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The beginning of August gave us some much welcomed sunny days in Puerto
Lopez and brought new volunteer Jeenie from Canada. With clear skies we
took the opportunity to go to see the whales and were not disappointed
by the spectacular show of breaching and playing that ensued. With the
sudden exodus of many volunteers at the end of July we were suddenly a
bit short of helpers, and with Jeenie and Abby working at the foundation
for children with special needs, some of the schools were left without
native english teachers. This drought lasted only a few short weeks
until we received the British couple Doug and Sylvie who took classes at
the school as well as private lessons at the house. Their dedication to
their classes was evident and the progress of their students has been
undeniable. Together we ran club de niños, mixing games, crafts and
reading with the kids, and inter-cambio, which allowed us all to
practice our español as we helped some local tourism students practice
their english. Inter-cambio became more enjoyable every week as the shy
students gradually became more open to trying to speak english and
participate in the games (even if it was something as silly as celebrity
heads, animal style). At the end of the month we lost Jeenie, but not
before she put into place a more structured approach to managing the
foundation and we rocked out in the party town of Montañita for one more
night. With the loss of one volunteer we picked up two more, Sandy from
Germany and Chavvy from India who also worked teaching english in the
schools and giving private lessons at the house. At the close of the
month we were left with a 5 person strong team, bright-eyed and eager to
carry onto the next month and beyond.
