December endings

Success in Los Perales:
Carina finished her bag. Remember this was made from some worn out trousers.

Since the three women (chicas) in Los Perales have finished their bolsas, they have now moved on to bigger things. Vanesa wants to learn to make roses out of ribbon so I have a YouTube sight ready and the needed tools. 

Veronica is sewing a dress though so far it has been a disaster. She didn't cut anything on the fold, and she cut two raglan sleeves for the same side. She is going to buy more fabric this week. They often want to do things on their own without help. I admire that but sometimes that means doing things the hard way. 

I made a pattern from a blouse that Vanesa likes. I'm not sure she is ready to sew a blouse and wear it, but I don't feel right about discouraging her either so we'll give it a try. (I'm usually wrong on their abilities.) Fortunately, I took a pattern construction class at BYU and have made many of my own patterns. It works as long as I have something to start with like an article of clothing that fits.

Bug bite update:


We figured out the bite problem....we had fleas. Gross, I know, but I think we got a handle on it. We haven't had any more night bites since we treated all the bedding early last week and I plan to do  another treatment this week in case there are any larvae waiting to hatch. Do you remember that Romeo the dog died?  So sad especially for Yuca's kids. However, we think he had fleas so after he was gone, the fleas were looking for another host.

We also spray the truck with mosquito killer before we go in it and again on the way home  when we're gone for a long time like to Los Perales. We use repellent every day and Gregg uses it every time he goes outside even to the burn barrel.  It's working well. 

We got a few bites at the kids school performance last Friday because we were outside so long. The program lasted 2 1/2 hours and the repellent only works on Gregg for about an hour. However, 4 or 5 bites is tolerable while 50ish is beyond sanity. I used allergy medicine for a few days but I couldn't tell if it worked. We have a mosquito bite suave that we brought with us. Baking powder with water works too. 

We also watch for ant trails by the outdoor chairs. We were sitting to put our boots on and getting ant bites. The house and garden killer works well to divert the ants away from the chairs.

Spanish Skills:

We started reading Preach My Gospel in Spanish each day to pick up more Spanish. It is much simpler than scripture or Conference talks and has been very helpful to increase our vocabulary. Here is a link if you don't know what we're talking about: https://www.lds.org/manual/preach-my-gospel-a-guide-to-missionary-service/what-is-my-purpose-as-a-missionary?lang=eng  

Of course we still work on Pimsleur and Duolingo everyday also. Gregg is doing awesome, I still need a translator at church and when conversing with fast talkers (almost everyone). Today the Relief Society President (the lady over the women at church) told me that by June I wouldn't need a translator. "Espero que si!"

End of year program:

The kids usually wear these jackets over their clothes. They are called dust covers. Don't they look professional?


The props and drop backs you see are for a play the kids acted out at the end of the program.








Sofia is 12 and finished with primary school moving on to secondary school. The kids attend a boarding school for secondary education during the week and often are back at the ranch on weekends. We will miss Sofia in our English class. She doesn't look too sad about graduating though. What do you think?


First they had a celebration for Argentina singing some of their national songs.


Then presents were given to Sofia since she is graduating and the three youngest children who just finished their first year. It took a good 45 minutes for the presentation of the gifts. The giver and receiver posed for pictures for every gift and there must have been 30-40 gifts. They sure love their students.

Then the play began.



It was a combination of the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood along with some butterflies, bunnies, and birds.





Candela was Little Red Riding Hood.

Sophia was Granny.

Gabe was the big bad wolf.



The costumes were really quite spectacular.

We didn't stay for the BBQ. It was almost 10 PM when the play ended and we were getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes.


Waist not want not. Just thought you would want to see our fix for not being able to see the clock at night. There is only one outlet in the bedroom so everything that needs electricity has to be close to the outlet. Some items from the states need a transformer which you see on the ground.


Painting Gates:

Before


After
We've painted 3 of the nine gates.