The plan for Saturday was changed. The Padre had another meeting somewhere and so it was decided to stay in Aqua Caliente on Saturday and go to La Reina on Sunday morning.
So a lot of Saturday was spent on planning for the next week and getting materials together. This process has proven to be a major task since the outline really was not there as we started this journey. There has been a question about the classes in general. I would consider it like a summer camp. The goal was the review of English but it was also a time to teach the kids new games and introduce them to new songs in English. There were about 100 kids there and they did not have to pay anything. The days have been spent learning many things including the Lords Prayer, the Hail Mary and the sign of the Cross. Besides this we learned in English the song We Are The World. and one or two others. We also had break out sessions where we concentrated on a specific English words or processes. I picked learning the Pronouns and then the verb ToBe. and then adding on the ing to the action words. Something like that. I also did parts of the body in another session. We also played a game with the whole group called Wordo. In this game the kids pick out 30 English words and we make a list. Then they fill in their Wordo card with 16 words at random. Then we called the words just like bingo. The winner of the game that is getting 5 in a row got a small prize. It is amazing how the kids really like playing these types of games. I have noticed an absence of this type of play in this country. It appears that card games, checkers, even bingo are not done very often I really do not know why. Another day was spent discussing a poem from Archbishop Romero. It was about what Peace Is and What Peace is not. We did this as a group and then we did break out sessions. Of course the kids in the higher grades would express themselves a lot more. I think I did say that the group of 100 was made up of kids from the 3 to the 7th grade. I was surprised by the discussion in my group which were 5th graders about the gangs that they see or hear about. Also they do not think that the police help them much. They also want peace to be no violence, and they want love, and friendship. My experience in the country does not show me that I should have any fear. I feel completely safe here. So I was surprised by the comments from the kids about what peace is not. On another day we took a few letters that I had brought down with me from kids in the 2nd grade and the 5 grade from the CREED program at the Resurrection Church. It was a good exercise in telling them that people in the US wanted to get to know them. It was a good way to have them compose a letter to the kids that sent the letters. We had them write mostly in Spanish in this one but we also asked them to translate their own letters as much as possible into English. There were various degrees of success on this one. But at least it got them thinking about other kids in the US. I even suggested that if they have an email to put it down and maybe some of the kids will send them an email back. Maybe we can develop a Pen-Pal relationship. In this case it not only helps the kids there but also our kids who need to know and understand the other peoples of the world. So more later. In the meantime back to Saturday, after planning for most of the afternoon, I decided to walk down to the Public School in the the town of Aqua Caliente. It is only about a quarter of one mile from our Colegio. The colors of all schools in this country are Blue and White. So the wall in front of the school is painted as such. School was not in session and since there is a wall there I really could not walk around. However something happened. And this is just another example of my little journey that I really cannot explain why. I walked by the school and noticed a door on the wall was opened. I also noticed that there was a guard there with a gun at the entrance. Since my Spanish is not good I was reluctant to go up to him and see if I could look around. Just my luck at that very same moment a teacher, Eva who works at the colegio was walking the other direction with a friend. When I noticed her I asked her if she would ask the guard if I could look around. So she did it. I then thought, what are the odds of the guard standing at the door instead of just being the the school yard with the door shut and me just happening to meet the lady I knew. It was strange to me. So the guard said ok and then I introduced myself to him in my limited Spanish. He was nice even though the gun was slung over his shoulder. So I went in. Remember this is one week and two days before school was to start. I have pictures which I will try and put on my blog in the future but it is not a very nice place. The whole place had debris, chairs scattered and no painting of freshening up at all. I could not get into the classroom themselves but I could look through the open windows with bars on them and it all looked shabby. The basketball outside field looked in disrepair as well as the soccer field. The area where the kids would eat and maybe have group meeting which is all outside looked like it had not been used for over a year. So when will they be cleaning up this place for the new year I thought? When will this place look like somewhere you would want to go and be inspired to be the best you could possibly be? What would the attitude of the teachers be like if they have to teach in these conditions? So I took the pictures. I am not sure that I was supposed to but I did when I did not see the guard. Maybe this was not smart on my part. One thing I will say about this is the Padre says that people are really happy that we have come to their little town where few foreigners come. They want us to come back and so because they know we are connected with the Padre and they see we are helping their children, this seems to give us all of the protection we need. As I said I really did not feel any fear. Nor have I in the three times I have been here.
In any case I learned that the school is from the 1-9th. That there are about 1000 students attending. That there are two sessions a day. 7:30 until 12 and then 1:30 until 5 I think. So you can imagine the problem that there could be with the afternoon group especially when it is very hot here. Of course there is no air conditioning. I told the Padre about my visit. He says that the roof leaks as well and so there are buckets all around when it rains. This I cannot confirm on my own accord of course. So the School area looks bad. What I do not know about is their teaching curriculum, testing, computer knowledge, other activities and on and on. I also do not know about the quality of the teachers or administrators or their salaries and benefits. I do not know how many kids go through all 9 grades and what the drop out rates are. In any case that was my little side trip on Saturday. I just reminded me of the feeling of fresh air and light and cleanness when I go into the colegio and see all of the smiling kids and nice teachers there. It is not perfect but I see improvement every time I come. I wanted to see if there was a contrast between the Colegio and the Public School and I saw it at least at the physical level on the Saturday evening.
After that I went back to Mart's house and we had our meal and talked and sang for a while. Believe it or not I am really tired by 9:00 PM while down here and Pat from Kent and I went back to our little house and I went to bed.
The next morning bright and early we were picked up by the Padre at Marta's. The plan was to go to La Reina which means queen. We all piled into the van and off we went up the mountain. This trip was not so long nor was the road so rough although still just dirt. Since it was Sunday morning we saw people waking toward Aqua Caliente, mostly families. They were all dressed nice. The Padre said they were walking to church. Some up to a mile away. Of course you ask why do they not drive their car? Of course you know the answer. I thought how dusty they maybe be when they arrive and then I thought how hard it must be during the rainy season when their shoes and clothes might become all muddy or wet. Of course the Padre would always yell something out to them and just being his old friendly self.
We arrived in La Reina in about one hour and their we met a new Pilgrim. This lady came from Minnesota and was a friend of Janet Stabilus. She would be staying with us for a week and helping us to teach. Her name is Pat.
The church in this town about the size of Aqua Caliente which is about 9,000 has a pastor but the Padre just helps out on weekend. He says a Mass on Saturdays and one on Sunday. It is a fairly large church and we all sat at the front pews as always. The Padre was his old usual self being very friendly to the parishioners and giving them his homily of about God as well as self respect for themselves. After Mass it was time to meet the priest of the parish and have a nice lunch. This time chicken, rice, pan, broccoli and fruit. After dinner we heading home to Marta's and did a little more planning for Monday and playing the Mart's child of 2 years old as well as 3 of the Padre's children and of course then supper and to bed by 9.
dreaming about the what the last week in Aqua Caliente will bring.
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