CENTA

Well, Friday, the long-awaited day finally arrived: the 7th, 8th and 9th grade field trip to CENTA (the national department of agriculture, basically) and ENA (the national agricultural university). I had come up with the trip and solicited the transportation, but luckily teachers, parents and the principal got really excited about it and helped me organize. So at 7 a.m. 90 kids, 10 parents and 5 teachers boarded two buses and off we went.

We got to CENTA at least an hour late because a landslide was blocking the highway (thank you, rainy season) but got to see a lot of cool stuff with members of the fruit program, which I picked since our site has so much fruit in it and one of CENTA's fruit guys is from our area. It was really hot outside, and one kid who hadn't eaten breakfast fainted, but was soon brought around and stuffed with bread. By the time we finished our tour of the ENA, at 3 p.m., teachers and students alike were saying things like, Ya no me aguanto! (I can't take it anymore!) But I think all of them were excited to get out of school for a day -- they NEVER get field trips here, and I remember in elementary school we would get field trips like once a month. Even the bus ride was a treat for them, as we drove several departments away and most of these kids have rarely been farther than the nearest city. A lot of kids spent the whole two-hour trip hanging out of the windows like dogs, watching the scenery pass by.

I, of course, was tired and headachy by the time I got home, but happy that something that I had planned for months was finally over -- and apparently a success.Chopping pineapple roots using a special guillotine (yes, that's what they call it.)
The rose garden. Of course kids started picking the specially bred roses...
A tilapia pond. Mmm...tilapia...

Paz y amor.