A great start to the school week – although a very early waking at the little brown house, the boys made it to school in one piece as I kept them entertained with stories of how their mom and dad fought off a huge marshmallow eating coyote while camping (yes, I take some poetic license with my story-telling…anything to get those feet to keep moving forward on the trail!) I am finding out (being new to this whole full-time mom thing) that it is all about keeping your child engaged and inquisitive…it requires some quick thinking on my part, but all worth it.
Miss Melody met us at the front door of the classroom with a bin of tools for the sandbox out in the play-yard. “John, Michael, can you help me get these tools out to the sandbox? ” she asked. With that, they shot off around the corner, I gave a quick wave to Melody which clearly signaled the time is right to run for the hills (or the mountain in my case) – so I did and smiled the whole way home….success!
I spent the next 90 minutes back home helping Goudy, the charming gal who helps me around the house and with the kids, attempt to gather information on patrocinios or “sponsors” for her son’s education. Loandry is a ‘just’ five year old who is attending school at the other private school in Monteverde, La Creativa or “CEC”. Goudy and her husband are looking for a sponsor for Loandry so they can continue his education. The tuition is 80.000 colones per month which equates to roughly $140.00 / month and this is only for Kinder. We huddled close together over my laptop and let Google do the work for us. WOW…lots of information, but mostly on public schools or for groups of kids that cannot afford any type of schooling. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, Goudy cleans a lot of the educator’s houses and other members of the community while her husband also works. Her mother in law also contributes to the tuition by cooking meals for some of the Gringos in the community that either don’t necessarily cook or have the time to cook. Giving little Loandry a quality education is a real family commitment. I spoke to Loandry’s grandmother today and told her I would pass the word around town in hopes that her days would fill up.
If anyone has any information on how to request a sponsor/patrocinio, connections or simply wants to learn more about how you may help, please contact me by replying to this post. Although we have only known Goudy for a month, she has a huge heart and like any parent, wants the best for her child.
I again hiked into Santa Elena today for some bananas as I am on task to bring the ‘shared snack’ tomorrow for the Kinder class. On the menu, bananas, mango and papaya pancakes (home-made by Mike) with Guava marmalade. I raced home to gather the boys by 3 p.m.. Melody tells me they both had a great day and boy that made me breathe a huge sigh of relief. The boys and I hung around the school until 5 p.m. when Mike’s staff meeting concluded – we spent time on the playground and doing experiments with a poor little caterpillar to see what it liked most to eat (choices from under the picnic table included (a kernal of popcorn, leaves, grasses or a piece of watermelon from the compost pile)…none of the above ranked high on its list. This lil creature kept us engaged for an hour until Genna (a new teacher) emerged from her classroom with a book and read to the boys for 15 minutes. It was delightful to watch – not sure who had more fun!
On my way out, I made a date with a gal (Marta) who cleans the school a couple days a week – next Tuesday, my house, to make banana bread; apparently she has a great recipe!
All for now -
Signed: S
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