posin' bros

check out this calvin klein model i found laying in the grass in chichigua. it's MEMSKIES (obviously said with Ambiorix's slurrish accent). who knew he was mag ad ready? may have to squeeze in a few runway lessons in the next few days...

not to mention his brother, sergio, who I found soaking up a little R&R in his bath tub. i swear i heard him say, "ain't no thang..." or "it's all good" or something to that effect. or maybe that's just what i'm reading in his face...

i do believe these brothers are ready for some lights, camera, action.

chichigua

love me a good day in the chigs, or chichigua (for first timers, one of the villages where Makarios students come from)...

whether loving on memo (we never shower him with affection - can you tell?)...

or making ambiorix be tranquilo with me...

or laughing with sweet yaina...

or throwing wilne and manuel up in the air...

...it makes my heart happy.

we also paint church benches with groups, eat sugar cane, and simply harass the children. we take a few photos sometimes too...have a look see. you'll love it too.

bringing sassy back

we're bringing sassy back. revised justin timberlake lyrics roll through my head (and sometimes out of my mouth) when these ladies are around.

the bikinis on nicol and nayelis - seriously? they are 3 years of age. sass-a-frass.

nelisa is playing all serious in my shades. in reality, she is a gigglin', playful munchkin and has been rumored to look like shrek when she dons a big smile. love her, love her, love her.

nicol and yunairi, my miniature divas. hands on their hips and their lips puckered up.

but en la realidad, nicol and yunairi are still a couple of miniature babes, strolling along the calle...with pacifiers in their mouths and cornrows atop their heads.

los interns

So, we are already halfway into the summer and I haven't introduced the interns. Pardon me for my tardiness. Expected though, right?

Charlie and I have been living it up in the Mak house this summer with these folks, and they're okay. Oh wait, they're awesome. They are teaching ESL and coaching soccer teams in the villages and working at the summer camp at the school. Meet Lily, Annie, Angela and Daniel from Master's College. And Margaret, from our own alma mater, UT. Whether Lily's learning a new meaning to an English word or Margaret's performing an SNL skit or Daniel thinks we really did create a profile for him on E-Harmony, we all laugh a lot together, and that is good.

los interns with their fearless leader, Lauren

los interns beaching it with some of the Makarios estaff in Cabarete

el verano

a mi me gusta el verano. we all do. check out these chilluns, relaxin' all cool.

it's not exactly COOL per se...it's actually HOT as blazes. and for this reason, we have hit the beach in the morning with the estudiantes...

and gone cliff jumpin' at the river in the afternoon...

in reality, we actually have to trabajar (or work). groups or teams from los Estados Unidos come every other week to work/serve/play in the villages and community. here's a little puppet show action (yunairi came to the show at the school to have a look see), some craft fun in chichigua, and standard grass cutting with machetes.

on "non-group" weeks, we hold a summer camp in the school. i am teaching science, and the theme of our first week was animals. thus, we discussed animal life cycles. lisela and miguel angel are learning how to make bird nests.

to add to our summer fun, we rented a car for our last semanas in country, and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. even when we encounter flat tires after our weekend getaway to santiago...

until next time...besos y abrazos.