Running went well. I kept a good steady pace for the more than two miles, though I walked part of the way back because my knees were freezing--we jumped in Lago de Atitlan.
The sun rose as we swam through the lake. The morning was clear, and the water--while cold--was calm and as smooth as glass.
We set out after a hearty breakfast--an omelet con vegetales, frijoles negros, queso fresco, fruta y tortillas. Running has helped me work up quite the appetite!
The drive from the lake to Xela (Quetzaltenango) was beautiful! We stopped at a textile museum where a cooperative of women are working to preserve Mayan traditional dress.
After a box lunch, we headed to our schools. We went to La Candalaria School, the largest in the program this year. More than 800 students greeted us. Crammed shoulder to shoulder in their gymnasium, the students applauded enthusiastically as we entered. My eyes welled up fro, the sheer magnitude of the event and the thunderous applause.
After the ceremony, we got a tour of the school. The students are 50 to a classroom, and the walls are sparse and often bare. There was no toilet tissue or soap in the bathrooms. The teachers had little more than a stubby piece of chalk and a blackboard. The students wore new gym uniforms over their dress clothes--black pants and white shirts for the boys and huipils and cortes for the girls.
The students were so enthusiastic. After the ceremony, we had time to interview some of the students. Their quotes were priceless--the kinds of statements you can't make up but are so perfectly fitting. One boy, Lesvin, told me he was happy that they would no longer waste so much time in class because they would now have books.
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