adios, beth

We are in El Pino and La Ceiba to see Beth off for her trip to the States. That means that we traveled to El Pino on Monday and spent the night here, before putting Beth on the bus bright and early Tuesday morning. Prairie and I spent Tuesday and Wednesday mornings helping with the children's feeding and pre-school program that the El Pino Methodist church runs. Tuesday was their first day. Hah! What chaos! First, we helped sort beans. Then, the kids arrived and immediately started crying and yelling because they didn't want their mommies to leave. I had planned to help out in the classroom with the 5 and 6 year-olds, since I have more experience with children age 6 and up. Well, the teacher asked me if I could help with the 3-year-olds instead (of which there were 15), because it was their teacher's very first day ever and she could use the help! So I did. Or at least, I tried. I didn't really know what to help her with though, since she wasn't giving any instructions. So mostly I just tried to comfort the five children who wouldn't stop crying--I succeeded with one of them! The same thing pretty much happened on Wednesday, although not as many children were crying as loudly for as long of a time. One sobbing little boy peed on the floor. And when I picked him up for a moment on our way to lunch, I discovered a stinky mess on his leg--and then on my dress... It was frustrating to see how little control the teachers had over the children, especially the one I was working with, who seemed at a loss for what to do. She'll be in my thoughts as the program continues...