7/13/12
It was our first day back in
Guayaquil after a trip to Quito and I needed a haircut. The unique thing about the haircut was the
lady that cut my hair came to the house we are staying at. It was a different
experience getting my haircut where I am staying; it shows me how different our
cultures can be. After we were ready we went to Mi Cometa for a meeting
with the kids. The meeting was to introduce the photography project to the
kids. My mother came with us so that she could explain the project to the kids. Arriving
at Mi Cometa we had to get the keys from Andres to open the upstairs room. The
kids arrived around 1:30 and started to come in one by one. Martin went with a
few of the girls to get drinks and snacks while my mom and I waited for the
rest of the kids to get there. Finally, pretty much everyone showed up and we
were able to begin. We started the meeting with a name game where we had to say
our name then followed by our favorite fruit. I couldn’t think of anything so I
just said “Melon”. Then
Martin asked the kids if they had any questions for my mother or I. They had
asked our favorite color, what I study, and where I go to school. We started
the meeting by telling them about the cameras. We explained the two types of
cameras and how they work. We then explained the type of work we were going to
be doing with the camera and followed up with the main goal of the project. We
then broke off into groups to make a list of rules for the camera. We sort of
made it into a contest making it girls versus boys. We sat at the boys circle
and they were saying some pretty crazy stuff that would make all of us laugh.
One of the boys said, “Don’t take the camera into the bathroom”, which was
pretty much implied but I told them they could write it just in case. We
finished with that little game and then shared our rules with the whole group.
Most of the girls answers were nice and a few basic rules. They said things
like, “take pictures of flowers, people, and other beautiful things”. The boys
were more focused on the actual rules of the cameras; it was interesting to see
the comparison in the thinking of the kids. We then passed out snacks for the
kids and while I did that Martin had the kids take a picture, with the digital
camera, of the person to the right of them. My mom demonstrated first and the
kids learned quickly. Our meeting was
pretty much done after that so we did a few icebreakers. We played the “Cow”
and “Ninja” game. The Cow game went by pretty fast because it is a trick that
is played on one of the kids. During the game I had to take one of the kids
outside so my mom could explain they were playing a trick on him. I took
Geovanny to the roof and was able to have a conversation with him. I found out
that he plays volleyball and soccer. I told him one of the days I come I will
play with him. I also asked if he has a girlfriend, but he said no. Then I
said, “Tienes dos novias?” he laughed at me and agreed. I was glad I was able to
connect with one of the kids because during the meeting I felt so distant
because I wasn’t speaking much. The
Ninja game took a little longer, but the kids really enjoyed it. I was one of
the winners along with Andres. We then told the kids the schedule for us being
able to work with them and had them all write it down. We closed the meeting
and the kids roamed free for a while. Some of the girls asked me what my
favorite type of music was and I told them I didn’t really have a favorite
type. Then a little later two of the girls wanted to take a picture with me so
I gladly agreed to. Then, Geovanny came running in so we took a group photo it
was pretty cool. I had to bend down a lot though because I tower over all the
kids. All in all it was a great day and the kids were super excited to meet us.
I look forward to working with all these kids for the next few weeks.
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