Salsa y Los Chicos

A post from Corinne Dorais 

Every single day I have to remind myself that I’m really here. It’s so incredible.

This past week flew by. I had a decent amount of homework (for here) and having deadlines to meet always seems to make time pass more quickly.

On Monday I started salsa lessons! It cost me $25 for 6 hours of class and it’s been more than worth it. I’ve had three classes so far and finish the other three next week. Unsurprisingly, my utter lack of rhythm does not make me the best dancer but it’s so much fun that I don’t care! There’s live salsa music tonight at a bar called Iguana Rock (seemingly the most popular bar in town and where we have our salsa classes.) There’s also a Happy Hour at one of the hotels on the boardwalk. One of the guys from GAIAS is playing guitar so we’re all going to go support him (and happy hour) and then go practice our new salsa skills!

Salsa wasn’t the only new activity I started this week. Yesterday was my first day volunteering at an after school program in the highlands. El Progreso, the only other town on the island, is about a 15 minute taxi ride inland. It’s an even smaller community than Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and doesn’t benefit nearly as much from tourism. Families tend to be poorer farmers and the kids in the community don’t have access to the after school programs offered here in town. There’s also far less to do in El Progreso. So when I heard they needed help at a small after school program at the library, I immediately signed up.

The library is a one room building on the edge of town. There are five shelves of books, but it doesn’t much resemble any libraries I’ve seen before. The kids are absolutely adorable. As soon as I met them, I knew I was hooked. They range in age from 2-12 and know very little English, though they all learn a few words in school. They were a little shy upon meeting me, but it took all of 10 minutes before they were grabbing my hand, hugging me, and sharing their stories. There’s a tiny bit of a language barrier, but my Spanish is getting much better. And kids are so forgiving that I don’t worry as much about making mistakes, which also helps.

I went back today and they were so excited; I don’t think they entirely believed me when I told them I’d be back. We were playing charades (you had to guess the word in both Spanish and English!) and I noticed one of the 5 year olds, Kayla sitting off in the corner quietly flipping through a picture book. When I sat down next to her she shut her book and pushed it away. At first I thought she needed a bit more time to get used to strangers, but then she shyly slid a new book towards me. I asked if she wanted to read it together; she nodded, gave a small smile, and slid the tiniest bit closer.
By the time we finished Little Red Riding Hood she was curled into my side, fighting to keep her job as page turner as more of the kids joined us. When we finished Sleeping Beauty, she was in my lap. I’ve only been there two days, but already I know I’ll be sad to leave those kids in December.
I just got back from dinner. So far I’ve had seven dinners with my host family; we’ve eaten out for four of them. Can you tell my host mom is out of town? My host dad is great. I’m pretty sure he’s worried I don’t have any friends because I do homework during the week, don’t go to the bar on Tuesday nights, and have returned home before 3:00am. He continues to tell me I don’t have a curfew; come back whenever I want as long as I have fun! Two friends and I made lunch at the house one day this week and he was so excited to see I actually do have friends. He’s promised to come dance with me tonight at Iguana Rock and he’s already forced his nephew into coming to dance with me too. Poor guy has no idea what he just got signed up for!

Other than salsa and volunteering, I’m just settling into island life and realizing more and more that I must be one of the luckiest people in the world.

Time to head out for the night! More pictures (and videos!) soon.

Love,
Corinne