21 de junio 2010 - Cajones y Resplandor

Today I taught a quick English class for my children at LGO as they had their ceremony for about an hour and fifteen minutes.  During the ceremony my sixth grade classes were singing and doing a special presentation for the school.  After they finished the children returned to their classroom where they signed each others papers, like we would sign a yearbook, and they had a visit from their teachers from first and third grade.  Interesting, in this school and I assume at a lot of other schools, they do not change classes each year in primary, they continue with the same group of students for the six years of primary.  So the students all had their school reflection notebooks signed by their teachers they then visited for a little bit and then moved on.

The children signing each other's papers.

A student speaking with his teacher from third grade.

After LGO I ventured to Escuela Mexicana and apparently I was not enrolled in Spanish classes this week because I didn't fill out an evaluation form. It turned out to be a blessing because my friend Angela encouraged me to venture out to Cajones to the community center, Resplandor. We picked up the bus at the Alhondiga, the site of one of the first acts of the Mexican Revolution. The total trip was about 15 miles, but it seemed that we stopped at every single household along the way. Nevertheless, an hour later, we arrived in Cajones. There were some people already there preparing to teach the children once they arrived.

The exterior of Resplandor

I took some pictures of the center and of the people working and then ventured out down a dirt road away from Resplandor.  What a beautiful countryside!  It was so quiet and the sun was shining, yet it was so cool in the shade with the nice breeze blowing.  I relaxed in the shade and enjoyed the peace for a few minutes.  Our program has been so busy and there has never really been time to ourselves, so just the solidarity was nice...

The children started showing up and the center came alive with activities and classes.  There is a small room where parents and children sat and listened to some people reading books.  In the larger room the children were doing an Earthkeepers activity, they were all active in their groups and having a good time!  It is wonderful to see this kind of enthusiasm out of a project like this.  This center has brought so much to this community already and it is exciting to know that there is going to be so much more!

Juliana reading with a mother and child from Cajones.

Sam working with a group of children at Resplandor

After a while Jesus and Valeria showed up and we chatted for a while in the limited abilities of both of us.  I was unable to converse in Mexican Sign Language (LSM) and they were unable to converse with me in American Sign Language.  So we did the best that we could, they taught me a little bit and I taught them a little bit.  They are very pleasant and the community has really embraced them rather than shunning them due to their disability.

Jesus trying to tackle the art of chopsticks...he finally got it!

We departed at around 4:30pm for Guanajuato.  The trip took a lot longer than it did to get there, but luckily it didn't take as long as some other people from our group.  I have heard it taking as much as three hours!