Day 2: This is better than a shake weight

 After staying up really late, we hit the sack. The sun rises incredibly early here so 6:30 am looks like noon here. Add that to the fact that we don't really know the day or time at any given point, we have mini panic attacks trying to figure out what time it is.

Breakfast is the same everyday while at Taino Cove. We ate a quick breakfast and set off to Seaview Primary. It was a quick drive over to Southfield to the little community called Seaview. There were three red/pinkish building situated on a hilly/ uneven land. We were Waiting for the principal to come out and speak with us. I was standing juxtaposed to an ajar door and I saw two little heads just poking outside the door. I waved and little hands waved backed. I gestured them to pay attention to their teacher as the lesson was going on.



Because the building were one room classroom partitions all you could hear were teachers exclaiming over eachother to deliver their lesson.

Principal Mrs. Stevenson was a lovely enthusiastic woman. She escorted us up a hill to the cottage that we were going to be working on. GVSU is the third installment of partner institutions to come to Seaview to help renovate the cottage. Children must test to go on to high school after they complete sixth grade. When the cottage is complete, it will be used for a basic school or kindergarten. Sort of like a Jumpstart.




Seeing the cottage for the first time was pretty surreal to think students will learn in that building. I'm so accustomed to the white institutionalized walls of my private schools that it just seemed unreal.

We were there wash and paint windows and prime and paint the eaves and ceilings. We were stuck until we got supplies so a few of us went down to see the children.





I sat on the bottom of the path step and watched as a few students trickled out of their classroom. Coming from education I still feel at home at a school I was excited to meet the children. There were two or three girls standing in the doorway who I said hello to. They were terribly shy as I was an outsider and they should be shy. I tried a couple more times until I decided to just sit there.















 But then the little boys came straight up to me. Once the brave little one came forward, the rest began to swarm us. We figured out that they loved taking pictures and our cameras, phones, and iPods were of most interest to them. They would say, Miss, I take your picture?"




Once supplies arrive we headed back up the hill to began work. I began washing the window slats so that a professional could come later and paint them. After I cleaned a set, I discovered the old bathroom where tile was  being removed from the wall. I'm pretty sure the tiler used some freaky "never let to tile glue" to paste he tile. But armed with a paint scraper (no chisels) and a hammer the team went to work. 



It was a great arm workout that Michelle fondly remarked "this is better than a shake weight!"

We broke for lunch and went down to the cantina. Mrs. Stevensons prepared tuna fish sandwiches on some of the whitest bread we have ever seen. As I was holding all the sandwiches a little boy remarked; " that's why you're fat, you eat all the sandwiches"



I made one friend, in grade 3, his name was Roger. I was sitting down and he walked up to me hand in his mouth, hand wrapped around a book. "You've read this book Miss?" I told him I haven't but he should read it to me. He sat down right next to me and began to read about Gerpletz, the land of pets by Dr. Suess. 











He was a great reader only stumbling over a few Suessical words. The bell rang and he said that he would would see me tomorrow to finish the book. 


We went back up the hill and continued to work until the day was done. It was long, and it was messy, but it was something else to experience a project like I just did.





We arrived back home and the first thing we did was thrown our swim suits and run down to the beach. Rachel and I realized that sand is a natural exfoliate and we used it to scrub paint and grim off of our bodies. We swam out and then we came in, fresh and salty. 


Mrs. Winnie and her staff prepared a lovely dinner for us and we had a lovely evening at the poolside. 

I have to say I am making some wonderful friends on this trip. After spending an entire year with the boys in Housing, E, B, and R, are wonderful people i hope will be in my life for a long time to come!