Creative Hands!

March 25^th – 31^st:

Let’s begin with the random things- the weather. I was told that this time of year is the hot, hot time of year… but, I have been feeling quite chilly all week. I wear socks at night. I want to frequently have a cup of tea or coffee cupped between my hands. I sleep with my fan on at night for the single reason that there might be a wandering mosquito ready to attack me if I don’t. I wish it warms up soon because I had a lot of plans for this summer break that involved going swimming and other adventures outdoors. Also, I got my first hair cut! When I walked into the barber shop in Boac I felt like I was in the movie Miss. Congeniality. You know the scene where she is getting her makeover and everyone surrounds and examines her? The only difference is everyone working at the salon thought my hair, eyes, and skin was amazing. They pulled my blonde locks in every direction; it looked like I was hooked up to the static machine at the museum! I told the hair dresses that I just wanted a trim. She just brushed my hair to my back and cut it in a straight line. Not the most fashionable hair cut I have ever gotten but the experience made it okay! I have never loved having curly hair so much.

Moving on, there was a lot of conversation about forms and checking this and that the final week of classes. I was feeling rather bored so I decided to make myself useful and plan a project with some of the 4^th year students. A little while back I had brought up the idea to my principal to paint a world map on one of the walls on our campus. Painting the world map is a project that many Peace Corps volunteers do. So, in my spontaneous ways I took the chance that my plan might get rejected because everyone was rather busy but I guess that was a risk I was willing to take. After my first short conversation with one of the students in IV Emerald, I became very optimistic about the entire plan- the willingness to help was everywhere. I pitched my idea to them using the concept that this would be their mark left behind at their high school, they absolutely loved it!

Materials? Well, luckily there was some extra paint left over at the school that we could use. My school had large brushes that we were able to use and one of the artists chosen to help with the project had some smaller brushes for the teeny countries and detailed work. I had a collection of pencils for the initial drawing and outlining. They only thing that may have come in handy was a large eraser. I will be going to the market this weekend to buy one so we can finish erasing our gridlines now that we are finished. The students who would draw and paint were chosen by the students, I had nothing to do with that. I got a piece of advice from Shea, a volunteer who has been here in Marinduque for over two years now to only have 5 students at a time working on the map. I am happy I listened to her advice because it was even difficult monitoring the hands of 5 or 6 eager students. We had the wall space, paint, brushes, hands, and positive thoughts about decent weather…we were set to go!

Once we got started, everything seemed to progress at a steady pace. We had a goal for each day that we set out to work on the project and had no problem reaching the goals. It did down pour a few days which makes it impossible to try and mix paint for the masterpiece or do any painting but we did not have a set date to be finish by which made the rainy days easy to manage. The big blue rectangle turned into a colorful world map in a matter of days! During the project it was neat for me because many, many students came up to us while we were working asking where different places in the world are. Some read the name of the country in a book or a magazine, others heard it on TV, but the curiosity is what gets me excited! Geography was always difficult for me, and it is difficult for a lot of my students too so I hope this new map helps them see the big picture of this world we live in! I am really happy I was spontaneous that Monday morning and worked with one of the 4^th year students to organize a team to complete the world map. Watching them work together and laugh together was a great experience for me. Hopefully this can become an annual thing at my school where 4^th year students are given the opportunity to leave their mark in a creative way.

“I can change the world with my own two hands”