Village First...GIRLS SLEEPOVER!!

Sleepover behavior- a universal truth

Trying to do three things at once

To ease the transition (especially with the older girls) over to Meredith, and to spark a future girls club Meredith had the great idea of a Standard VI sleepover! Feelers were put out with parents, girls got excited, and official printed invitations were passed out. We had a meeting with the girls explaining that without their mother's signature they were not allowed into the house, and they must translate everything to ketchi! They were told to bring a dish, cup and some sort of thing to sleep on (most villagers sleep in their clothes so that was really about it).

Sumo fighting

Day of the Sleepover:

I was returning from Belize City from exit medical exams and so Meredith was on her own until I could reach from the junction, grab my hammock and pillow and peddle as fast as I could to help her. The girls were told to arrive after they ate dinner (so we only had to cook breakfast for them) and when I got there they were all there, bouncing around, looking EXACTLY like any other sleepover party!! This was the first time ever the girls have done anything like this and they loved it! They danced, giggled, pillow fighted and talked about boys. I showed them how to do hair wraps and ended up doing all 7 of them. I was just amazed and kept telling Meredith how crazy it was that it was the same as any sleepover, girls will be girls I guess.

Group shot

A Few Little Differences:

There were a few things that were different. First we slept 7 girls and two adults on one full bed, 1 regular sized foam and 1 toddler sized foam and a hammock. Instead of funny jokes keeping the girls up, the girls were making pig noises that they thought were just hilarious! We slept more like hamsters, with me swaying above them in the hammock. They all insisted on keeping both fans (one girl brought her fan) so we did get chilly in the night. In my slumber I reached down and pulled up a blanket, then I woke up to a little mew/moan from the shivering Darlene below me! I gave it back. Secondly we were asleep, all giggling finished, by 11:30 which was way way later than most of them ever stay up on any regular day. One girl, who's family wakes very early and usually goes to bed by 7 or 7:30 was sleeping on the bed at 8:00 unashamedly. Also, Meredith's new neighbor, my host sister Virginia spent a majority of the evening leaning in through the window watching 'a sleepover' and giving ideas and mainly staring at the spectacle of it.

Silly shot number 47

Giving Cynthia her hair wrap

Meredith and I with the girls

Up With the Chickens:

I heard the girls stirring, Larencia (whose family wakes early) was up at 4:30 and I got up a little before 5. Some of the girls slept until 5:30 but by 5:30 we were all awake rehashing stories from the night before, sweeping, cleaning and then making breakfast. The girls pretty much made breakfast, swept, and straightened up without any of our direction (another difference from an American sleepover) and they elected Darlene to fry the eggs (they are all skilled cooks for large groups by around age 10...these girls are 12-14). By 8am they were all home, the whirlwind was over, and we had a few hours to ourselves before the Independence Day celebrations began. We wrapped the girls hair in red, white, and blue for their 30th Independence Day (they have the same colors as us but they say 'blue, white, and red'.

'Supervising' breakfast, darlene with the eggs.

Tortillas and eggs and chocolate drink all made and cleaned up by the girls