Alice
As I write, it’s raining! The thunder is booming, and a light rain is blanketing El Rosario. This is a blessing, as it has been a dry start to the rainy season, and the farmers are ready to plant their crops. We’d just returned from a sweltering hot lunch celebration at the Centro when the rain started to fall, so we had ourselves a spontaneous dance party in the front yard! Now we are on the porch, looking at photos from the past two weeks, laughing and reliving all of the amazing moments we’ve experienced here. Images of such beautiful faces smiling back at us, delighted to be sharing their classrooms, games, songs and laughter.
Today, Team Monster (me, Jen P and Maya) went to El Rosario Kinder. Yuliana had introduced the Kingdom of Silence to her class yesterday, which is a PIALI technique we learned at the workshop in San Pedro Sula. She’d also made a glorious crown to wear while being the Queen of the Kingdom of Silence! I got to be Queen while I read Where the Wild Things Are to the kids. They loved it.
We then had them color a scene from the book that Maya and Jen had traced onto paper and copied. That was great fun. After that, we played Simon Says (Simon dice), London Bridges, Duck Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosy, and sang a few songs. While we were in the Kinder, the older kids were crowding around and had to be shooed away a few times when it became too much of a circus.
Team Ladybug (Emily, Ana, and Gregorio) went to Tecuan, where they were surprised to find that Digna’s class was closed today, so they spent the morning with the Tecuan Kinder. They read the Lady Bug story, practicing numbers with their fingers while reading the story. They also counted animals in the book, and sang the Sesame Street numbers song.
We reunited at the Centro for a big lunch with all the teachers. After heaping plates of arroz con pollo y tortillas, we played Keep It Up with a balloon, which was a huge hit (gracias a Ana!). Emily then led us in blindfolded shoulder taps, which is a way to show appreciation to one another anonymously. I then described the lesson plan notebooks and book inventory folders that will live in each Traveling Library box. The teachers will have all of our activities and lessons from the past two weeks in the folders, and can write their own lesson plans in the notebooks to share with one another. Maya led us in a rainstorm circle, starting us out with rubbing our hands together, then snapping, then light clapping, then harder clapping, leading up to hard clapping and feet stomping, and back down again. We consider this the good omen that brought the rain this afternoon!
To close, we gifted a book to each teacher, and then we all gathered outside on the Centro steps to take a group photo. All too quickly, it was time to say goodbye and wish everyone well. It was a sad moment for us Antioch teachers.
As we prepare to leave El Rosario tomorrow, the intoxicating smell of coffee wafts from the bunk house. Nelson delivered our coffee orders (in total we ordered around 50 POUNDS of coffee) and our sizable stashes of beans are gracing our bunk beds. The rain still falls gently but steadily, and we’re all just drinking it in. The sounds of village life in El Rosario- the roosters, pigs, cows, birds, children, and faint music- mixed with the smells of fresh rain, kitchen wood fires, smoke from burning fields, animals and sticky Gringo teachers, are combining to make an unforgettable final afternoon in our host community. Add to that the sweet flavor of homemade tabletas just delivered from Albarosa, our neighbor and Health Committee member, y es una despedida muy dulce.
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