Mountain Adventures

It's impossible to pick just a few photos of the days we spent in the mountains last week, so I feel obligated to warn you...you may want to get a cup of coffee and make yourself cozy...because this is going to be the epic post of preschool preparation...enjoy!

We spent Monday through Thursday at Rita and Diego's house while we dove full-time into curriculum writing, room design, planning, planning, and planning...in addition to our regular weekly commitments. Nancy's trip was a working one, you see...and so we worked hard!

Here are the gorgeous accommodations we enjoyed (albeit without electricity and water the majority of the time...the view was still great!).

Nancy met the neighbors, Minin & Icidro, who are scheming something big, I'm sure.

And she got to enjoy Cheima lunch.

And got the tour of the clinic and new school site.

We began at sunrise each day. Began drinking coffee and absorbing the beauty of the mountains, that is...this is the Caribbean, after all. And, we're not crazy.

As soon as we finished breakfast, we got to work though. Tuesday was preschool day at the clinic site. The new toys Nancy brought were a big hit!

We laughed...

We cried...

We asked...you actually think I'm going to share these trucks?

Professor Nancy taught the kiddos to use a scissor (open...shut...open...shut)...and how to do a puzzle.

We went crazy over bubbles...

And although this picture doesn't exactly capture it, I do mean really, really crazy.

After class we took a time-out for another Cheima lunch and un chin de café (a bit of coffee). Totally essential.

Before long, the LOGXCEST girls showed up to work on our Christmas ornament fund-drive project.

Painting giant seeds that we collected on the farm...

The night passed quickly as we discussed more details of the new project, and played a few hands of Pinnochle by candlelight. The sunrise the next morning was beautiful...we could have sat and enjoyed the view all day.

But we didn't. Instead we walked up the road to the local school (which is actually being held in a warehouse while the actual school is getting repaired...or so the story goes). A visit with the Kindergarten class was very interesting. This teacher had her hands full! And, very few resources.

But compared to the preschool in Tinajita, the warehouse didn't seem that bad. Here we are getting the students at our second preschool site into a line. It only took about half and hour...or so. :)

These kids aren't used to much. Our small pile of toys keep them entertained.

And so does the scissor lesson! This little guy parroted everything Nancy said. His favorite was "Oh my gosh!"

The new block and Matchbox car set was pretty exciting.

Before eating snack, we said our prayers.

After snack we played outside with bubbles & hula hoops...

And then listened to Red Bear at circle time. We only had to sit on a few to keep them still...

To finish off the day, we spent time outside reading books in small groups. These kids love to look at their books (and kiss the pictures inside and lick the pages it turns out, especially when Micah is around to get them all silly!).

By the look on these faces, I'd say we had a great day.

We packed up our bags and began the walk home. Here the teacher's aids stop at the local store before they went to get ready for school.

Tinajita is a secluded village, since it is situated at the bottom of a hill that is impossible to pass in most cars. It's really gorgeous...

...and the hike out is strenuous. We had to stop at the colmado to get some refreshments once we got to the top.

And we even considered calling a taxi to take us the rest of the way home. But we didn't know if this local "taxi" would carry all three of us...

...so we pressed on. Only to find that Minin, Icidro, and Moreno were preparing a special treat for us!

Dulce de coco! Hooray!

The local sugar-filled sweet. As in a pound of sugar per pound of coconut sweet. No wonder this stuff tastes so yummy!

After saying a few goodbyes to the neighbors, we ventured back into the city to get Nancy to the airport.

Thanks for coming and for helping so immensely with the preschool, Nancy! We hope you had as much fun as we did!