Saturdays are different at the Mariposa Foundation. Because there is no school on Saturday, all of their girls descend on the Mariposa "campus" for a morning of decidedly less academic activities: swimming, dancing, crafts, softball. And on this Saturday, we got to be a part of that craziness.
Our students were struck by how different their second day at the Mariposa Foundation felt from their first last Tuesday. The girls knew them now, after our first visit and then three days at the Coral School where many Mariposas attend classes five days a week. All of the hesitancy and shyness was gone from the Mariposas; they ran to our kids, hugged them, held their hands, teased them, and generally did the stuff friends do with friends.
One of the things the Mariposa girls wanted most was for our kids to teach them some American dances. We had already done a little Electric Cha-Cha as a way to teach "left foot," "right foot," "two hops back," etc., so of course the Brimmer students could give them more moves from EEUU, right? Sadly, I'm not sure that we were able to grant that wish for them, but I did hear that Dougie might have been spotted on the dance floor.
Did I mention before how good these girls are at softball? Another ultra-competitive game broke out, and I know for sure that putting a few Mariposa girls on the Brimmer and May softball team would bring at least two extra wins on the season. These girls are seriously ferocious and exceptionally talented!
Saying goodbye to the girls and the staff at the Mariposa Foundation brought to an end the service component to our trip, and I feel safe in saying that none of us were ready for it to end. We wanted to spend more time at La Escuela Coral teaching, playing, and laughing with these wonderful kids. We wanted to feel the warmth, love, and respect that is palpable at Mariposa for at least one more day. We wanted a chance to keep making kids smile, and to have kids make us smile.
But the Winterim schedule doesn't allow a two-week trip, so we hugged our goodbyes and headed off for another afternoon at another perfect Caribbean beach, followed by dinner back at the Piergiorgio Hotel and a last trip to Bon helados.
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