volunteer – Page 2 – Destination NOW

Santa Anna Slept Here

Yes, THAT Santa Anna. The one who inspired the classic phrase, “Remember the Alamo”. The one who, when he lost a foot and part of his leg in battle, gave it an elaborate military funeral.

Fun fact for those of you planning a trip to Springfield, Illinois. After his foot’s funeral, Santa Anna had a cork prosthetic leg made. That very leg was captured during the Mexican-American War and is currently on display in the Illinois military museum. If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering just HOW Santa Anna’s leg happened to be separated from his body. Well, thanks to wikipedia, I can tell you, and the truth isn’t anyway NEAR as interesting as what my mind conjured up. From the military museum’s website:

In 1847, Illinois soldiers “came upon General Santa Anna’s abandoned carriage and found gold worth $18,000, a roast chicken lunch, and his artificial leg. They turned in the gold, ate the chicken and kept the artificial leg as a souvenir.

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, it just so happens that Santa Anna and I have something in common. No, I do not have an artificial leg on display in a museum. At least not yet. We BOTH have slept at the Hotel Hidalgo. But just to be clear, not at the same time.

Built in 1825, the Hidalgo Hotel was the first, and by definition, the best, hotel in Querétaro. During the war, “the refinement of the hotel made it a favorite choice” for Santa Anna. His stay ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe, “which gave more than half of Mexico’s territory to the USA.” (Actually, they didn’t GIVE it to us; we paid $15 million for it. More expensive than Manhattan or Seward’s ice box? I’ll let you be the judge.)

How do I know all this? I’d like to be able to claim that my attentiveness in history class and my truly amazing memory are responsible, but anyone that knows me would never swallow THAT tall tale. Nope, the source of my hotel knowledge came from this mural in its entry.

As one might expect of a hotel almost 200 years old, it has its quirks. For example, the size of the showers would lead you to believe that they were not a common feature back then.
As with people, each room has its strengths and drawbacks. But with the right attitude, these quirks can become rather endearing. Plus, the staff is wonderful, the rooms are very clean, it costs less than $40 per night, and the location is absolutely ideal.

If, however, you prefer to sleep in a convent, or in the house of a dead Marquesa, those options are also available. Those of you who have been reading along may recall the snarky comment I made a while back about La Casa de la Marquesa probably paying Google to show up on its maps. Little did I know that the Casa, like the Hotel Hidalgo, is a historical site with its very own legend. And you, dear reader, will soon read all about it.

It seems that Don Juan Antonio, the Marques, although a married man, had a yen for a nun, Sister Marcella Nasturtium. The good sister, despite remaining true to her vow of chastity, was still able to persuade the Marques to build an aqueduct to bring fresh water into the city, and to build the most beautiful house in Querétaro, which he then gave to his wife.

One more hotel story then I’ll end this post. It seems that being a nun in the days of old was not a bad gig, if you managed to be born to the right family. One rich man built a convent for his daughter that was the grandest in a city filled with grand convents. The Convent of Santa Clara had its own orchards and gardens, and the rents it collected allowed the nuns to live in private houses with their own servants. Wow.

Hotel detail. What do you expect? It WAS a convent? — Hotel detail. What do you expect? It WAS a convent!

And to think that YOU could sleep in ANY of these buildings! Is this not a cool city?!!

You Call This Work?

So, what EXACTLY do Global Volunteers do in Querétaro, Mexico? As with all other GV projects, the volunteers do whatever our host asks us to do. And boy oh boy, are we well utilized here!

Five out of our group of eleven volunteers

At the Universidad Tecnológica de Querétaro (UTEQ), we spend four to five hours a day talking with highly motivated, enthusiastic students. Our schedule varies from day to day, to ensure that the early morning and late afternoon students also get an opportunity to interact with us. For example, on Tuesdays, we catch our cab for UTEQ at 7:20 AM for an 8 AM class and are finished teaching at noon. On Wednesday, we start teaching at 5:00 PM and are done at 9:00 PM. On the remaining days, our start times range from 9 AM to 12 PM. I’m here to tell Ya–I have even more respect for teachers. It is NOT easy being 100% focused for several hours straight.

Because the demand is so great, we never work with a student more than once. Initially, I wasn’t sure I’d like getting a new group every hour, but the students are wonderful, and the time absolutely flies by. You don’t even notice how tired you are until the cab ride home.

One of my groups. I LOVED working with these wonderful young women!

Group size varies. Sometimes we might each have 2 to 4 students. Other times we might have 10 to 12.

It is difficult to do much preparation, because you don’t know what you will be getting until you arrive in the classroom and start talking with the students. Some have prepared questions to ask us; others are shy, needing encouragement and gentle coaxing to get them to talk.

Pam, our leader explained that the goal was not necessarily to teach specific words or grammatical points, but to build students’ confidence. What a relief–I can do that! Once again, I discovered that patience, a sense of humor and enthusiasm were my most important tools. Oh yeah, that, plus a small white board, index cards and my iPad have been getting me through the day.

Before I left home, I raced around my house, camera in hand, taking photos of various objects that I could show on my iPad, as my back up plan. Good thing. For beginning students, it came in handy. For example, I used visuals like this, to have them practice asking each other, “what is this?”, then take turns answering.

In the midst of my pointing out objects on my iPad, I heard a chorus of “awwwwwww”. Mystified that cutlery could inspire such a reaction, I flipped my iPad around to find I had inadvertently switched the photo from my kitchen table to my sister’s granddaughter.
The students wanted to know all about “the baby”, so we talked about Bonnie–what was her name, where was she when the photo was taken, what was she wearing, what was she holding? Little Bonnie is now quite famous here in Querétaro. One student (bless his heart) wanted to know if she was MY baby. That led to a discussion about grandchildren, my sister, her daughter, all the other members of my family tree and my age!

Occasionally some of us have a break between classes. That’s the perfect time to head for the cafeteria for informal discussions. Today, I met an older student who is employed by the Swedish company Ericcson and attending school. He confessed to being a bit reluctant to approach me until he saw me smile at him and nod my head. His English was excellent–he just needed a little confidence. I felt like the Wizard of Oz!

Ericsson isn’t the only major employer in the areas. Other companies include Samsung and Daewoo from South Korea, Bombardier(Canada), Nestle(Switzerland) Siemens(Germany), Santander (Spain) and Kellogs, P&G, Bose from the good Ol USA. Querétaro is definitely an international city.

Ericsson has invested heavily in UTEC. Volunteers that had been here before mentioned that the campus had been spiffed up, buildings had been repainted, thanks to the generosity of Ericsson. They also donated the language lab, which is the building behind this sign.

What I really like, however, is the banner BEHIND the building, and not only because it is in English.

“An Everyone Everywhere World”, in which everyone gets the chance to fulfill their potential. What a beautiful sentiment. What a wonderful world that would be!

And what an amazing way to spend two weeks! Who knew work could be so much fun?

Ready for My Close Up

Okay, gang, so here’s the background:

Every day, one of the Global Volunteers writes a journal entry, accompanied by a thought for the day. These are read aloud when our group meets–either in the morning at breakfast or in the evening before dinner. As I was the first to arrive in Querétaro, our leader asked me to do the first entry. Well, guess what–it made it on to the Global Volunteers website, accompanied by photos taken yesterday while I was working at school.

Yes, I know that some of you think I spend all my time cruising the ‘calles’ (that’s ‘streets’ for those of you that don’t share my oh so vast knowledge of the Spanish language; I’m easily as fluent as the average Mexican two year old) but no, I actually DO do something that vaguely resembles work. Here’s proof:

I tried to imbed a link to the site into this post, but my iPad is cranky this morning, so instead, a copy of my journal entry follows.

However, I encourage you to wander on over to GlobalVolunteers.org to check out all the wonderful opportunities for personal growth that this organization offers. I’m kinda hoping that when you see how much fun and how worthwhile the projects are, some of you will be inspired to sign on. Who knows, maybe we’ll be together on a future trip!

Journal entry for Sunday, February 8, 2015

Thought for the Day
“Before you try to change the world, let the world change you.”

Volunteers arriving yesterday were greeted by a fiesta going full blast in Hotel Hidalgo’s courtyard. A father of 15 was celebrating his 90th birthday, with 80 of his direct descendants. Perhaps the secret to a long life is to know how to party hearty? Not a bad way to kick off our time in Mexico–with music, dancing and very happy people.

The "birthday boy" is wearing a white hat, and waiting for his guests to arrive. — The “birthday boy” is wearing a white suit. He’s waiting for his guests to arrive.

Our leader, Pam, has a dedicated group of followers who enjoy serving with her. This is the 7th time Bill has volunteered in Mexico, followed by Roger who is on his 4th tour of duty. Eunice, Mary#1, Joe and Mary #2 will be serving here for the 3rd time. You don’t have to be with Pam for very long to figure out why she inspires such loyalty.

Although this will be the first time in Mexico for Shannon, Leslie and me(Shelley), we have all served in other countries. Lorraine is our “official newbie” and we are all delighted that she has joined the team.

During breakfast in the hotel, we introduced ourselves, then got a well organized and thorough orientation from Pam. Mary and Joe very thoughtfully had obtained brochures and maps IN ENGLISH for all of us. Although Querétaro is a tourist destination, most of the visitors are from other parts of Mexico, so there is not an abundance of English materials. Thanks to Mary and Joe, we can easily view the many appealing options the area offers for our free time.

Carolina, the head of the language department at U. Tech, joined us after breakfast. A warm, inspirational woman, who speaks beautiful English, Carolina shared information about the school and described the positive impact GV has had on the students.

Our meeting concluded with GV’s traditional team building exercises. First, we described fourteen characteristics of an effective team. If our ability to quickly identify those characteristics is any indication, this team will be highly effective indeed. Next, Pam asked us to think about why we signed on for this particular project. In other words, what were our goals. We each wrote three goals on separate index cards, took turns reading them aloud, then Pam grouped similar goals into categories. These were:
Help students
Cultural exchange
Personal growth

After a wonderful lunch, we were free to settle in, explore or rest until we meet for dinner at 7 PM.

Statues, Fountains, Churches and Party Dresses

If we were playing jeopardy, the correct response to the title of this blog post would be “what do you find in every plaza in Querétaro”?

Remember a couple of posts ago, how excited I was about those green patches I saw on my Google map? Well, turns out, this place is even better than I ever expected. There are plazas aplenty here! Far more than what appeared on the map. These squares are truly the hearts of the community–beautiful public spaces, with statues, fountains, vendors, music and happy people. There is a whole lot of living going on in this town, much of it taking place in these wonderful plazas.

Here is a brief tour of just a few of Querétaro’s plazas. If you want to see more, you may just have to come here yourself.

This cool sculpture represents an Otomi warrior. The Otomi were living in Querétaro when the Spanish arrived.

I had expected The Plaza de las Armas to have a military theme. Instead of cannons and guns, however, this beautiful fountain dominates the square. I’ve seen lots of creative ways to get water gushing forth, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen it coming from dogs’ mouths.

You don’t have to walk very far in this town to stumble upon a church. The interiors are much the same–crucifixes and lots of gold, but I found the exteriors rather compelling.

I particularly like the Templo of Santa Cruz. (I have no idea why they are called ‘templos’ here instead of iglesias. Maybe that terminology is particular to Mexico?) Anyway, this Templo has it all–fountains, a convent,

a statue representing the indigenous population the missionaries were sent to “save”,

and a replica of the stone cross that the Spanish and the locals saw in the sky on July 26,1531, during “the battle for domination”.

According to legend, that day, there was a total eclipse of the sun, followed by the appearance St. James, riding a white horse across the sky and carrying such a cross, (sans serape, I would expect). The legend states that this celestial event frightened the Otomi and their allies, resulting in a Spanish victory.

Okay, so enough of the history. On to the party dresses. They are EVERYWHERE.

Which reminds me. Time to go shopping!

Queretaro, Mexico

Okay, for those of you that have visions of me basking in the sun, with a cerveza in one hand and sangria in the other, while you shiver amid the snow flakes, let me disabuse you of that notion. This morning started on the nippy side—39 degrees, according to Weatherbug.

I hit the street early, looking for an ATM. The good news–people on the street understood my Spanish. The bad news? They thought I could actually speak the language, so they went into “rapid” mode for giving directions, but quite fortunately accompanied it with LOTS of pointing.

Those green spots on the map in the last post? They are indeed lovely squares.

Check out what the locals are wearing. See, I wasn’t kidding about the temperature.

On the taxi ride from the airport, I got the night view of the bustling city of Queretaro, as we roared along the six lane highway. From what little I could see, it appears to be quite large and modern.

Our hotel is in el centro, the historic district. No cars are allowed on the street in front of the hotel, so the taxi driver very kindly walked me the half block to my destination.

That yellow building is where I’ll be hanging my hat for the next 17 days.

My room is on the second floor, 31 steps up. There is no elevator, so I was grateful that I had taken Pam’s advice and packed light. And I’m happy to have this built in opportunity for exercise.

My room is small, but very clean, and the bed is extra firm, which is my preference. The best part–the wi-fi seems to be working really well from my room.

Okay, so after looking at those photos, wouldn’t you think that my room is windowless? Well, that’s what I thought too, till I stepped into the shower this morning, and found one hiding in there. Not only do I have a window, but it was open all last night!
However, between the blankie on my bed, and el Diablo, I managed to stay quite warm.

Off to explore the old town!

Getting Ready for Global Volunteers

Tomorrow, if the snow gods allow, I will be winging my way toward my fourth Global Volunteers experience, in Queretaro, Mexico. Although I’ll be sticking to North America, and will have no jet lag to contend with, I’m still giving myself a couple of days to acclimate to my new surroundings. And what wonderful surroundings they will be!

I will freely admit to having extremely limited knowledge of our southern neighbor’s geography. I signed on without having any idea where Queretaro is, or anything else about the area, for that matter. But that is all changing. In the past two days, I’ve been cruising the internet, like a college student at exam time, trying to learn everything I can about the place I’ll call home for the next 17 days. And I’m more than happy to share this new-found knowledge with you–oh, my loved ones.

In the past, my experiences with Mexico were confined to the coasts: Cabo San Lucas and Playa del Carmen. This time, I’ll be in the interior of the country, so no need for bathing suit or flip-flops. Here’s a visual, for those of you, like me, who need to see where you are going, with Texas providing a point of reference.

Queretaro is right smack dab under that red dot. The city and the state share the same name–although the city is officially called Santiago de Queretaro. I didn’t even know that Mexico was broken into states–I just thought of that land mass as “Mexico”. But there are 31 of them, and Queretaro is one of the smallest, as you have probably figured out by its obliteration under the dot. It’s about two and a half hours from Mexico City, to give you an idea of distances and scale.

As with other things in life, don’t be fooled by size. Queretaro may be small in territory, but it has a lot going for it. It is chock full of beautiful 17th and 18th century buildings, enough to be named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Many were former churches, convents and missions, (not surprising given the Franciscans founded the city in 1531, looonnnng before those Pilgrims and Puritans set foot up north). There’s scads of history in them thar hills, but I’m saving all that for future posts and possibly a quiz or two.

Here’s a sneak peek at my new world. I’ll be staying at the Hotel Hidalgo, which unlike the Casa de la Marquesa, probably didn’t give Google any advertising dollars. Still, what did we do before Google maps?!

my world

The green patch in the bottom right corner is the street market, which I will undoubtedly visit. I also checked out Jardin Zenea, and that looks to be quite lovely. I’m thinking I’ll have plenty of photo ops on my days off.

In the upper left hand corner is where I’ll be working: the Technological University of Queretaro (UTEQ), giving the students opportunities to practice English. (I am reluctant to describe what I do as “teaching” English, given my lack of teaching experience…but hey, I sure know how to talk and to listen!)

This will be quite a change of pace for me. For my other three projects, I worked with either preschool or elementary school children. This time, I’ll working with adolescents and will be following a varied schedule. To accommodate early and late classes, some days we’ll go from 7AM to 2 PM and others from 3 PM to 9 PM. Because the volunteers are in such demand, and the need is so great, we will not see the same class twice, something else that will be quite different for me.

I’m lucky enough to have an Ecuadorian sister-in-law, who humors me by letting me practice my Spanish on her. Any time yo hablo espanol, it is guaranteed to get a laugh out of mi hermana preferida. I’m sure it is because of her amazement and admiration of my fluency. We’ll see how it goes with the students. I’m betting I’ll be able to pick up a phrase or two from them to completely dazzle and amaze the folks back home.

I’m not sure about the internet capabilities in the hotel, or MY capabilities given the work schedule, but I plan on posting whenever I am able.

Hasta luego!

Seven Selfish Reasons to Become a Cook Island Global Volunteer

It seems that this time of year we feel compelled to create and/or read lists–the ten best movies, the thirty best female vocalists of the decade, five foolproof ways to lose weight, eight helpful hints you can’t live without. So, I figured I might as well jump right onto the ol bandwagon with MY list. LIke Letterman, I’ll do it as a countdown.

7. WAKE UP EVERY MORNING TO THE SOUND OF THE OCEAN

The KiiKii, your home while volunteering, is right smack dab on the ocean. But then, just about everything in Rarotonga is right on the ocean–the island’s interior is completely mountainous. If you have trouble falling asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, you need to bring earplugs!

6. HANG OUT WITH THE OWNER OF RAROTONGA’S ONLY BREWERY

Yes, Global Volunteers’ country manager is indeed the owner of Matutu Brewery. And, as a Rarotonga resident, James knows everything of importance, like where to get the best pizza I’ve ever tasted! That’s where we were heading right after our brewery tour. Pizza and beer, what could be a better ending to a volunteer’s day?

5. MAKE WONDERFUL NEW FRIENDS

The nicest people become Global Volunteers…take a look

4. LEARN TO DANCE

It seems like everyone on the island sings and dances. Those in the know (like us volunteers) catch the professionals practicing the routine they perform at the local resorts. There is also a show every Saturday at the outdoor market. Here’s a 30 second clip of my favorite dancers. Check out the expression on the little girl’s face, second to the left. Watching her always made me smile.

3. EXPERIENCE A DIFFERENT CULTURE

Cook Islanders are gracious, friendly people who welcome visitors to their island. Family is everything to them. As a volunteer you become a member of the extended family, sharing food and laughter.

Best of all, you learn to appreciate “island time” and a life style that is safer, slower and friendlier than what you might have been used to. You come home more relaxed and more aware of what really matters.

2. ENJOY UNSPOILED BEAUTY

New Zealanders in general, and Cook Islanders in particular, are in tune with nature, and care about preserving the environment–and it shows. No billboards, no litter, no traffic jams–just flowers and mountains and ocean.

Hiking up one of the mountain trails with Niki. Check out the size of those leaves!

1. FALL IN LOVE

Look at these beautiful faces–how could anyone NOT fall in love?

What a wonderful way to spend three weeks!

It’s not ALL work…

Although Global Volunteers work a full week, we have weekends and evenings to enjoy our surroundings. To be tax deductible, however none of the fee we paid can be used for off duty activities, and the organization can’t make leisure arrangements or recommendations.

This is not a problem if you are lucky enough to have someone like Robyn in your group. A “returning” Cook Island volunteer, Robyn was a fantastic resource. During her stay last year, she discovered Air Rarotoga’s day trip to Aitutaki.

It didn’t take much for her to convince THIS group that would be a grand way to spend a Saturday.

Back: Willy, Robyn, Larry Front: Dave, Sally and Niki at the Avarua airport, waiting to meet Paul, our guide. — Back: Willy, Robyn, Larry
Front: Dave, Sally and Niki
at the Avarua airport, waiting to meet Paul, our guide.

We got a great view of Aitutaki and the surrounding motus from the plane.

Paul took us on a quick tour of the island, which allowed us to feast our eyes on some very luxurious accommodations!

The rest of the day was spent snorkeling and visiting various motus.

Our vessel -- and did you notice that beautiful white sand? — Our vessel

While we were sailing, the crew entertained us with songs and stories.

Our captain and his helper. It wasn't even "take your kid to work" day — THEY don’t need an official “take your son to work”day. Our captain with his helper.

Last Christmas, Willy’s wife Niki bought him an underwater camera. I’d say he put it to good use, wouldn’t you?

George, the giant trevally. The leg on the left gives you an idea of George's size and how close he came to us. — George, the giant trevally. The leg on the left gives you an idea of George’s size and how close he came to us.

Another photo by Willy--the giant clam — Another photo by Willy–the giant clam

I didn’t see “Survivor: Cook Islands” when it aired in 2006, but once I got home, I watched the video. I wasn’t interested in tribal councils or challenges. Nope. I just wanted to enjoy all the spectacular background photography. Die-hard fans might recognize some of the sights. The show’s opening shots were very much like our view from the plane.

Big deal--Ozzie captured a bird. Even I could have caught THIS guy. — Big deal–Ozzie captured a bird. Even I could have caught THIS guy.

We were starting to get hungry from all the snorkeling and touring. Fortunately, unlike the “survivors” we didn’t have to catch our food.

P1040139 — Lucky for this guy, we had better options.

Lunch was part of our package, and what a lunch it was!

Robyn clued us in to a special feature of the tour…getting our passports stamped at “One Foot Island”, so called because it is shaped like a giant foot. Its real name is Akaiami Motu. Paul taught the CORRECT pronunciation: “eye-k-yummy”.

It was SO worth the $2!

Time to head back. Another great day, with wonderful friends, in a beautiful corner of the Pacific Ocean.

These hotel "rooms" are over the water. — These bungalows extend over the water, and for a mere $1,20o per night, it could be all yours.

A perfect memory for a snowy New Jersey day!

Rollin’ Round Rarotonga

Remember the John Candy movie “Planes Trains and Automobiles”? If it had been filmed in Rarotonga it would have been called “Buses, Scooters and Pick Up Trucks”– and we rode them all.

Where else does the bus driver stop to pick up his breakfast and come back with a load of bananas for everyone on the bus? The food stand owner knew we were all going to church, so she wanted to show us a little love.

"Superman", one of my favorite bus drivers--with our gift from "Mama" — “Superman”, one of my favorite bus drivers–with our gift from “Mama”

There are two bus routes on Rarotonga. The Clockwise bus leaves from the center of Avarua on the hour; the Anti-clockwise bus leaves on the half hour. Their only route is the circle around the island that is Rarotonga’s one main road. Although technically there ARE bus stops, standing anywhere by the side of the road and waving enthusiastically works too. And there if there is one thing I have plenty of, it’s enthusiasm!

My other favorite driver was Bob Hopeless, who turns a bus ride into a bona fide tourist attraction.

If you’d like 30 seconds of the Bob Hopeless experience, click this link. If you want more, you’ll just have to visit Rarotonga. And yes, the road was that bumpy, which is one reason I decided against renting a bicycle. The other was bus rides were so bloody much fun!

Maybe in Boston, (at least according to “Cheers”) everyone in the local bar knows who you are; on Rarotonga, it was the bus drivers.

Because we are workers, we get a special red bus pass–10 rides for $20–which almost functioned as an ID badge, differentiating us from the other Pakeha (non-Maori) on the island. Our Global Volunteers fee covers transportation to and from the worksite; any non-work related travel (even going to church) we fund ourselves. Anyway, before too long the drivers were greeting us and they knew exactly where we were headed.

But buses were only one method of transportation. This is a VERY friendly island. Sometimes we’d decide to walk back from school. We’d start off but before we got too far, we’d hear someone shouting our names and we were hopping onto or into one vehicle or another. One day a pick up truck, the next a scooter.
Niki and I jumped out to get ice cream while Patrick (in the front seat) and Willy continued on the last few “blocks” to the KiiKii Motel. My seat was right over the left rear wheel.

Note the water bottle in Willy's hands; note the disappointed look on the boy;s face. Willy had promised to squirt Niki and me, then thought better of it. — Note the water bottle in Willy’s hands; note the disappointed look on the boy’s face. Willy had promised to squirt Niki and me, then reconsidered.

No photos exist of my rides on the back of Engia’s (the principal of Takitumu) motor scooter, but Niki did take this one of me hitching a ride with Bud before our hike up the mountain.

We also got offered rides in regular cars, but what made those trips memorable were the conversations with the drivers. Tora is a Maori who emigrated to Australia and joined the army. He was a military attache to the US army who had served in Afghanistan.

Tora clued us in to the controversy surrounding the upcoming coronation. It seems that a former king had three wives and some thought that the wrong line had been selected to replace the prior queen. He explained that the dissenters would be letting their feelings known at the coronation.

Okay, so NEXT post will be about the coronation. I promise!

There was ONE more method of island transportation that us “three weekers” experienced vicariously. The 10th Annual Vaca Eiva went from November 23 until November 29 and drew rowers from all over the Pacific region: Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, even one team from Hawaii, and of course The Cook Islands. The racers rowed right by my hotel room, giving me great opportunities to capture the action. Because they all wore event tee shirts and not their team shirts, it was a little tricky to determine who was who. Fortunately, the KiiKii was also home to a Kiwi team and when their supporters started cheering wildly, I started shooting.

The young Kiwis staying at our hotel came in third!

The Tahitians were #1 and 2, but our Kiwi friends did quite well, and were thrilled I had managed to capture the moment for them. And I was thrilled to be able to show MY appreciation for the warmth, friendship and hospitality I experienced while visiting their country by giving something to them. And isn’t that what Global Volunteers is all about?

Global Volunteers, Cook Islands

Let me introduce you to Global Volunteer’s Vaca 139. Why “Vaca”? Because it is the Maori word for boat, and it serves as a reminder that we are all in the same boat–we’re in this together.

The 139 is self explanatory: we are the 139th group of Global Volunteers to serve in Rarotonga. Of Vaca 139’s ten volunteers, six have been here before, which speaks volumes about this assignment. Half of the group will be staying for two weeks. I am one of the five that opted for three weeks.

Standing: Dave, Larry, Willy Middle: James, Lynda, Shelley, Bud Front: Robyn, Patrick, Sally, Niki — Standing: Dave, Larry, Willy
Middle: James, the country manager, Lynda, Shelley, Bud
Front: Robyn, Patrick, Sally, Niki

So what were we going to do during our stay? Larry and Sally split their time between the prison and the high school. When she was not in jail, Sally was a one woman “beautifier”, sprucing up the exterior of Tereora College. She was leaving HER mark in flowers, while Larry, a former math teacher, gave his students practical skills, such as learning how to calculate nutritional values and convert celsius to fahrenheit.

Robyn and Dave worked in Titikavaka College. Bud, an Ob/Gyn, returned to the hospital to offer his assistance, and Lynda worked with the Ministry of Education, developing plans for special needs children.

Willy and Niki, Patrick and I were delighted to be assigned to an elementary school. Papa Patrick, an artist from Florida, very thoughtfully brought along a suitcase full of watercolors and paper. He spent the first two of the three weeks at the school, helping the children make cards; the last week he taught disabled adults at the Creative Center with Lynda.

Uncle Willy worked with the third graders during class time.

Can you see why it required more than one attempt to photograph THIS group?

Once the drums started beating (yes, that’s right–there are no bells, there are drums that mark the start and finish of school periods) he was out in the field, playing soccer with boys of ALL ages, regardless of the heat and humidity.

If you would like a more vivid drumming experience, Just click on this YouTube link.

Niki and I preferred more sedentary (and cooler) ways to interact with the children during “free” time. During the school day, she worked one on one with fourth and fifth graders.

My first week was spent helping out in the office. Their secretary had abruptly quit right before we arrived, leaving a mountain of unfinished paperwork. A basic principle of Global Volunteers is that you do whatever you are asked to do, so I got busy copying, doing excel spreadsheets, data entry, and report cards. James figured that my years in the insurance industry would mean I was good at office work. I didn’t bother to tell him that wasn’t quite what I did, and once I left the world of paid employment, I said goodbye to PCs to become an Apple devotee. I was shocked at how much windows and excel had changed in just a couple of years! Fortunately, speed was not important, and I was able to figure it out–although the copy machine WAS a bit of a struggle.

The best part of my assignment was I shared the principal’s office, so I got to know this warm, gracious, interesting woman. Because she had recently married, she generously shared her wedding photos and the stories about people in them, her extended family.

In the principal's office — Engia, the principal, and her new secretary

Of course, I was able to take several breaks during the day to play and read with the children, who LOVED to have their photos taken, AND to take photos. Here are a few schoolyard shots.

Stay tuned for the next post–the coronation!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: