School in the Morning, Afternoon at the Treehouse

There is a real rhythm to our days now, and it’s serving us well. We are creatures of habit, and we were up with the roosters (ask us later about the roosters), are at 7:00, and we’re on the bus to the Altagracia school by 7:30.  We were at school in time for the opening ceremony.  The students all filed off to their first class, and we gathered at the School Director’s office for a brief ceremony, presenting her and the school (and the English program in particular) with 12 gently-used Chromebooks designed for school use.  Frank Perotti had obtained these from one of the schools he superintends, once their contracted use was over.  It’s a transformational gift for the school, and they were very excited.  We had two morning class periods, and it was clear that things went more smoothly and productively.  The two English teachers, Lewis and Valentina, have gained confidence and did a wonderful job directing us in our small groups.  We reviewed past lessons, learned new words, played learning games, and produced some hilarious skits. The ones about Becky’s mom are now part of Altagracia culture.  Then it was recess time, 25 minutes of chaos with every child in the school turned loose to find their favorite American.  Some of us played games.  Mandy led Simon Says. Amy Smith led chalk drawing.  Most of the students were awash in a scrum of children, sort of massive group hugs. Rob sat in the shade and took on dozens and dozens of children in thumb wrestling. The aggressive children who pushed to the front to play had less luck.  Some of the first and second graders had very good luck.  Recess ended at 10:30, and we made our way to the bus.  It was time for an afternoon of R and R.  We drove the very familiar (to some of us) route to the village of Hernando Alanso, where we had worked in the school for the past two years.  Passing the school, we came to the “Tree House” a unique mini-resort on a hillside overlooking the reservoir.  Some of Rita’s groups had stayed there in past years.  There have several open rooms with balconies, a pol table, and a swimming pool. Many of us headed straight for the pool.  Others played pool.  Soon we were served a delicious meal of barbecued chicken, rice, cassava and pineapple. It will be weeks before we can try the bland, stringy version we get back home. Cotui is not just the pineapple center of the country - it’s known as one of the world’ best.  After lunch, some of us returned to the pool.  Some took long walks to the reservoir. Some napped. After a while, a detachment of us got a ride in a little red mini-taxi to the Hernando Alanso school. We got there in time to see many of the students who were hanging around after school.  It was amazing that we recognized some of them, and were remembered in kind.  We saw the playground we had built, so well used that many of the markings on the basketball court and hopscotch area were almost worn off.  Frank and Rob promised themselves that they would be back next year to repaint them.  We saw the library we had built in a sectioned-off part of a classroom.  It was thrilling to see that it was clean, full, and obviously used regularly.  We were happily surprised with a small reception organized by Jenny, the Assistant Director and a dear friend.  All too soon our bus was at the gate.  We hopped on, continued to
Tree House, and headed back to Cotui for supper, renewed and ready for our last day at school.  After supper, we spent nearly two hours organizing gifts for every student: a new t shirt, a journal, toothbrushes and toothpaste. It’s quite a task for hundreds of kids.  But we now have little packets, sorted by size, tied with ribbons, and ready for these children that we have come to love. We’ll stop by school Friday morning on the way to Santo Domingo to say a final goodbye, but the realization that tomorrow is our last teaching day is bittersweet.