The kids up the road...

I went to the local school in Bejuco at the top of our dirt road today to meet the teacher(s) and scope out my teaching possibilities. The kids who were there were to die for, but most kids just don't come to school in this rural, poor part of Costa Rica. Having seen the three rooms of the school, one a "kitchen and cafeteria," I drove to Parrita and spent $40 on supplies. They have very, very little, as you will see from the photos. But who could resist this smiler? Or this yummy little girl? Broken equipment is just stacked outside or on this hall; they had no PE today because the teacher didn't show up, and one of the teachers went to a conference so 4 classes didn't come to school. They teach two sets of kids, different groups in the morning and then in the afternoon. These photos are of children in Pre-school, ages 4,5 and 6. The older children are grouped together in the same classroom, as there are only two. There is one "special" room set up with a desk, a black board and a chair, intended for one "special needs" child who was not at school today. The younger teacher told me that her biggest problem is getting the parents involved; clearly education is not a top priority for the agrarian poor in this country - or the corruption is so bad that funds allocated

here are being swiped.

This is the "cafeteria," and the kitchen has two burners; the refrigerator looks a little worse for wear, and the table along the wall was so rickety that if any child sat at it, he or she would probably fall into it when it collapsed in his/her lap!

Tomorrow I will take in my version of Concentration, modeled after the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," which they know in Spanish but will learn in English. I will see who comes to school, but I have DOWN the names of the four who were there today!

When I got back, I noticed that a dog had come bounding through the entrance to our community, running all the way to someone's pool where he immediately sat down and pondered life as he knows it. I raced to take his picture, and here was his response.Have I just taken ALL the joy out of his pool visit?