The Beginning of My Last Week

I knew my last week would be tough. I had seen people leave after spending several weeks volunteering and for many, it was pretty emotional. I wanted to give some sort of gift on my last day. Several walls of the school were decorated with murals and posters made by previous volunteers. I decided to make a poster for my class to spruce up the classroom. I took a lot of pictures of my class so I would have plenty to choose from for my poster and some to give to my teacher and the CCS staff. I also bought a wall clock for my classroom (so simple but it was something they really needed!) and cookies, candy and balloons, for a party on my last day. I had gotten to the point where I could figure out relevant assignments for the kids so I brought in assignments to help them learn writing and numbers. I was also finding inspiration in my surroundings and I came up with a cute sea turtle mosaic activity.

The weather was getting hotter and everyone was getting ready for the holiday season. It didn't seem like there were any major holidays in October or November so preparation for Christmas started early. The center of the mall and several store fronts were decorated with Chistmas displays complete with Santa Clause and reindeers and fake snow. There is something odd about seeing such displays in a place that's so hot during the holiday season. A few weeks before, my teacher had asked me to draw a picture of Santa Clause so the kids could color it in. What I came up with was pretty bad but she liked it. I think most American kids would've stuck with red and green but the kids in my class used all different colors and made the drawing look even crazier. I think American kids are taught to do things the way they're supposed to be done from an early age. For example, the sky is blue so you color it blue and grass is green so you color it green. These kids didn't seem to have those boundaries and I think creativity flourishes in that kind of environment. On the rare days that my teacher felt inspired, she would come up with really cool crafts using scraps leftover from my projects or other recycled materials. That's something I really admired about a lot of Bahians I met- the resourcefulness and the lack of limitations.

My already ever present need to live life to the fullest was heightened during my last week and I spent a lot of time around town, taking in sunsets and the scenery. Though I had walked past the Farol da Barra lighthouse several times, I never realized there was a nautical museum inside it. So one day I went in and visited the Museu Nautico da Bahia. It wasn't the most impressive museum, but it had good information about the history and "discovery" of Bahia and how the different races and ethnicities (and the unabashed mixing of them) have shaped Bahia into what it is today. There are also great views of the bay from the lighthouse.