Just Another Manic Monday...

Monday, June 23, 2014

We were all up and about by 6:00 am for breakfast in the cafeteria. This morning it was pancakes.

We found Raul first thing to let him know about the water situation in the volunteer house. After a bit of investigation, the culprit was a broken pipe in one of the bathrooms. It took a good part of the day to repair, but by dinner time we were back in business.

After breakfast we met in the amphitheater with all the children and teachers. I was immediately grabbed by six-year old Juliana, she wanted me to sit next to her. She held my hand the entire time. They had their morning worship service. There was a flag ceremony. They sang the anthem song for their school. Our team was welcomed for the week and a few little speeches were given.

The children went off to their classes which start at 7:20 am each day. We went to meet with Claudia de Castro, Director of El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza, the Elementary School program. She also happens to be Raul's wife. It was our orientation session for the week. She gave us her history with El Hogar and shared some personal stories. We also bounced a few ideas off of her. I thought she was going to start crying when we asked her if we could take the kids to a movie. Pizza night was our other suggestion. Claudia was going to figure out logistics and let us know if the timing would work out. She also gave us an update on Anthony, the boy we brought home from McDonald's. As of that morning they had not been able to contact his mother and no one had come knocking at El Hogar's door looking for him.

Claudia, the director of El Hogar

Two of us were helping out today as teacher's aides in the fourth grade. Claudia walked us over and introduced us to Profesor Karen. She spoke no English, but somehow we managed to communicate. The classes are run the same way as in the United States. They switch subjects every hour throughout the day.

My challenge for the day came in the form of a boy named Gael. Profesor Karen gave me his binder and the worksheets she wanted me to do with him. Gael spoke no English and my six years of high school Spanish really didn't help me, but we muddled through a reading comprehension page and two word search puzzles. I was asked to write a review of him when I was done. Classes end at 3:00 pm. The rest of the afternoon was free time for us. I took advantage by signing onto the wifi and checking out what was going on at home.

Gael, my student for the week.

Dinner tonight was the usual rice and beans, cheese and fried plantains. I had two plantains. My stomach was starting to feel a bit wonky. Which I expected. Two members of the team had spent the day in the volunteer house nursing their stomachs.

The school had four different dormitories divided by age group and gender. Each night after dinner we had a special activity with each dorm. Tonight was dorm one, the little guys. Mix six-year-olds, paper plates, glue and glitter and you get one sparkly, rambunctious mess of fun.

Coloring was also a favorite activity.

Simultaneously while the dorm activity was going on, we had special groups to spend time with. One member of the team had brought her guitar, so she was helping a special group with music lessons.

Music lessons

I went with two other members of the team to instruct six students in English. They were in training to be tour guides for the school. This group was very enthusiastic and eager to learn. At the same time they were a goofy bunch.

Goofy tour guides in training.

We had our first thunderstorm of the trip as we were finishing up for the night. We headed back to the volunteer house. It felt good to take a warm shower and get into bed.