One more knitting photo

Here are several kids waiting behind the curtain for the fashion show to start. From left to right: Darlene (Titi), Melvin, Carina, Rubieli, and Melisa.

exposicion de tejer

Today was the knitting exposition!

The knitting class has been planning this for months. As they talked about renting dresses, model runways, fake nails, and big hair I thought they must be joking; certainly they were trying to pull one over on me. But as the day grew closer, I realized this was totally serious.
So, we decorated the Salon Comunal (community center) with balloons and puffy yarn balls (like the ones you'd put on top of a stocking hat). We marked off a runway with finger-knitted cords. And we had a knitted fashion show.

I'm guessing that over 100 people came; many had to peak in through the windows. We gave out prizes for the most creative (a knitted skirt!) and most corageous (one funky mitten). And everyone received a gift (a pair of socks, a ball of funky yarn, and a hair thing).

People are already talking about our next knitting exposition. They all seem to agree that we need to do it on the basketball court, so that everyone can see better. One guy suggested that we do a knitting drama, a girl asked if we could do a dance, another suggested we invite a preacher.

The girls are lined up as one of the first girls models on the stage.

Melvin was the only boy in show. He won third prize for the best knitted item for his black, wool hat.

The knitted skirt and belt!

Wanda models a too small, multi-colored hat.

These church guys provided music before and after the show.

Jose Quezada gave a spontaneous speech.

The crowd joining in with the music.

Dia de Ninos

At all the schools, they've had a Dia de Ninos (Kids Day) as their last day of school before Christmas break. In Piedra Blanca de Hatillo, the school where most kids from Los Higos go, they had kids day last Friday.

The kids came dressed in their best clothes and a lot of the girls got their hair done (on Thursday I saw lots of girls walking around Los Higos in curlers). In one classroom, a sound system was set up and the kids danced. Others played basketball or volleyball in the yard.

At one point, the kids all lined up to get apples (shown in the picture above is Chipo after he went through the line). The fruit was donated by a politician. Before they handed it out, the director and a political worker both gave little speeches explaining that this particularly politician really cares about children that live in villages and that he wanted them all to at least get an apple for Christmas.

The picture below shows Paola and her apple. She saved all the seeds out of hers and gave them to me. I laster planted them in a couple little bags for her, along with a few tomato seeds, just in case the apples don't sprout (which I doubt they will).

Panaderia de Lola

We've been trying to work with Lola to start a small baking business in her home. She has hit hard times in the last few years and really has no way to support her family, but she herself brought up the idea of baking.

We originally thought the business would be running by now, but I'm learning that my expectations for how long things should take are never fulfilled, so I need to change those expectations. Anyway, it took a long time to get her stove fixed and hooked up, but it's finally connected.

Today we spent a good portion of the day at her house planning the business with her. We've decided to start by first making banana bread and chocolate (hot water) cake. We also helped her to make a display box out of cardboard. As we made the box, it was so fun to hear her and her family come up with ideas for how they will market what they bake. It sounds like the sign on the box (shown below) is going to become their logo-- they want to print little logos to put in every package they sell and eventually want to make a wooden sign with the logo out by the road with an arrow pointing to their house.

Luis Emilio, Lola's youngest son (shown with her in the very top picture), recently had an accident. He got kicked by a donkey and broke several bones in his face. He is still recovering and has tried to go back to work, but can't do the work because he gets dizzy when he does hard physical labor. He is getting really excited about this baking business, though, and is thinking he'd like to stay home with Lola and help her get the business going. It's really encouraging to see her family supporting her in this way.

Meri's new cabinets

Meri got cabinets in her new house. I think it makes it look a lot more like a house. She'd been putting away money every time Ramon gave her some to pay for the cabinets.

Tire gardens

Fighting off chickens has always been a big challenge in our garden. They do a lot of damage, so we've resorted to only planting things that chickens don't like (cilantro, radishes). I'd been communicating with a missionary in Haiti asking him what he does to control chickens, and he gave me the idea of constructing raised structres and planting in them, so that the chickens can't reach them. He uses old tires to hold the soil, so we decided to try the same thing with the club.

We divided in four groups to construct the 'tire gardens'. The main challenge was making a structure that was tall, yet stable, and strong enough to hold the weight of the soil once it was in the tire. We have two tire gardens that I think will pass the test (Willy is shown with one above in which he's trying to put wood across the bottom to hold the soil in) and below is a picture of one of which I won't be surprised when it falls.