Blast from the Past: Retro Candy in the Mail!

Guess what arrived in the mail as my very first Birthday gift???  The biggest box of Retro ’80s candy I had ever seen!!  Thanks to my oh-so-hip in-laws, I was the recipient of an assortment of popular candy from my childhood.  I tell you, I was tickled pink by all the memories that came with this thoughtful gift.

Here are some of my favorite ones that emerged:

• Getting a goody-bag of treats for the 90 minute drive home every time we visited Grandma (we always politely overlooked the fact that some of the candy was quite stale)
• Spending entire afternoons biking to Snyder’s Drug Store with the neighbor kids to pick out a treat (we could peruse their selection for hours, I tell you)
• Begging my mom to let me try candy cigarettes (as you might imagine that was a big, fat N-O)
• Enjoying a candy necklace on a perfect summer’s day
• Buying Laffy Taffy’s for 1 cent at the Campground store and then getting them stuck in your teeth

I had forgotten how many good memories were associated with candy!  Do share a few of your favorite stories that these images spark!  I segmented the items I got into two categories: the favorites are on the top and the “just ok” ones are on the bottom.

Which ones were your top picks?  Any you’d forgotten about?  I want to see some discussion going on this!

PS- Just in case you were wondering, I had to share the joy of this much candy with the kiddos in my life.  I picked out a few of the most unique ones for Norma to take home to her daughter (Pop Rocks, Candy Necklace, Fizzies).  Can I just say that those were a HUGE hit with 2 year old Norland!

Then, after getting my fill of sugar, I took the remaining ones to Friendship Home and used them as prizes for my Birthday Bingo game.  I couldn’t stop laughing as they spit out the Atomic Fireballs and Good ‘n Plenty’s after trying them for the first time.  I love knowing that the response to those candies is universal!  :)  Definitely an acquired taste…

Good Times at Friendship Home

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  These kids derive so much joy from the simplest things in life and it is so amazingly heart-warming!  I just love being with them.  Screw expensive toys – just give them a wood box and a few washers…… This week I brought one of our favorite games from the MN cabin, creatively titled “The Washer Game”.  To say it was a hit would be a gross understatement.  I’ve never seen the kids move so fast.  Check out this great 30 second video and share in the joy!

A Nostalgic Day at Friendship Home

It’s been a fun-filled 48 hours for Jenna in Manila.  We didn’t waste any time jumping in, going directly from the airport to the American Women’s Club monthly shopper’s bazaar!  She was such a trooper after her 30 hour transit time and I just kept assuring her that no she didn’t need a shower, everyone smells like B.O. here!  After two hours of intense shopping, we stopped off at my favorite spa to ease her aching muscles.   AHHHH.  Hope you enjoyed your first 90 minute massage Jenna.  Warning: Massages can become addicting!

On Wednesday afternoon I took her to Friendship Home, the place where I volunteer weekly.  I ask all my visitors to think of something that they can teach the kids when we go.  Jenna decided to give them dancing lessons.  First up was an American dance called the Cupid Shuffle (am I getting old, I’ve never even heard of it)?  The kids had a blast letting out all the pent up summer energy (they’re out of school at the moment).

Next up was salsa dancing, which she learned during her 4 months down in Guatemala when studying abroad.  The kids were glued to her every move and actually did quite well with the steps and a basic turn or two.

In case you forgot, it’s hotter ‘n blazens here.  Jenna’s 8 years on me was quite evident — seriously, she was like the Energizer Bunny!  She was dripping buckets of sweat and I just kept coming over and toweling her off.  And she just kept going….and going….and going!  When they were good and done with dancing, she then pulled out the jump rope.  Take a wild guess if that was a big hit?

I had ordered a long jump rope from the States just for this occasion (only the short single-person ones are available here).  No kidding, even the boys were fighting to get their turn.  I loved watching them try again and again, unafraid of messing up.  Being around these kids is so refreshing!

I think the biggest hit of the day though may have been the “Helicopter” jump rope game, which Jenna pulled out of the recesses of her mind.  It was music to my ears to hear the kids chanting our childhood game in their Filipino accent, “Helicopter, Helicopter over my head.  I spy a color and the color is RED.”  It was truly enchanting.  The combination of having my sister here and busting out old games from our past really made me nostalgic.  What a perfect afternoon!  And now, just think, these kids can teach THEIR children the “Helicopter” game someday.  Because some things are just universal, you know?  :)

Guest Blog Post: Joy on a Budget

Minnesotagal’s Note: This is a big day! The first-ever Guest Blog post from my current visitor and dear friend, Sarah Lynn Jansen. I hope you enjoy the varied perspective. If you’re a fan of the guest post, make sure and leave lots of ‘love’ in the comments section so that she feels inclined to do it again!

Today I got to join in the adventures at Friendship Home.  Smiling faces at the door, giddy with anticipation for the afternoon of fun greeted us upon arrival.  Sarah introduced me as her friend Sarah and that led to all sorts of debate as they tried to decide what to call us to simplify things.  ”Sarita” was suggested but couldn’t win over the ease of the “S1″ & “S2″ suggestion. Nothing had really started yet and already a few of the children were laughing themselves silly. There was no doubt that we were going to have a splendid time.

First up on the agenda was paper fortune tellers.  Thankfully S1 had the insight to prepare ideas to spark the kids’ imagination, as many struggled with the notion of writing down a wish or a hope for the future (even when they knew that the point of the game was to grant that wish to someone else). With some coaxing, they developed ideas like “you will be a doctor” and “you will have good luck.” I was pretty lucky today going 2 out of 3 games with “you will make a new friend.” We rounded out craft time with pinwheels which turned out beautifully, and later ended up decorating many of the gates and cars up and down the street.

Outdoor playtime drew a lot of attention from the neighbors, as we took over a good portion of the block for sidewalk chalk games.  After initiating one quick round of hopscotch, I stepped back and watched the energy and pure joy flow. Of course, the children were an absolute delight to watch, but the highlight for me was the brief moment of eye contact and subsequent nod of approval from a grandma watching the scene unfold from her balcony.  I thought we were working to bring some extra fun into the day of the kids, but it turns out that we were able to spread the love just a bit further.

25 Screaming Children Take on WaterBoom

On Saturday Nick and I had the pleasure of accompanying 25 kids from Friendship Home to a local water park (along with a few other adults thankfully!).  As I’ve mentioned before, these kind of experiences are rare for them.  I took a poll and most of the kids had only been swimming 2-3 times in their life before.  I’m not kidding, you could feel the anticipation building throughout the entire car ride.  No lie, one little girl vomited almost as soon as we got there.  This was a B-I-G deal for these 11 and 12 year olds…

I had to appreciate the difference in perspectives when seeing things through the eye of a child.  Nick and I agreed that this was perhaps the saddest waterpark we had ever seen.  But looking at those kids wide-eyed and giggling, you would have thought were were at Disney World!  It was such fun to be around infectious joy of that nature.  I dare say they even got to Nick a bit!  :)

We ended up staying at the Waterpark for 4 hours roughly and I kid you not, they were in the water every minute of those 4 hours (except for the 15 minutes when they scarfed down their lunch).  The Wait-to-swim-until-1-hour-after-RULE kept popping into my head, but I quickly pushed it aside.  No way was I standing between these kids and their pool!

The kids managed to convince me to go down the slide with them (something I would NEVER even consider usually).  Let’s just say I was not too excited about this…  After I make it up to the top of the slide and start to push my way over the edge, I feel a kid glob on to my neck.  Guess he thought we were going down together?!  Nick managed to grab a fantastic shot of me grimacing while the kid has me in a choke hold.  PRICELESS!

I must say though, I love this shot the most.  Here is Nick being mobbed by a pack of hyper kiddos.  OMG, are we the whitest people ever?  Remind me not to get swimsuit shots taken again next to dark Filipino children!  It’s blinding…

As always, lots more great shots waiting for you at SMUGMUG!

One Month in at Carewell: On Cancer, Courage & Coaching

Wow, it’s hard to believe, but I just crossed the 1 month mark at Carewell.  In those four weeks I was able to hold seven different group coaching sessions not only for cancer patients, but for their spouses and children as well!

It has been such a gift to spend time with them.  I am constantly humbled and awed by the courage and resilience they display in their everyday lives.  It has really served to put things in perspective for me; to pause and ask, “Is this really such a big deal?” when I am faced with my own life challenges.

As with all new things, there is always a learning curve.  There was differences in how ‘ready’ people were to be coached.  Some dove in deep and fast, finding incredible answers from within.  And as they found their answers, others decided they weren’t ready to explore yet.  While it’s always hard to see someone walk away from coaching, I’ve learned to respect that they will seek it out in their own time.  No matter how much I want it for them, it’s not enough.  They have to make the conscious decision to do their work.  And when they’re ready, I’ll be here greeting them with open arms.

There have been lessons for me as a coach too.  I learned that when doing visualization exercises with Cancer patients, they have a hard time looking 20 years into the future!  Oops… thankfully they have good senses of humor.  I have also improved my ability to stay connected to the client and not let the distractions in the environment pull my attention away.  This is a fairly new skill to me since I do the majority of my coaching one-on-one via the phone.  I’m not used to groups or visual distractions!

The part that has surprised me most is how rigorous they are with holding each other accountable.  I can see that it is a blessing to be able to take the focus off themselves and help another beloved community member step into their best self and take aligned action.  I swear, the person who got coached that week must get 20 follow-up texts throughout the week checking on if they did their homework!  I LOVE IT!  :)

I know that many of these coaching sessions are going to stay with me for a long time to come.  The depth of their experience has created a comfort level with their emotions that allows us to explore things in the first session that I would often only be able to reach by the 10th session with other clients.

Not only does this take great courage, but a real willingness to trust me as the coach.  I’ve had the the opportunity to coach a woman who lost her voice from Cancer but was adamant about being coached.  We crafted a creative system of hand squeezes, pad & paper and input from her husband to make the coaching work.  And the beautiful thing was, it STILL worked.  There was not a person in that room of 15 that didn’t feel the energy shift.  Truly Amazing…

There is a calling for me in this work.  I am proud to realize that I can handle the emotional intensity that accompanies coaching Cancer patients.  Yes, the topics can be heavy….but I can’t think of more impactful coaching work than helping someone make  peace with their issues before death or helping them create a lasting legacy.  This is truly spirit-filled work and I’m learning first-hand from some of the most incredible individuals I’ve ever encountered.

The Long-Awaited Carewell Kick-off

Today was a big day.  It was the start of my pro-bono coaching work at Carewell, a local Cancer Resource and Wellness Community.  If you remember back, I found Carewell in the midst of a personal crisis.  Or maybe I should be cliche and say that Carewell found me.  Well, no matter who found who, it seemed fortuitous that we had been united.

Consequently, I had been anticipating the start of our work together for quite some time and I was afraid that this would be one of those instances that got marred by what I term “The Prom Effect”.  Per my definition, “The Prom Effect” is when you build something up in your head to be larger than life; magical; or earth-shattering.  Let’s just say that this has been a frequent pattern in my life and that I was somewhat scared that Carewell would fall victim to it as well.  Yet I remained cautiously optimistic…

And amazingly, it came through.  There was excitement…and energy…and instant connections…and dare I say it, even MAGIC.  It was grand.  I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

So what was this magical affair, you ask?  Nothing more than an information session about the basics of coaching.  Surprisingly, it managed to pack in quite a crowd, with only a few seats open in the very back of the room.  It was a wonderful mix of cancer patients (Carewell’s members), doctors, caregivers and members of the local community that support Carewell.

And what a crowd they were!  The questions came fast and furious and I found myself delighted to have such an interested audience.  Maybe I do like this public speaking thing!?  All I can say for certain is that it felt wonderful to welcome all these curious souls into my beloved world of coaching.  Let the fun begin!

V-day Parties at Friendship Home!

Just wrapped up part 2 of our two week Valentine’s Day celebration at Friendship Home.  My Mom and Dad helped me kick it off last week when they were in town.  Last week’s party was 1/2 Bingo and 1/2 pouch making.  Mom was instrumental in planning and preparing the activities.  Remind me to never be a teacher, it is way too much work!  But oh did the kids love it.  They were so into it that they forgot to make noise.

Bingo was brand new for 2/3 of them and they took an instant liking to it.  It was great watching the intensity on their faces as they scanned their cards.  The personal highlight for me was listening to my Dad call the numbers.  It was such a fun moment!

The other half of the party was devoted to creating their Valentine’s Day pouch that they’d receive their cards in the following week.  Here’s a sample of what they turned out like:

This week’s party was devoted to creating the Valentines to fill those pouches.  They decorated about 20 hearts each to put into each others’ pouches.  I had brought some small candies to attach to the back of their cards, which was a completely foreign practice to them.  There were smiles all around as their pouches began to overflow with Valentine’s from their friends.  Pretty hard not to feel loved with a bursting pouch!  Remind me again why I used to hate this holiday??  I think I’ll replace it with this new association.  Check out these great pics, they totally capture the excitement and energy.  There are lots more great ones on SMUGMUG in the “Janet and Steve Visit Manila” Gallery.

Are you there Universe? It’s me, Sarah.

Photo by Wisdoc from Creative Commons

I’m sure it won’t come as a shock when I say that I’ve been a bit down lately.  The 6 month mark hit hard, compounded by the Christmas factor.  Thank goodness for Rachel’s visit or it could have been really bad!  I’m pretty sure I set myself up for this disaster by creating one of those “check-in dates” when I told myself everything would be up and running perfectly at the 6 month mark.  Well, surprise, surprise – it’s not!  My business isn’t having the impact I know is possible, I’ve met lots of people but haven’t developed those relationships as well as I know I can and I’m not doing a good time of finding time for me (despite all the help that we employ).  In summary, I still have a lot of work to do!

Alas… I’ve been quite tough on myself, especially around my business.  It’s funny because I tell my clients to be gentle on themselves all the time when they’re in a transition period, yet I don’t follow my own advice.  Hmmm… In fact, recently I had even gotten the idea in my head that God/spirit/the Universe had forgotten about me.  That was the only reason I could think of for why I could feel SO READY for greatness, yet have nothing showing up for me.  And so I pushed and then got frustrated.  And pushed in another direction and then got frustrated.  Rinse and repeat was my motto.  Until I had a great conversation with a friend this week who basically told me to let go of control and just wait to see what showed up.

Lo and behold, 4 days later, I am reminded that there is a bigger plan for my life!  AAAAAAH – EUPHORIA!  Here’s what happened… I was at an AWCP meeting in November where the speaker was from a non-profit called Carewell Community.  They provide support, education and hope to cancer patients and their families who live in Manila.  I was very moved by the organization’s mission, as I’ve lost 3 of my Grandparents  to cancer.  My intuition told me to explore this route, so I finally got around to setting up a tour of the organization this week.

I arrived today to find myself in a meeting with the Managing Director, Robert Suntay.  The non-profit is grounded in Robert’s love for his wife Jackie, whom he lost to cancer in the early 2000′s.  He began Carewell as a tribute to her in 2005 and it now serves 300 patients and their caregivers/families.  It is located just a few blocks away from Makati Medical Center, where the majority of the patients receive their care.

I went into the meeting unsure of what would emerge and left seeing EXACTLY where I fit into the divine plan that was unfolding around me.  After my tour of the facilities, Robert asked me where my volunteering interests lay.  I began to tell him about my desire to use my coaching skills to help the patients process their experience more completely and recreate their identity post-cancer.  As I talked, I watched a smile slowly spread across his face.  Turns out they’d been looking for a coach for a long time without success and he was intimately familiar with my coaching school, The Coaches Training Institute.  Coincidence that I ended up there today? – I think NOT!

We talked for an hour straight, finishing each other’s sentences and speaking faster and faster as the energy in the room crescendoed.  It was electric, I tell you!  Wish you could have been there!  :)  I’ll keep you posted on what develops, but our initial plan is to do a weekly group session with patients where I’ll coach 2 people each time (in front of a group of 10-15 other patients).  I’m imagining that to be quite impactful… He also asked if I’d be open to coaching the oncologists, volunteers and support givers that donate their time.  Looks like I could be quite busy!  Who knew???  THANK YOU UNIVERSE, this is EXACTLY what I need right now!

Holiday Party at Friendship Home

I was in charge of designing a holiday party for the Friendship Home kids.  I was determined to make it highly memorable, introducing the kids to a few new holiday activities.  It didn’t take me long to decide on cookie decorating for the main activity.  Norma was in the kitchen for 2 days baking 60 cookies and making 6 different colors of frosting.  It was absolutely sensational – the kids ate it up, quite LITERALLY!

Their favorite part was the sprinkles, which they’d never seen before.  There was all sorts of curiosity about what they were.  When I demonstrated that they were edible, the kids were awed.  All of a sudden, sprinkles adorned every inch of every cookie!  Just look at these final products!

I thought it would be best to have two stations that the kids rotated betwen, so I came up with an art project as well.  I thought back to some of those classic holiday projects and finally decided upon the one where you wrap a piece of tissue paper around the end of the pencil and dip it in glue to create a Christmas object.  I waffled for a bit and almost didn’t do it because I thought it was too basic, but boy was I glad I did.  It may have been even more popular than the cookies.  Just another reminder that the things I take for granted or consider old and mundane are so fresh and exciting to these kids that have never experienced it before.  So great!  Here are some of their creations….bring back memories?

MN Toy Drive – Help Bennies and Johnnies Stuff the Link!

The CSB/SJU Young Alum Committee invites you to “Load the Link with Toys for Tots” on Saturday, Dec. 19! The mini-Link bus will collect donations at various Twin Cities stores throughout the day, and then head over to KARE 11 studios to be featured on the 10 p.m. news!

Buy a new toy or gift card, look for the white mini-Link in the store parking lot and make a donation!  Gifts for teenagers are especially appreciated. Toys and donations will be collected until 9 p.m.

Please Note: All Alumni and donors are invited to the newscast and following celebration at Cooper’s Pub/Restaurant in Golden Valley.

PLEASE COME SUPPORT TOYS FOR TOTS AND CSB/SJU
Show up in your CSB/SJU gear at KARE 11 studios by 9:45 p.m.

Mini-Link Itinerary:

Week of Dec. 14 to 18

CSB/SJU students, faculty, staff, and Alumnae/i can drop off new toys, money, and gift cards at either campus – Drop sites will be the Gorecki Dining and Conference Center at CSB and Sexton Commons Bookstore at SJU.

Saturday, Dec. 19

CSB/SJU alumnae/i can drop off new toys in the Twin Cities at the following times:

• 9 a.m.  Departing CSB/SJU with the mini-Link

• 10:30 a.m. to Noon  Shoreview Super Target

• 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Woodbury Target

• 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Bloomington Target

• 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  Eden Prairie Target

• 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Plymouth Super Target

• 9:30 p.m.  KARE 11 in Golden Valley

• 10:30 p.m.  Cooper’s Pub/Restaurant in Golden Valley

Amazing IMAX Wows the Kids…And the Adults!

As I lay in bed writing this post, I can honestly say that after 5 hours with 35 eleven and twelve year olds, Nick and I are officially exhausted.  But it’s a good exhaustion, one of those moments of exhaustion where your body has given out but you can’t wipe the smile off your face.  Because I’m pretty sure that today was bigger than Christmas for these kids…. And we all know that it doesn’t get much bigger than Christmas in the eyes of a kid!

As most of you know, I’ve been volunteering at Friendship Home since October.  It’s a home for children and also an after-school latch-key type program.  Our group goes every Wednesday from 4-6 PM and plans some activity to do with them.  Apparently it is tradition to do an extra holiday event each year, with all of the Embassy volunteers chipping in to fund it.  The event this year was a kid-tastic Mall of Asia Spectacular – Lunch at Jollibee (the Filipino version of McDonald’s), some playtime at the mall and a 1 PM showing of The Christmas Carol in 3D at the IMAX Theater.  But most importantly, I finally got to introduce Nick to these great kids!  I may have been just as excited as the kids!

When we arrived at Jollibee at 11 AM, the kids had already arrived and were broken out by table.  We were assigned to a group of 6 of them (pictured above), whom we were in charge of for the entire afternoon.  Lunch was a bizarre mix of Spaghetti and Fried Chicken, which I have yet to understand the appeal of.  The kids were in heaven though, biting every last piece of meat off that bone.  I opted for a Cheeseburger, which came with a strange mayo/thousand island mixture on it instead of the normal fixings.  Hmmm…not understanding the appeal of this place yet.  All that really mattered though was that the kiddos were happy.  Eating out is a very rare occurrence for them, which is hard to fathom coming from the US of A where that can often be a daily occurence.

After lunch we had a good hour to kill before the movie, so Nick and I rounded up our group and decided to go burn some energy out on the playground.  The Mall of Asia sits right on Manila Bay and there happens to be a little playground near the Boardwalk.  Thank goodness, because that’s exactly the type of thing that we needed!  They had a blast, even though in my opinion the playground was pretty crappy – basically it consisted of outdoor exercise equipment.  Very odd.  Didn’t matter though – they would have been content playing with a stick.  Lucky for us, they play amazingly well together.  They act just like brothers and sisters (except they never fight and have crushes on each other, as we learned today).  It’s really quite adorable!

You could feel the anticipation slowly building for the kids.  For many, this would be the very first movie they’d ever been to in the Theater.  And then, on top of that, it was 3D too.  It was all too exciting to handle and manifested itself in the form of non-stop bouncing.  They were wired!  10 minutes before the show we were all handed our goofy glasses and allowed to proceed into the theater.  The kids jaws dropped open as they took in the two-story-high screen.  The excitement just kept coming, as Nick and I surprised them with popcorn next.  The bouncing just kept on going!  :)

At last it was time for the show to begin.  We all put on our glasses and settled in.  The 3D effects were fantastic.  They really added a new dimension for those of us who are intimately familiar with the story (I was quoting the lines along with it, having acted in it 4 years in a row in high school).  They were awed by the things zooming at their faces and stuffing their heads in their shirts when the ghosts came…all in all, it was a heart-warming, fantastic experience.

I am really learning a great lesson here in Manila about how much joy I get in return when I give of my time and financial resources.  I have experienced it in Minnesota as well, but the poverty here really magnifies the impact.  My wish for you this holiday season, is that you will experience a “giving experience” that is equally as heart-warming.  Because all I know is that it doesn’t get much better than this!

P.S. – LOADS more adorable pictures of these kids at SMUGMUG.

Halloween Party at Friendship Home

Wow, my spirits are still soaring after visiting the sensational children of Friendship Home today!  It was a big day – the Halloween Party!  There were 3 stations for the kids to rotate between and I brought bags of candy that they had to do “tricks” to receive!  It was a hoot… I continue to marvel at these kids and the amazing creativity.  Seriously, today’s activities centered around toilet paper, newspaper and paper plates.  These simple activities fueled a solid two hours of dramatic play and interaction between the 20 kids.  A good reminder of the endless play possibilities that exist in the absence of TV and computers and Nintendo!

You can really sense how appreciative the kids are, no matter what we do with them.  There isn’t a child that will complain or cause problems.  They’re totally engaged, the entire time.  Pretty amazing to witness.  So what did we do today?

We made newspaper hats!

We mummified each other with toilet paper!

And we made cool masks (this is Raymark adding some string to his).

I had brought my digital SLR to take pictures of the kids.  It ended up being a very popular item.  One child named Rodrigo took a particular interest in it and spent the majority of the time taking shots with it.  He later told me (as he carried my bag out to the car – he insisted, I swear) that he dreamed some day of buying a camera.  Heartbreaking!  Sweetest kid ever.  I’m playing with the idea of picking him up some Saturday and taking him to Fort Santiago to teach him how to shoot manually.  Wouldn’t that be a fun way to share my new-found skills?  Here’s a picture of the two of us:

I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of how I can take my skills and teach them things.  Here’s a list of some of my skills and my ideas for how to transfer knowledge:

• Singing/Music: I’d really love to find a guitar player and then lead some group songs.  Otherwise I came up with the idea today of buying a bunch of recorders and teaching them how to play and read music.  Seems do-able.
• Theater: We could do a little play perhaps…
• Games: The possibilities are endless, I just need to determine which ones would work best in a group.  Maybe a tournament of some sort?
• Social Media: I think this one may be out since they don’t have access to computers.
• Economics/Business:  ?
• Photography: Maybe I could teach them the elements of photo composition.
• Dancing: Already downloading the music to teach them the electric slide soon!
• Pilates: Hmmm.  I wonder how that would go over?
• Entertaining: Perhaps teach them napkin folding techniques or how to set a perfect table??  :)

As I said before, I’m taking ideas.  I Appreciate the help (and so will the kids)!

More Good Times with the Pinoy Kids!

I think I’ve mentioned this before but the Manila Embassy has a charity organization called the US Embassy Club (USEC).  They sponsor 8 different welfare projects in the city and fundraise primarily through 2 Bazaars per year (one of which is in jeopardy by another impending typhoon this Saturday).  I recently got involved with one of the USEC charities called Friendship Home.  Our group goes once a week and provides after-school activities for roughly 20 children from 4-6 PM.

I can’t tell you how joyful these kids are to be around.  Mind you, many lost their houses this week, so it can be difficult to be joyful right now.  They’re just so open to learning and relish every new experience.  It’s a blast to be around them!  This week I arrived a little before 4 PM and my car was driving down the back street that the home is on.  As we’re passing a neighborhood basketball court I hear someone shout, “Hey, that’s Sarah.  Come on!”  All of a sudden 7 little bodies are running and screaming after our car.  It was the best feeling EVER to be greeted with such enthusiasm (especially since I’d been there exactly 1 time before).  It was hugs and high-fives and huge smiles as soon as I got out of the car, after which I was promptly pulled into the house to start playing.

Good thing I came prepared because I was the only volunteer there from 4-5 PM with 12 hyper children.  There were demands to continue Po Bo Ski Rotten Totten and the boys had decided that they wanted in too.  I wrote up all the jibberish words on the board (they kept asking what the words meant to which I had no reply) and we practiced singing it together.  They had it within 2 refrains.  Then it was time to start the knock-out rounds.  For each game, you end up singing the song over and over until one person is left.  We had 13 of us and played five rounds, so I would estimate that we sang the song at least 60 times.  If I’m being honest, I was a bit horse by the end!

That filled a good half hour but there was still more time free.  Good thing I had BUNCO in my bag!  I introduced the kids to BUNCO for the very first time and we created our own tournament.  They were SO INTO IT!  All of them picked it up quickly and loved shouting BUNCO!  We had to discuss that it wasn’t appropriate to yell this out if you didn’t REALLY have a BUNCO.  Much learning all around.  It was a great afternoon and I feel so fortunate to be interacting each week with these fantastic Pinoy kids (Pinoy is another term for Filipinos).  I better start thinking of what we’re going to do next week.  Any teachers out there have an idea?  I was thinking of doing that age-old science experiment where you make a “volcano” expode using 2 reactive ingredients (can’t remember what they are).  Or maybe we’ll just do an art project… I’m open to suggestions!