

A Challenge
I'm not used to such shy children. I might have one or 2, but not a whole group of quiet kids. This little school is not used to visitors from outside their isolated village. Even if I spoke fluent Spanish this would have been a challenge for me. I suddenly felt very silly as I grinned, "Hola! Hello!" The youngest at age 2, was probably too young to even understand that we spoke different languages.

The kids watched me wake "Pickles" the puppet from his sleeping bag. Usually I can get at least a few kids to help "sing him awake" with me. But the kids kept their distance. Possibly they just didn't understand, but maybe my overdone facial expressions were a little intimidating.


But the colorful scarves were the big hit. These thrift shop scarves even got the "big boys" off the wooden chairs and onto the quilt. They loved tossing and catching them and one boy could even juggle a bit.
Note the little boy in the upper left of the photo. He didn't need his own scarf because he had his own "binky towel". He's smiling here, but evidently he got nervous when the scarves were put away. He hid his green towel, afraid I would take it.






What I learned: I learned that my lack of Spanish skills is an even bigger setback when communicating with kids. They don't really understand that I have no idea what they're saying. However, there is something oddly refreshing about absorbing facial expressions, sounds and movement of children when you aren't distracted by their words. It's amazing how much you do pick up. And luckily the kids gradually adapted to my limitations. It was a fun challenge...but it really makes me want to learn Spanish!