I worked with a host teacher all week named Veronica. She was VERY helpful and got me all the things I needed, plus helped with the kids. She is like a teachers's assistant here.
This is Marianna and Juan David. In the background you can see the bus they take each day. The bus hold about 10 kids and there was a line of them each day to go home. Some kids get picked up by their parents, a taxi, or a driver.
The kids were funny today as I think they thought I was staying for the year. They are used to American teachers coming and going. Many teachers come down here from the states to teach for a 2 year contract. It is a SWEET deal as they pay for housing! You can hire yourself a maid for around $5-10 a day depending on what you want her to do. If you stay an extra year, they will pay for you to get a Master's degree also.
This is Marta and Maria. They are the maids that cleaned the classrooms on my floor (4 rooms). We gave them some Bath and Body Works lotions and soaps and also Hershey's chocolate which they loved! They cleaned our rooms before and after and sometimes in-between recess while we were here. The floors are all tile, so lots of mopping. They were very kind.
We had an end of the week assembly where we honored Janis and all the other people who worked to bring us all together. In Colombia, professional development for teachers is not done. All the teachers I talked with appreciated us coming and helping them. At the assembly we also presented our gifts of supplies to the Las Palmas (public) school. They were so very appreciative and I have to say that it was hard not to cry. I was designated the spokesperson and I simply told them that we represented the White River School District, there were 10 teachers from 5 different schools. We had supplies we collected from community, parents and students in each of our schools for them.
The kids did a traditional dance for us. The boys wore hats and scarves. The girls wore skirts and had baskets with fruit they carried on their head. The skirts were made from black plastic garbage bags with flowers taped on them. We gave all the kids candy afterward and they loved it!
We all walked up to the top of the school (the High School is at the top) to see the view! My photos were a little hazy but here is one of all the White River girls. (L to R) Trina, Mikki, Kelly, Dalese, Lisa, Me, Dora and in the front, Ashley, Holly and Christy.
This one is called "Mano" (hand). Dalese and I stuck together in the Sculpture Park. We all walked as a group and the tourist police made sure to follow us. I think all of us blonde girls may have been more of a display than the sculptures. 
After we left there, we went on the cable cars to the top of the city.
As you get higher and higher, the poverty becomes more apparent. We saw pigs on the roof of a house! We left dowtown and took the bus back to a restaurant. We had great food again! They eat well here, dinner usually between 8-10 pm. And we quickly learned that no one is in a hurry to bring the bill ...so dinner was 2 hours at least each night. We got back to the hostel around 10 pm, packed our bags up and went to bed. Tomorrow, we head home...
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