This is Christie from yesterday checking in again to tell you about Grupo Uno’s fabulous day working at the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca. Grupo Uno (composed of myself, Kelsey, Alesha, and we picked up Jeff and David) started the morning off with another wonderful breakfast at Villa Isabella. The pancake was so good yesterday that I enjoyed one with chocolate chips this morning.
The view from my Villa Isabella balcony:
After breakfast we headed the 32 steps from the hotel to the library where we had a tour with Jane of all the different rooms and sections of the library. We also had the opportunity to talk with Heidy, the jeffa (manager) of the library about some of the specifics of the daily operations. It was a very interesting conversation. After the tour, we got to work. Alesha and Kelsey worked on an organization project with books that had been donated to the library to decide which collection they would fit into best- the permanent, movil, or a donation to another library. David continued his fine work on the SJDS Biblioteca’s website. You can view his updates at www.sjdsbiblioteca.org/wp Dr. Weeks kept us company doing school work while Jeff worked on his blog posts, and I worked on my afternoon mini-workshop on how to set up email accounts. The library also had a fun mid –morning visit from a monkey named Cindy and her owner.
The front of the SJDS Bibloteca:
Noelia and Esau help a patron at the circulation desk:
Alesha and Kelsey help Jane with book organization:
David works hard on the new website:
The monkey library visitor:
When Grupo Dos got back from their Movil experience, which you can read more about in Kate’s blog, we all broke for lunch. Since Alesha and I, in particular, are shrimp aficionados, we went back to Las Brisas where we went on Monday and had lunch there again. There was a beautiful view of the ocean and fantastic food was had by all.
After lunch we came back to the library where we met with Magdalena, the director of a nearby public school, the Centro Escolar Emmanuel Mangalo y Rubio. There were going to be several other teachers with her, but due to circumstances beyond their control, it was just Magdalena. Kelsey and I showed her how to set up a Gmail account for the school and how to send and receive messages with it. She caught on very quickly and was sending messages to volunteers from Germany in no time at all. Then Kate, Kristen, and Peg reviewed some craft ideas with her which she was very excited to implement at her school.
Magdalena and Kelsey working on Gmail en español:
Next, it was on to Jane’s house again to hear about some of the specifics of how she was able to set up and sustain the Biblioteca. It was fascinating to hear about some of the steps to sustainability she has taken and is working to take. She was also able to share some of the papers she has presented on the subject.
Finally, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at El Timon with all of the library staff. There was a special cultural dance presentation before dinner and after dinner we thanked the members of the staff with small tokens of appreciation for all of their kind and thoughtful help this week. It was tough to say goodbye, but it was truly a great trip and a wonderful learning experience.
Dance for St. Sebastian- a parody of men's and women's relations done on the way to the church (but never in the church):
Kelsey, our resident Spanish translator, thanking Heather for her help this week:
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