Team Madrid 2010: English Camp Day 1 & 2

Yesterday was our first day of English camp. I have a group of 5-7 year old girls for the two weeks. I will be with them during passport time, snacks, lunch, and song time. The other part of the time I am assisting with crafts. I am very excited about this and hope to the see children express some creativity with their work :) Michael has a group of 5-7 year old boys for the same activities and he helps out with Sport, which suits him perfectly. It was fun to see the children become more excited about camp and learning English as the day progressed. One of my little ones was very shy at the start of the day and seemed to not understand anything I was trying to say/ask but when the time came to say goodbye she was comfortable and was speaking some English. Though we enjoyed our day at camp, we were exhausted and a little hot :). After camp was over the monitors & service team (camp staff) went out for ice cream to celebrate Kendra’s birthday (and to cool off:)). I enjoyed being able to catch up to my other team members and see how their stay had been so far.
Carmen and Andrea were waiting for us when we arrived back home and the 5 of us headed to the pool. Yesterday I actually ventured into the pool; it was very refreshing after a long day of keeping up with the little ones. It has been a blessing to have access to a pool as the sun is up much longer over here.
Today was day two of camp and things are continuing to go well. I became very tired in the early afternoon and was not sure I was going to make it to the end of the day. Thankfully there was coffee in the teacher’s lounge to give me a boost for the rest of camp. This evening I was able to take a siesta and feel much better :)
Every day of camp we visit a different country. Yesterday the kids went to the United States where they learned about the Rocky Mountains, baseball, and animals found in the mountains. Today the kids learned about England. They learned about bugs, reptiles & soccer. We participate in group song in the morning and at the end of camp. We are having a lot of fun.
Please pray for the communication between myself and my group of girls. I know only a few Spanish words and most of my girls know a little English and it is difficult sometimes to answer questions or direct them where they need to go. Michael could use pray for energy in working with his group of boys. The boys don’t always want to participate in the activities and would rather be running around. You can also pray for the health of our team. It is very hot over here and none of the buildings we are in have air conditioning.
Below are some pictures of camp :)

Story time with Whitney