Day Seven ~ The Day I Was Amazed By the Students of Oaxaca Christian School

Friday, April 23, 2010
I woke up before the alarm at 5-something, fell back 2 sleep until 6, & out of bed at 6:30.

Julie had made Belgium waffles, so I put a bit of soft margarine on one, put 3 sliced strawberries on it, & folded it in half. WHAT A TREAT THAT WAS!!! It was SO yummy!

I was ready for my second day at the school. I waited outside from 7:10 to 7:30 for my ride (from the family with 3 kids at OCS). While I was waiting, I was eying the fruit trees across the street from the house…MAN, that fruit looks so good! It just calls my name! While I was waiting I saw this adorable little black Scottish Terrier prancing by. It came past 3 times while I was out there. It was fighting with a cat that was in a bush. It would go up to the bush, bark and bark, then go prancing back up the road. It just really struck me as funny.

We got to the school at 7:57. I thought that school was to start at 8:00, but there was no one in the classroom. So, I thought maybe they were somewhere else – I knew chapel was today, so I wondered if maybe chapel was first thing & I was in the wrong place? But, it turned out that the rest of the class was just running late.

So, I was observing again in the third/fourth grade classroom. Since I don’t have my visa yet, I am not allowed to teach. So, I just did whatever I could to help Nancy & learn about the regular classroom routine from her.

I was excited to show the class the presentation about the volcano in Iceland, that I had created last night. But, for several hours, I was having lots of trouble with the “low” / “poor” signal strength of their wireless internet. It comes from the office, which is just across the courtyard from the classroom, but it just wouldn’t work & wouldn’t work & wouldn’t work…I was really disappointed!

I bought lunch again. It was potato chowder and a hard roll for 25 pesos. At lunch time, I enjoyed conversation with Lorri for about 20 minutes ~ learning more about the school, the ministry, & Oaxaca. I mentioned to her in that conversation that I was so disappointed that I couldn’t show what I had prepared to the class.  When we parted ways, I spent about 10 mintues taking pictures of plants, flowers, & trees around the school.

Then, for the rest of the lunch & recess time, I sat in the classroom, trying again to open the internet. MIRACLE ~ it suddenly worked! So, I thought the kids would be back at 1:00…turns out that they have gym class right after a 45 minute lunch & recess time on Fridays. So, fortunately, when the kids came back into the classroom, the internet signal was still good enough to show them the Brainpop video & a few articles & pictures. But, then the signal went away, so I couldn’t show them everything I had planned. At least I got to show some.

Nancy showed me how to use the copier while a classroom Mom read a few chapters of a story to the class. Then, school was over at 2:30. BUT ~ their Cultural Arts Festival was beginning at 3. So, I helped to watch the first through fourth grade kids until it started.

I was SOOOOOOO impressed by the art that was displayed at the festival!!!! Keep in mind that this is a school with only about 50 students, from Kindergarten through Twelfth grades. The art that was on display was a couple selections from each student, from throughout the whole school year. There was everything from watercolors, to poetry, to hand-made jewelry, to mosaics, to drawing, to photography, and more!!! And, it was ALL REALLY WELL DONE!!! In addition to what was being displayed, there was more than an hour “talent show”. That included skits, spoken poetry, dramatic poetry, a comedy routine, a salsa dance, a gymnastics routine, & a trumpet demonstration. At the beginning of this part, David (the principal) introduced me to the audience of parents. (I was embarrassed because I didn’t know if anyone noticed that my skirt totally stuck to the back of my legs when I stood up from the plastic chair, where I’d been sitting.) There were refreshments afterwards.

Also at the festival, there was a lady selling tamales. She had 3 different kinds, all with chicken ~ mole, green, and red. They were 8 pesos for one (about 75 cents). I bought 6 of them for 45 pesos (about 4 dollars). Miriam (the Spanish teacher) had told me that she knew the best place to buy tamales & that she would get some for me when I saw her on Sunday. But, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try these for 4 bucks. I figured it was worth it to pay 4 dollars for 2 or 3 meals. I got a ride home again with that same family. When I got in, I knew that Julie & Roy would not be there. So, as soon as I let myself in, I washed my hands, & took 3 tamales out of the corn husks. I tried one of each type. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! They were SOOOO good! I was easting too fast & I chomped a bone! Then, I was eating more carefully & found 4 more bones!

Then, I played a trial version of Yahtzee on my laptop, while listening to music, until Julie & Roy came home, about 30 minutes later. They turned on the internet, so… I got on it. Then, they left for the evening. I was online, uploading and editing photos, typing up Day 4 diary page & putting it on the blog until 11:45 when I went to bed.