Wednesday, our Half-Day

4:30 pm, Jan. 28, 2010,

I didn’t write last night, and now I regret it. I have, again, so much to tell about. Tanisha and I were just talking about how we were dreading having to leave just when we’re beginning to feel at home here. We daydreamed about bringing her boyfriend Marco and [my husband] Jon over and becoming teachers at Holy Cross. Yesterday morning we ate salsa scrambled eggs for breakfast and I walked up to Holy Cross with Mike E. Lately, the group trickles down the street in bunches or pairs.

I tutored Gloriel. He’s a little boy who Terry thinks has dyslexia. In fact, after hearing that, the boy’s father asked to meet Terry to talk about treatment. We worked on letter recognition and penmanship, and although it was slow going, Terry said he has much improved from the previous day.

Then, I found Meredith again. She wrote a story, “Angel and Cabesa Grande,” about an iguana and a snake, for Terry per her request. It was a LOT of work and it was totally worth it; I hope it inspires her to continue writing. A later-realized blessing was that we could not find Terry right away, and in looking for her, Meredith read her story aloud to 4 different audiences. This is great for her public speaking skills. Being with her took the rest of the school day, because we left right after lunch to go on our snorkeling trip.

It cost $35 US to go out on this snorkeling tour with Rafael, Sayed, and Mario. I wore a “shorty” (short-sleeved, to-the-knee wetsuit), flippers, and a snorkeling mask in blue. We all, dressed somewhat alike, rode out to a sport where other snorkeling groups were and were led down the [underwater] path and side of a reef. We saw a tunnel [Rafael swam through it], a moray eel [it chased me], damsel fish, parrot fish of all sizes, stingrays and nurse sharks [I pet both], a starfish, puffer fish, and other that I don’t know the names for. After a long tour [at Hol Chan] we went back in the boat and went to Shark [and Ray] Alley, where we dropped anchor and swam around the boat while the boatmen threw in chum to attract the sharks. The trip was amazing.