I been busy! Christmas preparations 2018 Dec. 14, update

Preparations for the scholarship students Christmas party are in full swing!

Every January, Punta Chivato has held a rummage sale for their projects and kindly donate all the leftovers to me. I separate them by size.













Here are some of the goodies they will get: a dental assistant donated 25 tubes of crest toothpaste....I bought sox for the boys and makeup for the girls, all of them will get first aid bandaids etc. and this year I asked all the sponsors to give me an extra $10 and each student gets a brand new San Diego or California themed t-shirt. My mom helped me get those this year.











Then comes the challenge of begging everyone to bring the presents down...thank goodness, this year, many angels came to the rescue! Mike came down with a HUGE load and even Keith Berkley, whom I have never met, and who owns the new black bass lodge in Punta Abreojos, kindly met up with my Mom and figured out a way to get 3 suitcases full of clothes, shoes and pots pans dishes to Abreojos!










So, bajamama, whom I have also never met, convinced her son to donate some truly beautiful clothes. Thanks so much!!! She dropped them off at the corner restaurant on highway 1. The owner then sent the suitcase with a trusted friend from La Bocana and it ended up on my doorstep. Baja Magic. And Zac from Bahia Asuncion got my stuff here too! More Baja Magic! Thanks doesn't come close to my appreciation.




















Now I was ready to start packing, Les helped me get boxes from the grocery store and it took about 3 weeks to get all the boxes together. In the meantime, I had had students decorate bags over the summer and then are what I used for the smaller items like toothpaste and makeup and combs etc. for the gents. On the right side of the table are the new t-shirt gift boxes each student will get...that is the only splurge - there is a woman who makes these boxes for me.











Right now I have a gazillion parents wrapping each and every shirt shorts pants at their house. I supply the wrapping paper and tape, they wrap someone else's child's gifts so that they don't see their own kids' goodies.

The boxes are being wrapped and ribbons that MMc donated are going on the outside. Pics of those later but suffice it to say, they are bee you tee full.


I thank you all for your kindness in helping me make this celebration happen. The students have been working so hard both in college and the 8 new kids who will be starting college this fall. There are 9 because one studies English with us and wanted to be in the photo LOL










Here is MMc when he came to visit us bringing down all the stuff Mom had bought or been given for the kids. This is by far the biggest group I have ever had but they are each so kind, so smart and so wonderful...









[Edited on 12-14-2018 by BajaBlanca]

Got absolutely everything down south and in the students' boxes. We are ready for Sunday....

The cooperative donated money for buying the breakfast items which one of the student's grandparents will make. Chunky and Jose own El Restaurante de Chunky in town and the food is excellent! Machaca de pescado, machaca de res and much more on the menu. Homemade beans, fresh tortillas and huevos mexicanos.

We shall have a variety of juices: My friend Mary donated cukes and Chunky will make cucumber juice. Neighbor Linda will make Jamaica juice. Parent Ana will make an agua but I don't know which fruit and lastly, my good friend Anna Fischer will make her delicious lemonade.

The plan is to have breakfast at 9:30 ish.

Then photos and I give my yearly spiel on expectations, congratulations to those students who shone, the theme this year is finish school within the 9 semesters and focus on the job you want. I have a local friend who might give a talk about what qualities a successful businessperson needs, and how to plan for retirement since he and his wife retired well at 50!

I wish Alexis, a graduate from the very first ever group to be in this college eduacational project and who already is working at a dream job could be here but he is working and doesn't get time off yet!!

Of course, in between the topics I will be talking about, there are gifts to be opened, clothes and shoes to be chosen and tons of school material for them to get - the notebooks, the pens, the pencils that many of you have donated!