Cheerful Giving: This is why it’s worth it: La primera semana de jardín

On Monday we finally started jardín! And, like I had hoped, the kids are already making me feel like my time here is worth it to me and them.

I’m in the Sala Roja helping with the 3-year-olds. I guess God and the sisters were thinking the same thing as I was. Paraguay is a bilingual nation, with Spanish and Guarani both being official languages. In many of these kids’ homes they predominantly speak Guarani, so Profa. Gladys (the teacher) talks very slowly and simply in Spanish when she gives directions, asks questions and teaches songs—so basically everything. How PERFECT (or as I love to say “perf,” which happens to translate into Spanish just the same as English) is this for me?! Since this was the first week and was first time a lot of the kids have been away from their parents, class was only one hour. This basically gave us time to raise the flag, sing songs, play, eat and pray. Oh, and to cry of course. This week almost all of the parents stayed for the entire time, although Gladys has been slowly helping them and the kids realize that it’s not really necessary for them to be in the classroom. Day five and I think we only had two or three criers out of 20 something. Not bad!

Sala Azul (4-year-olds)

Sala Roja (My Classroom) and Gladys

Parents and kids waiting on the first day.

Playing and building.

Time to head home.

Tren de las ninas.

And los ninos.

Although I loved meeting all of the kids, I’ll admit that I already have a favorite. Natalia or Nati is in the 3-year-old classroom with me, and the sisters said she will be my hija (daughter) adoptivo for the year. Nati lives with her parents in a house not too far from the sisters and the jardín, and the sisters have kind of taken her under their wings. Even though I’ve only known her for five days now I already love her, and I hope that I can help her as much as I know she’s going to help me.