Yesterday was a day when I was so proud to be a Rotarian. We started the morning at a DIF (Department of Infants and Families) day care center where my club and our Twin Club in Tlaquepaque had done extensive work. We created separate bathrooms for the ninos (boys) and ninas (girls) plus created a staff bathroom, added a classroom, a storage room and an administrative office.
This center serves about 120 children ages 3-4-5 who all have single moms. They attend either morning or afternoon classes each day and the staff also works with the moms on parenting.
We were the guests of honor as they unveiled a plaque in honor of the 2 Rotary clubs and then after the festivities we toured the classrooms. The kids enjoyed showing us their art projects and we even got to join in a rousing round of “Hokey Pokey”.
While most of our group stayed there to do chalk art with the kids (we took 40 pails of sidewalk chalk with us – it looks like dynamite to airport security!) a few of us went to another daycare facility in an even poorer section of town to tour there.
This daycare was much larger and we were greeted by 6 little 5-year-old girls who were dressed in their Disney princess outfits (some things are universal to 5 year-olds!). Sleeping Beauty/Alondra was a rather chubby little girl with an engaging smile and we have already pegged her as the first female president of Mexico.
We were again treated as royalty – sat at the head table and were introduced and then some of the children entertained us with singing and dancing. Then Alondra and her Disney pals lead us on a tour of the classrooms, kitchens and unisex bathroom (3 stalls and 1 urinal for 200 kids and about 15 teachers). Despite the language barrier, she was not shy in letting us know that they needed new plastic table coverings in the classrooms as well as floor tiles in some rooms and a chalkboard. Her impact was instantaneous so we are already planning to make a few purchases for the school before we leave.
In the afternoon we had a tour of Guadaljara with a knowledgeable guide named Victor. Saw a couple of art displays, a cathedral, the opera house plus several plazas and historic displays. We had about 20 minutes at the big market that has over 3000 vendors – even walking through the place I was on overload with so many booths offering different versions of the same merchandise. Burl wants to return for a few hours this weekend – I prefer the quiet shops in our neighborhood.
We returned to the hotel for happy hour and a siesta before attending a Rotary meeting that started at 8:00. We suspected the meeting might include plenty of tequila and last until midnight or later so were pleasantly surprised when it was a low-key evening and was over around 10:00.
The club is less than a year old and has about 20 members – fortunately we had a translator with us as only a few of them spoke any English and our Spanish is limited. However, it’s amazing how we can communicate with body language and facial expressions!
It’s now Wednesday morning and we’re ready for breakfast by the pool before we leave for a tour of the town of Tequila. Guess what kind of factory we’ll tour?
Bring us back something good – not that Jose Cuervo crap! Sounds like you’re having fun. We’re getting warm weather today so I’m not so jealous of you!
Oh, and I meant, bring us back something good PLEASE. Thank you!!!!