Last Friday marked my second visit to the School of Joy, an elementary school with about forty students. Since the students had limited knowledge of English, communication was a bit challenging. Despite the language barrier, I had the opportunity to teach math conversions to some third and fourth graders. In Costa Rica, people use the metric system (lmeters and grams), but in the United States, we use the imperial system (feet, inches and pounds).
One of my favorite moments was playing soccer with them... it's their favorite sport, and they look up to players like Ronaldo and Messi. After painting, we decorated the green tires with ornaments from last year. They celebrate Christmas earlier in Costa Rica because they don't have Thanksgiving.
Interestingly, much of the food the children enjoy comes from the gardens surrounding the school. I had the chance to help plant seeds that will eventually grow into the food for their lunches. Some of the foods that are grown in the garden include cabbage, cilantro, peppers and lots of fruit.
