MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008

Our morning started at 8:30, our country coordinator Carl explained that we will meet with some of our teachers for breakfast. A fantastic breakfast was served at what only can be described as the courtyard of a beautiful impressive renovated home. From there we retired to a private meeting room in the back of the restaurant, loosing Dean in the process. Concern for his whereabouts a search was started. And he was found at the University. We were then divided into two teams. We entered the school seeing many of the young excited faces of the student body as we entered. After a meeting with the Dean of the school and his impressive introduction of each Global Volunteer Team 11, we all felt very welcome, and a lot more important than we thought..

We then went to classrooms, were introduced to the students, shared some of our personal historys, and were presented with a list of questions to ask the students. The early morning class was for beginner English speaking students, difficult but fun. The afternoon class was for intermediate students who had a beginning understanding of English, although not confident in their speaking skills there were lively conversations, and questions were exchanged on many topics. We were all asked about the Presidential elections by both teachers and students and we were surprised by their interest in the subject.

Team 1 assignment was to teach adults and advanced English speakers late in the day, Team 2 mission was to shop for our needed supplies, so we were off to Mercado Soriana, the large “Walmart” type store where Nan purchased a bright purple rolling backpack for just under $13.00 US dollars. My teammates agreed that yes, bright purple was my color.

We returned to the hotel with our supplies and met up with Team 1. Our new G.V. Larry loved his introduction to Mexico and the Global Volunteer goals, and the students and facility of the University. A remark uttered by Larry that this had been “one of the best days of his life” and the veteran Global Volunteers said in unison-"yes we know."

Dinner was once again a great success, and then it was time to retire to our rooms and groan at the early hour to once again forge ahead.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Yes, we can make a difference!

Nan Houston Lovejoy