The Gullywasher is actually about about Mexican vaqueros (I hadn't read the description carefully enough!). The kids were fascinated by On the Pampas and My Mama's Ranch on the Pampas, and we had a great discussion about how calves are birthed and what cesarian-sections (in cows) are. I thought Gauchada was a beautiful book about Argentine culture and just loved this explanation:
Mate is a tea, and I drink it daily. My kids were surprised to learn that most people in the US don't drink it and that it comes from Argentina.
I spent a summer in Argentina, and it is a country dear to my heart. It was so fun to both take time to pray for my friends there and share some of what I love with my own children. We also took time to write to our Compassion children in Ecuador. We watched some travel videos about Buenos Aires and some of Planet Earth about the Galapagos. And I pulled out old photos to show the kids the Iguazu Falls!
Juanito's narration:
La niña va a visitar su abuelo y abuela y va a las Pampas. Y el abuelo traerlos en su camión a su prima. Y la prima tiene un caballo y después de un tiempo, la otra niña tiene un caballo. Y quiere un cinturón con coins y initials como un gaucho. Toman un huevo de ñandú y cocinarlo para un pastel para su abuela. Tienen una fiesta para su abuela. En la noche, la última noche, el gaucho muestra a las niñas las estrellas del Southern Cross. El último día, ellos le dieron relatos de un caballo y buckle con initials y un cinturón con monedas.
- On the Pampas
Rosie's narration:
Un guacho hace una collar de una luna. El gaucho bebe mate. El gaucho da un collar a la abuela. La abuela dale a la mami. La mami dale a la niña. La luna es para muchos amigos.
- Gauchada
I attempted to make empanadas, and we also had scalloped corn thanks to Extending the Table.
And then I made alfajores! Since Rosie can't have lactose, I also made coconut dulce-de-leche (it came out a little runny, so I made most of the alfajores with store-bought dulce de leche).
For co-op activities, we played a Chilean sidewalk game from Sidewalk Games Around the World.
Then, in addition to coloring pages (Argentina, Gaucho and dancer), we mimicked the artwork from Cuevas de las Manos.
Next we are heading to Asia!
Here are the previous countries in the series:
About Hannah Hinojosa...Hannah is a long time Compassion sponsor and writes about her sponsorship journey at Because of Shamim. In addition to being a wife and mother, she is a part-time math professor and loves to read.
