DEALING WITH THE LEMONS

Some of the kids made this mosaic.

The entire city of Jaco...it´s a tiny place (just for you Blakie Blake Blake)

Rebecca and me.

A storms a brewin´...

Like usual, I headed to el Rio this morning at nine, and opened up the Rancho. The Rancho is a little room that is all fenced in where we have crayons and papers so that the kids have a safe place to play or do homework that is all theirs. We have a routine each day: the kids see me walking down the hill and come running my way, we open up the Rancho and they run inside excited to paint and draw. Before they get a paper, we write their names on the board so they can practice spelling them on their pictures. Today though, after all the names were on the board and I went to grab the papers, I realized the heavy rain from yesterday had ruined everything.

            The kids stared blankly at me as I pulled out sheets and sheets of construction paper that had turned to tissue paper. Their desperate faces made me feel eager to please. I thought of my Grandma K who can make a craft out of anything and before I knew it, we were having fun with our flood-stained papers. The youngest kids shredded all of the papers into tiny pieces and brought out the glue while the older kids drew outlines for posters—it was time for some good ole’ paper mosaics!           

            I am not sure if there is a phrase in Spanish for making lemonade out of lemons but the kids being proud of their finished products was enough for me. Life here is most definitely not lazy. If you want a snack, you climb a tree, knock a coconut down, and then chuck it against a wall until you get a sweet drink. If you want to go to a friend’s house, you walk. If you need a facebook fix, you walk to a café and pay a few dollars. The community’s resourcefulness is something to learn from here in Jaco and when the sun finally came out today our mosaics were stunning!