Saturdays La Manzanilla Style

We were walking home along the beach yesterday in the late afternoon and the fishermen were out in force. Some leaving by boat and some walking along the shore with net in hand.

North along the La Manzanilla is still undeveloped, there are a couple of campgrounds and some beautiful beside lots for sale. We have some friends who have a trailer under a palapa on the north end of the beach. It's very basic but lovely. We've gotten into the habit of hanging out with them every Saturday.

It's great because they have a son Lyle's age, so they spend the day eating coconuts, climbing trees and playing in the ocean.

PTA meeting in La Manzanilla

It's the same everywhere. I went to my first PTA today. Last year it was a playset for the Kinder, this year it's a sun shade because the dang playset gets so hot the kids are burning themselves when they try to play on it.

We need $4000 pesos for the materials and then the parents need to build it. $4000 pesos, approximately $400 USD. Last year for the Denver International School it was $30,000 USD for a bus.

Sunshade or bus, doesn't matter it all equals fundraising. So, the parents have donated items for a yard sale, there is a movie planned and we all have to sell 3 tickets and donate food or drink to sell at the movie, there is halloween party, a dance in the jardin and few other activities planned to raise money.

After the meeting, conducted under a palapa in the sweltering heat, I approached the "PTA President" you can always tell which mom is the head mom even if you only understand 60% of what was said. So, I approach her, say in my broken Spanish that I know we need money and I know there is work to do so please just tell me what to do!

Come see me Tuesday, in front of the Kinder, where I will be setting up and selling other peoples junk trying to raise money.

I've been on a nonprofit board and headed the pr and marketing committees for various Denver nonprofits, and I have a handful of nonprofit clients, I'm not stranger to fundraising. $30,000 or $400, in the big picture funds is funds!

Mom, this is harder than I thought it would be...

Words from a 5 year old who Monday came home from the Kinderschool with a fat lip and yesterday came home with a small, but still bloody, cut on his head due to a rock throwing incident.



Prior to our move here, Lyle was at The Denver International School in the Spanish program. Full immersion, led teacher from Spain and only spoke Spanish and French, assistant from Mexico, 14 kids in the class, all the kids native English speakers.



The kinderschool here in La Manzanilla has 3 classes of 30 kids each, one teacher per classroom and no one speaks English.



When I asked the teacher about Lyle's fat lip she remarked that it was probably an insect bite. Lyle later told me it was from getting punched in the mouth.



When I asked Lyle about the rock incident he said after the boy hit him with the rock one of his friends went and told the teacher about it. I asked Lyle, "what did the teacher do?" - it's hard to get exact details from a 5-year-old- but my conclusion is the teacher did nothing.



Poor kid says to me, "Mom, this is harder than I thought it would be." I just burshed it off and told him, not to worry and to just ignore those mean boys, but inside my heart is breaking for him.



I'm sure in a month or so he'll have the lay of land and a better command of the language.