shari - 3-7-2010 at 05:49 PM
there has been a teen school group camped in San Roque as part of a cultural immersion program that the folks at Synergia Learning Ventures organize.
We help them out with some spanish lessons and organize gatherings with the locals here involving music, sports, beach clean ups, games, feasts etc.
It is a magnificent program that benefits everyone that lots of locals participate in.
Last night, we had a dinner in san roque and it was neat to enlighten the locals from here about the garbage issue. This group of kids is very aware
of basura because they have to pack home in their packs any garbage they produce. the fishermen in san roque gave them a crate of calamar..squid and
we made a huge squid c-cktail for everyone as well as carne asada, salad, rice and beans of course
Here, when there is a carne asada or party, there are bags of styrafoam plates, plastic cups and cutlery etc...lots of garbage created...so we
expained that we wanted to have a garbage free gathering so they ate out of plastic bowels and plates and they washed the plastic cups afterwards
too...the students all have their own water bottles. It was interesting to present these ideas to the kids here. they also explained that some were
vegetarian and vegans which resulted in some puzzled looks.
They played some games and we had lots of translators there to help the conversations but they did very well at getting to know each other.
Nancy and one of the students played music with Juan's uncle and a neat guy from Bonfil who just married into the family....there was even some
dancing of the cumbia!
Today the kids went to san roque with their horses and they rode and boogie boarded all day enjoying each others company. this week they will be
playing basketball together and having a birthday party for a local girl here. It was so fun to hear what kind of questions they had for each other!
josie - 3-7-2010 at 06:14 PM
That sounds like such a wonderful event Shari. I bet the adults got as much from it as the kids. Congratulations!
Nan&D - 3-7-2010 at 07:15 PM
San Roque was as welcoming as ever. I got the feeling that the minds of the teens in the school group will be forever opened to Baja.
N
Geo_Skip - 3-7-2010 at 08:45 PM
Shari, I remember you taking about how much you would like to do a language/cultural immersion education center, when Mary and I were visiting in
Guerro Negro about a decade ago.
Well, Congratulations, It sure looks like you made your dreams come true. I guess your Karma is working, you have earned every success. Keep it
up and many thanks for being such a kind hostess and ambassador.
SiReNiTa - 3-8-2010 at 08:08 AM
It's really interesting to see these kids interact with local families, since the culture is SO different.
Many of them don't really grasp the idea yet, but it's very rewarding to have a part in teaching them how we live, and to have them accept and
appreciate it with open hearts is a blessing.
It's difficult to be away from home with strange people and doing completely new things, but at the end you learn so much and meet so many new friends
that it makes everything worth it.
Synergia staff and teachers are extremely good people that do their best to make their students comfortable while having an educational experience,
and it's admirable how much they teach the kids every day, but what is even nicer to see is that they are also willing to learn from the kids, so it
makes it a two way education!!