Hola Amiga! Welcome to Chile!

For 2015 and 2016 Ontario is twinned with Chile, so we had a meeting to celebrate this link and learn a bit more about our Chilean sisters as our final regular meeting!

As the girls arrived, they finished up their Forests illustrations, stories and skits from last week. We then had our usual opening followed by an active game led by one of the Patrols.

We started the program by learning a little bit about Chile and locating the country on a world map. The girls learned how to count to 10 in Spanish (uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez) and a bit about Guiding in Chile.

Next we learned a bit about the traditional art of Crin Weaving, which uses horsehair to make delicate and intricate patterns. More information can be found here - http://www.participationandexchange.com/working-with-crin-a-chilean-horse-hair-weaving-technique-with-paola-raggo.html. We made a star craft using basic weaving techniques, similar to those used to make a God's Eye. We used white pipecleaners cut into thirds and multi-coloured yarn. If the pipecleaners were gradually folded upwards while weaving, it was possible to make a tiny basket (right).

We then played "Atrapar la Cola", or Catch the Tail. In this game, players are divided into two teams. Each team make a chain, linked by players holding onto the hips or shoulders of the player in front of them. The goal is to keep your chain from falling apart while trying to link up to the end of the opposing team before they link up to you!

Before the meeting, I had made a batch of Cocadas, which are basically a sweet, coconut ball that is baked in the oven. Recipes can be found in various places online. While we had our snack, we read a Chilean Folk Tale aloud - "The Magic of This World" (found at
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20101129/life/11290306)

Then we played another game "Cielo, Luna, Mar", or Sky, Moon, Sea. This game is usually played on a set of stairs, but we taped 3 lines on the floor so the whole unit could play (and it was much safer!). The lines were labeled "Sky", "Moon" and "Sea". A Guider would call out one of these and all the girls had to hop on both feet onto that line. When the next step was called, they had to jump to it (forwards or backwards) with their feet together. Girls were out if they jumped to the wrong line, took an extra step or didn't jump with the rest of the group (we got pretty strict towards the end as all of the girls were really good jumpers!).

Our last activity was another craft. In honour of Senorita Kot we made a beaver (pompom and fun foam) and a flag to go on our camp hats.

The meeting closed with Taps.

1st Caledonia Ranger Review

September was very exciting as we opened the first ever Ranger unit in our town. We have four girls and have had lots of fun so far!

Our first meeting was spent brainstorming ideas over a pizza dinner that we won for coming up with the winning suggestion for the tag line for the new National Service Project (our suggestion was Girl GREENness Starts Here!). One of the first things we decided to do was attend River Crossing in Sombra, Ontario for the first time. Our second meeting was dedicated to making SWAPS for River Crossing. This was a lot of fun and involved going through totes of craft supplies and coming up with unique ideas. We started working on program at our third meeting by looking at Challenge #10 Working Together in the Celebrate Guiding section. This challenge is all about the Twinning projects. We learned about past projects and looked into our new twinning partner countries, Grenada and Curacao. At the end of the month we attended River Crossing - we got lost on the way there, but finally made it. Unfortunately we didn't have the proper paperwork to go across the border to the Michican side of the river - if we go again, we would make sure we could do this!

We started off in October by working on the Twinning Challenges. The girls split into two groups and one group took Curacao and the other took Grenada. Both groups will share what they've learned at our Twinning meeting later in the month. At this meeting we also made foam flowers, which are really pretty - I can't find a pattern at the moment, but I will post one in the future. I wasn't available the following week, so the girls got together at one person's house and started working on the World Guiding Badge from Venezuela as well as picking out program challenges they would like to work on this year. Cookie Selling at Sears came next, where we sold 14 cases of chocolatey mint cookies. Our next meeting was our Twinning Challenge night. We learned about life and Guiding in Grenada and Curacao and tried making fried bananas and nutmeg ice cream. The fried bananas were ok (better with syrup!) - I wonder how they would have been if we could have deep fried them instead of just using a frying pan. For the ice cream, we made ziplock bag ice cream and sprinkled on nutmeg. We had a hike planned for the last weekend of the month, but had to cancel it as it was cold, windy and raining. (This was a very proud moment for me as a Guider, as the Rangers contacted me to tell me they were cancelling the hike instead of my having to make the decision and contact them!)

At the beginning of November two Rangers and I attended Ranger Round-Up at Doe Lake (this was a provincial Ranger weekend with girls from all over Ontario). The girls enjoyed the sessions and activities, the food was great, and the service project really worthwhile. The service project consisted of cutting out and sewing reuseable sanitary pads for girls in Africa.

Our first meeting of the month was spent making Toothbrush bracelets - this went over really well, although we found it is easier to shape the brushes by holding them in a towel rather than using pliers as the instructions suggested. The rest of the meeting was spent planning meetings, our sleepover, and our Christmas party. Our next meeting was spent completing the World Guiding Badge from Venezuela, including making large World Flag puzzles for the Guides to use. In the middle of the month we volunteered at the Christmas House Tour and Bazaar hosted by the United Church Women. We made sandwiches and served soup and sandwiches, cleared dishes, refilled coffee and tea urns, milk jugs and relish dishes. 

The next week we visited the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA to find out about the work they do and about what volunteer opportunities are avaialble for teenagers. We ended the month with a sleepover with the Pathfinders and joined in making 19 dozen cookies for the Out of the Cold Program. The girls ate pizza, talked, danced, listened to music and generally relaxed.

We only had one meeting in December due to the semi-formal dance at the high school and the holidays. The girls gathered at my house to watch a movie and eat Chinese food (always a popular choice!). The movie they chose was The Polar Express.