The penniless peasant & Open Veins of Latin America

The belly dancer came on Friday, but she was late. I was waiting for her while Dorothy read to the kids. When she finally arrived, the kids were excited. At one point she let the kids dance on their own, and they had a lot of fun. I left after story time because there wasnt anything to do at the library. On Sunday Nancy, Alex, and me took the Spears out to eat because they were leaving to Alaska for three weeks.
On Monday, they showed us how to clean the pool and water their plants. We had the magicians come to Chesterfield. They had a story about a powerful sultan and a penniless peasant where they used kids to play the characters. The kid that was the peasant was supposed to say "I have a big heart" when they tapped his shoulder. At the end of the show, they found out he had had a heart transplant and it was his first time coming back to story time. They sent him an award the week after, but he hasn’t come back yet. After story time in Chesterfield, we went to Harvest Daycare. As soon as we got there, one of the kids started talking to us. He said he was from Guatemala, and when he introduced himself he proudly included his two last names just like we do in Latin America. There were 13-15 3 year olds in the room. Apparently the boy from Guatemala had taught the other kids new words like "awesome" and "cool". They all repeated those words every time something happened in the stories we read. Dorothy dropped me off at Walmart, where I met Nancy and Ben. We wrote prices for different products that Nancy needed for her recipe book. Then we shopped for groceries.
On Tuesday, I saw Noemi and Josue again! They were still shy but they liked the magic show. Noemi even volunteered for a magic trick. Their dad is the pastor for a Spanish Baptist church. He said they are building an actual church, since they've been borrowing another place. And with that excuse, he asked me if I could watch out for his kids while he went to the construction site for some materials that had arrived. I kindly reminded him that he wasn't allowed to drop his kids off and leave and that he had to stay until the program ended, but I told him that it was ok if he came back as soon as possible. I noticed Noemi looking for her dad a little scared, but she was quickly entertained with the magic tricks. Their dad came back after 30 minutes, but the program ran longer than expected and was still going when he got back. He was getting impatient and ended up leaving and making my day pretty sad. He could have waited ten more minutes, I feel story time could be very beneficial for the kids; they were starting to like it and to open up. I wished it could be different for them, maybe if their dad valued more that time. I was somewhat upset for the rest of the day and on top of that when we dropped by the Pageland Library, the man was on one of the computers. I don't necessarily like to judge people, but he could have stayed instead of taking the kids out of story time. When I see Josue and Noemi, I remember exactly how it felt to be the kid that didn't speak English. "Como mosca en leche" you'd say in Spanish, and being in the position that I am right now, I'd do anything to make them feel like they belong. Sometimes I feel like I personally have a stake in whatever happens to them, and usually I need to hold back on wanting to overprotect them.

"Latin American children obstinately continue getting born, claiming their natural right to a place in the sun in these magnificent lands which could give to all what is now denied to almost all."
- "Open Veins of Latin America" Eduardo Galeano

On Wednesday, I was a First Steps working on the resource directory. I was very distracted but got to finish most of the work. I called a lot of different agencies; some people thought I was weird, asking all these questions. They wanted to know who I was, so I'd repeat the long story cut short about being a Duke intern, and finally they'd answer a simple question or give me a fax number. Charlotte was visiting, so all the interns in Chesterfield went to eat lunch together. I didn't feel too good after lunch. I kept thinking about the nacho cheese they put on hot dogs from concession stands, the grease, and the heat, all together making me feel like puking. Nancy, Ben, and I went to the pool after work.

Thursday was an interesting day and deserves a whole new post.