joseph Oña

11. Sitting next to a woman as she breast feeds her child who will occasionally take breaks to converse with his mother

12. Finding a silver fish in my underwear

13. Learning how to “nutritionize” myself through Aliméntate Ecuador’s weekly charla in our Centro

14. Making 120 animal balloons for the children in our community

15. Having one of my socks clog the washer drain

16. “el gas, el gas”…”el gas el gas”…”el gas el gas”

17. Losing the internet every other minute, my screaming computer, and cuddling with a board

18. Watching Wendy learn how to read

19. The world’s most beautiful sunsets

20. Pan de Yuca, Sanduche el Rey, homemade popcorn for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

21. Boiling eggs for so long that all the water evaporates

22. Monday Morning Meetings

23. Advertising with a perefeneo

24. Observing an appendix being removed...fainting in the Sangolquí Hospital

25. Kuka’s psuedopregnancy

26. Shawn, Sarah, Jackie, Mike, Krysta, Chet, Haley, Erik, and Bibi

Nostalgically yours,
Sonia"

Here are some pictures of the masterpieces that the kids have created in Sonia and Chet's Art Class... and, yes, I know some of them are upside-down... I tried uploading them about 10 times and I couldn't fix it...

Picasso faces

Frida Kahlo self-portraits

Norman Rockwell "Freedom from Fear"

Vincent Van Gogh "Starry Night"

Monet "Water Lilies"