Local Schools, Good Chicken and Shopping: May 2, 2007

Today was a good for the soul day. We visited local schools. Before we left for this trip, we were told about the schools we would be visiting. The director of our sponsor school asked us if we could bring supplies or gifts to the local schools. They are poor and do not have much in terms of supplies. So we all scrounged up what we could find and brought it to the schools. We compiled over 1000 pencils and erasers, notebooks, toys like bubbles, slimy worms, frogs, and ants, supplies for teachers, and lots of books. My mom is a teacher and she gave me all of the books she doesn't use (mainly because they are too advanced for her preschool kids... talk about heavy luggage!).

So we divided it up between three schools that we were visiting. A lot of the supplies were for elementary aged students. It was nice to be able to give something to them because they were allowing us, foreigners, into their schools.

The first school we visited was a small school in the mountains. They were so excited to have visitors that they put on a show for us! The older students did a traditional dance in the auditorium for us. It was fun to see because the younger students were so impressed and all wanted us to come and be apart of their school. They were so inviting. The school's director was out for the day due to illness so a teacher showed us around. Their playground consisted of two swings and monkey bars, for the whole school. I believe it was a K-8 school. Their supply closet was part of a small classroom that was basically one wall of shelves that was half full. Even though they didn't have much these students loved school. Most of the students would only come half day and then work the rest of the day in the field with their families. We take for granted our schooling.
We were also supposed to have breakfast with them but their water and electricity was out due to construction. They kept apologizing for that. It was just an eye-opening experience because think about what would happen if a school in the States electricity or water went out... we would call some company to come fix it and it would be out for an hour at the most. Theirs was out for five days and yet they still had school. They showed up when they could. The thing about it was I felt sad but realized that they aren't really upset about their limited resources. They do what they have to do. It was encouraging to see this attitude, it was an appreciation for what they had. (I am really trying not to sound like an ugly American and I hope I dont. It was a reflection on myself that maybe I wasn't appreciative about what I had... )

The next school we went to was a K-6 school in the city. Talk about being crowded. We arrived right when the youngest were going down for a nap. They all have uniforms and you can tell what level they are based on the style or color of the uniform. We visited the younger ones and then moved to the older aged classrooms. A visiting futbol team was there and we took pictures with them because they were all dressed in their uniforms. We then went to another classroom and met the older students. I felt bad because they would ask us questions or say something to us and our one Spanish speaker was zooming all over the place helping translate.

Then we visited a high school. The assistant director showed us around the school. They had a gym, a pool, and a huge basketball court. We went into a home-economic classroom where they were working on a project of raising babies. They had the kind that cried and needed to be fed and changed. It was funny because when we showed up the boys had to watch them. And when they saw us, they were trying to flirt with one member in the group. They would try to pass the babies off to the baby's "uncle" and then talk to her. It was funny to see because the girls were inside rolling their eyes and laughing at them. Nice to see hormones and humor is the same in all countries.

After the wonderful school visits we went to eat lunch. We went to Pollos Mahle and had the best roasted chicken I have ever had in my entire life! It was absolutely amazing. It was roasted over an open flame and they kept spraying the sauce on it. It was delicious and just what we needed after not eating all morning.

From there we went to Moravia which is an artesian market place. This is where I bought most of my gifts for people. A lot of the shops sold the same type of thing and some of the stuff was made in China, so you had to make sure you were looking at what you were buying. But we bought some really cool gifts and cloth, again some of the gifts going to myself and not the intended receiver. That is one thing I regret on my travels is not buying more. I know that is kind of an American view of just wanting or having too much stuff, but I think that if you travel to a place you should support the economy by buying from local shops. And I don't consider stuff if there is a memory attached to it.

After that we went back to the hotel to repack for our trip to Selva Verde!