Uno, Dos, Tres

After spanish class this morning, I headed to Rayito de Luz with the other volunteers. It was their first real day and I was excited to see them really experience it for the first time. We headed over, the two bus rides totaling an hour were filled with small talk.

We arrived and I was immediately greeted by running, smiling children hugging me, grabbing my hands and pulling me to their respective places. This was a common greeting at Rayito. One of the volunteers was really good with the kids and figured out how to play active games with them, such as Simon Says, without knowing much spanish. This was very helpful in getting some energy out.

We read lots of books to the kids and one of my favorite kids, Angie, wanted to read with me. It was a simple Sesame Street book about different book subjects. She wanted me to read it in english and then she would describe the pictures to me in spanish and have me repeat it. "Uno, dos, tres..." She taught me numbers, colors, and animals.

Angie is very sweet and very smart. In general, she is liked by all the other kids, but she tends to get very sassy. She got very attached to me and we did lots of stuff together. Most of the kids at Rayito get very little schooling and barely have anything. They wear the same clothes each day and react to situations with violence, which tends to reflect their home life. They also get excited about the smallest things. I would love to give a few children, such as Angie, the opportunity to go to a college or travel. These kids deserve so much more than they have.

After work, I took the other volunteers to the Artisan Market so they could see how to get there. They stayed briefly and quickly scanned the booths so could come back later. I stayed for a while and helped my Costa Rican friend, Kenny, sell some things at his booth. Kenny sells bottles, jewelry, keychains, lots of different things and he makes it all out of a material that reminds me of clay. With clay you need to cook it to harden. However, with this stuff, it hardens by itself after a few hours. A couple days before, he had shown me the material he uses to make everything and he let me make a turtle! Today it was ready. It's so fun seeing how the vendors make a living here, what people do to support their families.

I can't believe I only have a week left.