LOS NINOS!!!

Okay...back from Xochicalco. It was rainy but at last the sun peeked through, and for a bit we enjoyed the most terrific view of an ethereally beautiful landscape. No hay palabras...a picture's worth a thousand, right? I'll try to post some if I can figure it out. Anywhos...the school. Ugh! It's so frustrating feeling like nothing I write can come close to describing it. I was so excited to go because I'd felt like I hadn't really seen the "real Mexico" yet. I live in a gated community here with what I consider to be an upper middle class family...and while I know the middle class is as much a part of Mexican society as the lower classes, I feel that what I came here to see and become a part of was the lower class. Now that I'm re-reading that, it sounds awkward and weird. I guess what I mean is that the Mexicans I have known in the United States come from communities like the one VAMOS serves. I came here to see the places they call home. I've seen countless films and photos documenting Latin American poverty...but it didn't seem so real to me. Holding an idea in your mind that you know must be true and experiencing it firsthand are two very different things. I wanted to come here and see for myself the kinds of communities that produce the complicated personalities that I struggled to make sense of in the U.S. Anyway...here I am off track again...VAMOS! I know this sounds SO cheesey but it felt a bit like coming home...like finally THIS is what I've been looking for and waiting to find. The kids are SO sweet and adorable. I wish I could get to know them all, but I'm helping Rosi with the youngest group of four and five year olds. Some of them are so shy (mostly the little girls) and I found myself so frustrated that I couldn't really communicate with them. I need to work on my pronunciation because even when I would speak to them in Spanish, they would look at me funny like they didn't understand me. It was very difficult to understand them as well...It's funny though, even without being able to understand exactly what they're saying, their personalities shine through. I think Jaziel is probably the most outgoing one...he's always pulling Genaro and Alan into his mischeivous activities. They'll be a handful...I've never worked with such a large group of such young children before...but I'm really looking forward to hopefully making a difference in their lives, however small it may be.