The Plot Thickens

I didn’t things could get more complicated, but they did. Improvisation, adjustment, and reorganization are all re-entering my “schedule” here.

As it turns out, the child did die from the swine flu. The government (which finances el comedor) has ordered that children will not be allowed into el comedor until July 28th or 30th. Basically, el comedor will be closed for the rest of the month. This puts a spin on things, as my last day at el comedor is August 10th, so I’ll have less than ten days with the kids back. This is definitely not enough time to complete the mural.

SO, I have come up with a rough solution. I will paint (as I was planning on doing before) all of the blue and orange tiles. I will hire help to put the “La Floresta” part on the wall asap, so at least that part is accomplished. I don’t need the kids at all for that part.

Then, I will ask the mothers if I can bring a few tiles to each of their houses and meet with a few kids at a time to paint tiles. It will take quite awhile, but it might even be better this way since I’ll only be with 2 or 3 at a time, and can control what is painted and can help them out. This is better than having 20 some kids running around. I might even ask the mothers to paint a few. I’ve noticed that since there are a core six mothers who cook daily, sometimes with 2 or 3 more, so there is always at least one mother just sitting. What better to take up time then paint tiles?
This wasn’t the news I was hoping to receive, but I had mentally prepared myself for the worst. Now that the worst has happened, I feel I’ve found a solution good enough that it doesn’t seem so bad.

Actually, not having kids at the center really diminishes my chances of catching the swine flu, or any flu for that matter. While cooking, I wash my hands constantly, any time I change what I’m doing, and then some. We wear gloves and masks when serving the families, and family members come in one at a time. Group contact is minimal, so for my own health, this is actually better.

With so many mothers cooking, I ended up cleaning up the classroom. Since tomorrow (9 de julio) is Argentina’s Independence Day (the equivalent of America’s 4th of July) and a holiday, I’ve decided to take tomorrow and Friday off to paint tiles and take a day trip or two. I might as well take advantage of this “break” from kids to work on the project and see more of Argentina.