Learning the town and thunderstorms

September 13, 2016

Learning the town, thunderstorms, jobs well done

Having realized that all of my volunteers knew the schedule and that the hosts would provide escorts, I slept a bit late, only to discover that we have one sick volunteer(not GI, just fever and cold sxs).  After getting her settled with ibuprofen and liquids, I headed out to explore a bit on my own.  The quiet wifi park had an exercise group underway.  When I later inquired of one of our local team, she said:  "that's for old ladies"; guess I will fit right in when I show up tomorrow!

Browsing through the town, I wandered into the library, the local stores(not much to see, except a lot of cheap shoes) and the local market(trinkets of one sort or another).  The streets are filled with lively people of all ages, much laughter and color, despite the physical changes that the poor economy and neglect have brought.  There are signs of renewal, with many homes and larger buildings clearly having attempts at restoration.

I found my way to the church, where Suzanne P was ensconced with the sewing group, working on a rug.(this is hard to describe, some combo of crocheting and hand knitting).  Let's just say that she is a quicker study than I am; at the end of the morning there seemed to be many more "Hasta mananas " aimed in her direction than in mine.

We headed to the community center to meet the team, stopping at our restaurant of choice to checkout the menu.  Arriving at the community center, we found an energetic and happy team; having experienced all sorts of adventures earlier in the day:  don't pull the wrong plant at the gardens!, ran out of paint at the community center, etc.  All in great spirits.

A lovely siesta followed lunch, with time with a swim(and water dancing with Phil) before the skies lit up and opened; the resulting storm cooled off the temperature considerably; making our evening much more tolerable.

After a filling, but not fantastic dinner(how many more meals including rice and beans do we have? ) we headed to the community center for our teaching; hopefully more prepared than last evening.  Our hosts had heard our suggestions, and had rearranged tables and chairs to allow us to spread out the students better, and not be so claustrophobic !  Over 50 students joined us, again age 5 to over 60!  Suzanne, Suzann and I took on the "little " ones again, this time ready for multiple rounds of Ring Around the Rosie, Simon Says, and Hokey Pokey.  Ring Around the Rosie was the biggest hit!

An excited and rejuvenated team ended the evening with drinks and ice cream; satisfied with jobs well done and blossoming new relationships.  

Hasta manana!

With love from Cuba

Barbara