At last, hoping it will be a blast and will last!

Mattia has finally managed to start some sort of athletics afternoon sessions for kids, mainly from the school but not only. It's a small thing, just 5 kids in the older group and 10 in the younger one, for barely an hour on a dusty field, but at the same time it's huge, as this means (once more, like we did with la cancha months ago) claiming a space previously considered taboo ("too dangerous, no-gone zone, gang area") for the children, who this way can stay outdoors, together, and be active, all very important in their lives.

There have been only two sessions per group up to now, so it's still very early days, but they seem to like it and the prospects of involving more and more "athletes" are good (we'll keep you posted), so Mattia is quite happy (as he values all this probably more than his teaching), though this implies more kids-management, after several tough hours in school... The positive add-on is that Michele and Sam are obviously joining the young group and they love it, as they were missing the soccer afternoon, which had become rarer and rarer, waiting, in Mattia's mind, for the right occasion to be replaced with something more structured, original, effective and, theoretically, more easily manageable.

June's family tales

As you might have understood, our neighbourhood doesn't offer much as to entertainment or just any kind of activities, especially if Profe Mattia, tired and stressed from his classes, doesn't feel like organising the ever-harder-to-manage football-hour in the little cancha in the late afternoon, so we definitely owe the kids and ourselves some escape from the roof over the weekends, using our birthday presents' money (thanks!) for transport, activities and some fancy food, which simply means anything different from the usual rice&something menu.

We've done another museums (this time the excellent, though serious, Popol Vuh, on Maya's history and crafts) and the little lovely Botanical Gardens (together with the small but nice Museo de Historia Natural) but most of all, on one day of the mid-year vacation week, we traveled to Puerto San José, which was great fun for the three boys, body-surfing on the huge crashing ways! We felt the real heat of the tropics, not mitigated by altitude, and the return journey on a very crowded bus, with the boys in our laps to save space for other passengers and money for our pockets, was quite long, but we all really loved the day, for the thrill of being on the Pacific Ocean (a first for M&S, while M&E had already experienced it on the other side, in the Philippines 12 years ago), for the extreme fun in the water and for the delicious fish.

Enjoy clicking around for pictures, or go to the gallery page, from where you can try also the June...mala album for other various shots (including flowers, cloud and some good engineering by the 3 boys) and the Roof with a view one, for rare clear views of our volcanoes.

Not forgetting...

...places way worse than our disadvantaged neighbourhood, we keep Palestine in our hearts, so as supporters of the BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) campaign we're happy to answer the call to share this video.

Home alone, then a new, small, move

Between the end of May and the beginning of June, three volunteers abandoned the ship, going back to their countries: Anya to Finland (but with plans to work in the States in a few months), Maria to Spain, Meriem to flooded Paris. This way the roof is now all ours: a strange feeling, though the main difference is only in the evenings and weekends, as during work-days the other English teachers come here before school and stay around a bit afterwards, so we still have company. 

The main change then is the very recent move: after a good deal of very necessary cleaning, last Sunday, to celebrate our 12th family birthday (wedding anniversary) we moved once again, but this time it doesn't really count as another of our family moves, as we only took our belongings to the other side of the roof, from the large room to two smaller ones now left free; they're next to each other, with bunk beds, one for the boys, one for mummy and daddy. The space is now definitely better organised and despite the charm of the family room it feels more normal for all of us, so we're happy with the change. Moreover, this is going to be our place for the rest of our stay here, so we can arrange and decorate it more freely.

New teacher

Sam has a new English teacher, his third in three months (though the English he and Michele get here is not really useful, so they just follow the lesson for the sake of it, when they don't get something different to do). She's Hannah, from the States, and is replacing Fernanda in first and fourth grade, so Mattia, after a week of transition, since last Monday has been enjoying some more time to prepare classes or relax from the ever growing stress.