Christmas at the Casita

I made mention the other day of a special Christmas activity we did with the children in the after school program during my sister's visit.

An extremely generous surprise gift from my grandparents made its way to Ecuador and to the kids at the Casita de Chocolate:

For kids in the States, I think the anticipation for Christmas Day builds up because they're hoping for shiny new toys from Santa; clothing isn't usually at the top of their Christmas list. Things are a little different here. Just look at the excitement on these faces:

(Okay, so the guys were being all "cool" and studly at the moment. Don't be deceived by the deadpan stare; they are pumped about their new outfits.)

That's more like it!

They really valued these gifts. Lots of children here belong to large families and wear mostly hand-me-downs. It's out of the ordinary to get your very own, brand spanking new outfit. For many of these kids, this was the nicest - or only - Christmas gift they received.

And they have something to say about that...



Maicol: Well, thank you for the clothes, for the calculators, have a good Christmas, hope you are doing well, take care, and thank you for everything.

Sara: Thank you for the clothes, thank you for the sandals, I hope you're doing well, thank you for the bracelets, and I hope you have a very nice Christmas.

It was a big deal for the kids to want to send a message on video; they're usually fairly shy about addressing the camera. But they were so excited and wanted to say a big thank you to Gram & Ril! So excited, in fact, that I'm afraid some of them got a little confused as to what they were supposed to do with their gifts...

Or maybe it's just a brother thing? - and one that crosses cultures, too...here's my own freaky brothers as proof:

The kids kept pestering me to have a turn at giving their own little thank you speeches...



Aarón: My name is Aaron, thank you for the clothes, I belong to the after school program, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.



Lucía: Thank you for the toothbrushes, I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and thank you for the clothes and the bracelets, have a Merry Christmas, and I also thank you for all the clothes, for everything you've given us, thank you very much.

These gifts made Christmas extra special this year, and the kids will certainly get a lot of use out of them every day at home and at school. I'll echo the niños and say Muchas gracias!