August heralded the start of another secundaria responsibility: serving at meals. The female sections rotate according to month; one month is primeros, the next segundos, the next terceros, and then primeros again. August was our month to serve. This meant going to all three meals early, setting up the serving tables, dispensing food to the entire house, and being the last to eat. This is all in addition to the regular comedor cleaning they must do after every meal. All in all, it’s a lot of comedor time for secoundaria mujeres.
August was also my month of excursions. Due to money (or lack thereof) the house restricted excursions for the summer to two per section. I accidentally missed their first excursion to the movies my first week back so instead I went with Grandes A and my girls who were still in that section on Thursday, the 4th. It was fun to get out of the house for a bit especially since that so rarely happens with the kids. We saw Captain America. It was so-so, especially since the movie was dubbed, but lots of fun nevertheless.
Friday my foot started to swell. And it kept swelling. It got to be so bad, I determined a trip to the clinic necessary, a trip I had previously avoided for other illnesses/problems. Saturday morning started normally enough. I met my girls for breakfast and then headed to the clinic with one of them who also needed to see the doctor. I finally went in for my consultation and I walked out barely able to walk. Needless to say, I ended up taking that day and Sunday off. I underwent some intensive soaking and sitting around so by Monday morning I was able to walk well enough to head back to work. I wasn’t left entirely to my own devices however; Alli also took a forced sick day on Saturday and kept me company. We had quite a few laughs about our maladies especially since a good part of the day was spent entertaining ourselves the old fashioned way: without electricity.
That Tuesday was my second excursion of the month: to Temixco with my girls and the rest of the female secundaria sections. Temixco is a Mexican water part made from an ex-hacienda. The full name is Ex-Hacienda de Temixco Parque Acuatico. It was pretty cool. Some of the original hacienda architecture was reworked into water features or gardens and there were a lot of different pools and rides.
A view of some of the more artistic pools. This area in particular was more for parties and entertaining than part of the actual water park.
A bunch of the girls having a good time with some of the bigger rides in the background.
My girls being silly in the wave pool.
A different view of the park.
The ride back on the bus. The inflated alligator was a purchase by one of my encargadas. Somehow the ride back turned into a screaming contest to see which side of the bus could sing louder, the front or the back. The real loser was me: I was stuck in the middle for all 45 minutes of it.
It wasn’t as big as what I’m used to in the States, but enough variety to keep the girls entertained. Unfortunately, due to my foot infection, I was strictly forbidden by Dr. Dad from entering the water in any way and enjoying myself, so instead I played photographer, read a lot, and got a little more sun (as if I wasn’t dark enough already). Everyone had a good time and we arrived back at the house exhausted.
The rest of my August time was spent in activities with the girls, getting to know the new volunteers better, watching or participating in the house soccer tournament, and filling up water balloons. But expounding on that joy will have to wait for my next post.
