Optical Design

The girls have loved all the coloring activities lately. So I found an activity to challenge them to create their own unique works of art, while at the same time learning about shading and how to use colored pencils.

The terrific art tutorial website where I found this activity: 

http://juliannakunstler.com/art1_opt_des.html

Durian

After years of waiting I finally got to try a fresh durian!!! It tasted like almond custard with a hint of sulfur, and had the consistency of an avocado. The skin is tough and painfully spiky. It tore up my hand cutting in to it. Definitely not my favorite food, but I am still so excited to finally get to try it.

Shortcake

A blast from my past hits the Philippines. In a resent care package, my family sent me some activity books for the girls including a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book. The center had 26 girls which was making my Saturday workshops really expensive to keep novel and interesting. So I took box cutters and cut out all the pages in the coloring book to make a unique activity packet for each girl. They colored frantically for 2.5 hours straight until every single page was colored and proudly displayed.

Gordon College Graduation

I went to Olongapo City's college graduation today. The Filipino class schedule is different then the US. Their school year ends in April (hence the graduation), and their summer break is during the hottest part of the year (April-June). And let me tell you it is definitely heating up here. The age range of students also differs slightly from the US. The Filipino department of education is currently making changes to the school system, lengthening the time children spend in school. However, for now there is no junior high, so students can graduate high school by age 16. Thus college students range from 16 to 20+ years old.

Collage

The girls got to transform some of their destructive energy into self expression. The girls created a visual representation of their ideal world through collage. Even though the center had a few old magazines lying around, it was the first time they had ever had a collage workshop. It is always really special to be a part of introducing something new to the girls and staff. Thank you again to all my family who sent box after box of old magazines halfway across the work to make this day possible.