Maldonado-Friday June 7, 2024

Day 2 began by visiting the classroom of rockstar teacher Flor Delgado at Escuela N. 50 presented about ourselves and it went great! Fulbright fellow Kim led the class in a wiggle dance and showed video of her own students dancing! The kids had fun and we did too! Then we went to the next classroom where we were taught by students how to make mate, which is a drink piled high with herbs and doused with hot water. We were given bombillas, pronounced bom-BEE-sha. Kim and Sarah were then blindfolded as they tried to make mate without looking. When drinking your mate, it's important to keep a little montañita de yerba to keep up the flavor. I'm hooked! Now to find my own mate... gourd, or leather?

In the next classroom we were treated to a national food of Uruguay, which is torta frita. We enjoyed our torta con miel, just like the fry bread or sopapillas at home. Our student hosts were gracious and loving and sang a song of Uruguay with handmade instruments from their eco unit.

This school is part of a country wide program called A.Pr. En.D.E.R. which identifies vulnerable communities and gives extra support, such as a community teachers, extra teachers and a bit of extra compensation. It is another reflection of the responsiveness to educational needs of Uruguayan student.

And that was only the morning!

For lunch we were treated to a lentil stew and for dessert we had flan, a product of the nutritionist planned menu for schools and home cooked in each school. YUM!

After lunch we went over to Escuela N. 95, called España, where we were hosted by the dynamic co-director, Nicolas Campon. Here we walked to a community center that provides art and other programming for the community. It was modern and vibrant. Upon coming back to school we were put in the spotlight by having to present about ourselves to a larger group. EEK! I managed to do my presentation in Spanish with lots of enthusiastic help from Nico. We were then presented with mugs which spotlighted sights in and around Maldonado. After a short break, we raced up to a 6th grade class where I was able to lead a 6th grade class in the making of a 'zine. Art teacher in action! We have been on the go since 8:00 AM and now it's time to blog, relax and find.... more food! But it's a bit early... only 8:30 pm