An update of sorts

I spent a lot of time at home today, and it was really nice to enjoy some time by myself. I got the time to edit a lot of photos that I had not given myself time to, which has been fun. Also I have spent some time drawing today, which I have not done since last year.

A couple of weeks ago I started teaching a class at the university here in Balti. It is starting to pick up and I look forward to the discussions we will be having. The focus is American Film: Studying American History and Culture Through Film. Click the link to our blog. I keep it pretty basic. The focus is for them to get a better idea of America's history and culture while improving their English skills. The course is largely discussion based. The class has also allowed me to develop a relationship with the woman who works at American Corner (a sort of library resource center from the US Embassy). things seem to be piecing themselves together well.

At Evrica, the street children center where I work, we have spent the last couple of months planning an outreach-based project. We have so many resources available in our center, but the public and possible beneficiaries do not know we exist. We hope to get our name out to the community in order to attract more children to the services of our center. It is an interesting idea. We plan to simply advertise, but the bigger portion of the project will include local partners playing a large role. These will largely be the workers of bars and stores as they see street children begging and selling flowers more than others. Instead of asking them to leave they can provide them with information on our center, and if they are interested they can call us. They will also be given a mini training on how to approach street children most appropriately. The social assistant and psychologist will check in regularly with these community partners for information. We believe that this will lead to more children receiving the services we offer, thus alleviating the problem more aptly in our community. I am hopeful we will have success in this project. We have the interview for the project this coming Saturday, and soon after we will find out if we will receive funding.

I have not been exercising but have been eating pretty healthy. It snowed again yesterday, and so I have kept to the house. Here I tend to cook a lot more than I used to. I do feel a bit guilty for not running more often, but I hope to do so more often when it warms up.

This dude wants chocolate

Boy: By me chocolate!
Me: Chocolate? Why? I don't want any.
Boy: For us to eat, why don't you want it?
Me: I don't have an appetite.
Boy: You don't have an appetite, I have an appetite!
Me: Find a job. Make money.
Boy: Nobody will accept me to work.
Me: Okay, try harder.
Boy: I will try.

I bought this kid a Snickers last week. Now he thinks I'm going to do it every time I see him. Whoops! He is pretty cool though, so maybe another time.