After an early morning breakfast, we all once again boarded the boats and went to our construction sight. Having put in the small path of cement the day before, the project for the day was to prep the other surrounding area around the tour. The other agenda was to begin painting. Having already sacrificed my pants the day before, I was a little more keen to be painting, and was quite relieved when I scored myself a brush. Meanwhile, others were bringing over larger quantities of sand before spreading it flat. After a while, we ran out of things to paint so after a quick break, Dick (one of our guides) handed me what seemed to be one of the most exhausting tools and jobs. It was a log that had two longer sticks hammered into it (handles) that had to be lifted over and over again to flatten out the sand. This job definitely gave me a workout, and after a little time my arms were already feeling it. After a while I traded off this job (it was constantly being rotated). Not to soon after, the sky began to darken, and before we knew it, the sky had let loose with pouring rain. Now we all had two options, hide underneath a small shelter, or go dance and play in the rain. The majority of us chose the second option; we danced, hugged, ran, stood, and laid down in the jungle's storm. Before long some massive puddles had formed and the students started using them as a slip and slide. The slip in slide soon escalated into wrestling matches in the mud, and as the rain had tapered off at this point, a crowd of everyone soon gathered. It was quite comical (and sometimes alarming), but no one thankfully got hurt. After the rain, we all headed back to the hotel to shower and eat.
Back at the hotel, I got the great surprise that Elsbeth (my friend from the Netherlands) had arrived! She had missed her flight which bummed, but she eventually got herself there. So after refreshing and eating we all caught Elsbeth back up on what had happened in her absence, before we boated across the river and started on a walk that would take us to the school built by Rotary last year. The walk was about an hour, very muddy, and quite beautiful.
 |
| At work |
 |
| The primary school (not built by Rotary) |
 |
| The secondary school (built by the students last year) |
After arriving, we went inside the school and listened to the local villagers tell us about the school. It had a lot more students than I imagined, as some students made a large commute everyday to be able to go to the school (it was one of the best around because Rotary has given so many school materials). For every classroom there was about 20-30 kids, which is quite a few considering how small some of the communities were.
Some exchange students ended up painting, while the majority (including myself) played games among ourselves and with the locals. Less than a minute later, the rain began, and much stronger than it had been before. Everyone opted to get two pairs of clothes wet this time around, so we all ended camping inside the school and talking until the rain subsided (which was quite a while). As soon as the rain tapered off, we went back to playing with the kids. Shortly after we started back on the walk; which, needless to say, was a bit wetter and muddier.
After the walk back, we all took it pretty easy and relaxed in the hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment