A day at the Zoo

They have pigeons... and then students told me how many pet pigeons they ha

Sometimes I think we, at the school, are crazy.  Tuesday was one of those days.
But don't worry... crazy doesn't necessitate that it's bad.

This past Tuesday we took all the kids to the zoo.  Zoo?  Yes, that's right.  Xela has a zoo.  It's public and it's free.  That means that it sports exotic animals including squirrels, raccoons, goats, sheep, a monkey, and the token, completely insane jaguars all in really small cages.

It also sports a lot of trash because Guatemala is a bit behind on the environmental education and doesn't have trashcans because allegedly they get stolen from wherever they're placed.  It's sad.

 Don't forget the zoo's chicken!  Mmmm Lunch

But the school's out to change it with our ecology lessons.  This past month, we learned about cleaning, the environment, and how to care for our earth.  Unfortunately, the teachers planned the events while eating off an excessive amount of styrofoam plates, but change takes time, right?  Anyways, back to the zoo.  We went to the zoo to culminate our ecology theme.  The little kids - grades 2 and under - cleaned up trash.  The big kids - grades 3-6 - painted all the trees with Cale (a mixture of limestone) so insects wouldn't eat them (allegedly this works and that's why all the trees have white bases!).  It was really great to see them work together for this great cause... all 220+ of them.

Highlights of the day included...

Bus ride (most of our kids don't get to do that!)

Trash pickup (not pictured!)

Snack

 Watching Animals

 And really sketchy playgrounds that were probably sent here in the 70s after they were banned in the US.

But they're fun!