During our stay, and for the third year, Lea was again warmly welcomed to her school, "Escuela Primaria Federal, Albino Ortega."
On the first day of their return to classes from winter break, we went with Lea in her uniform (which Aurora had prepared for her) and met with the director (principal). He was delighted to have Lea join again, and was regretful that he couldn't assure us that she would have school books (because the federal government only sends exactly one of each book per student). It also happened that the class she was in (3rd grade) was the largest, with 38 students!
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| School starts at 8am (if you're not in by 8 some days, they lock the gates and you need special permission to enter!) You can easily see Lea's red-head in the middle of this group of children. |
Many parents walk their kids to the school each day and meet them after school to walk home. But that's not all--many of them also come to school in the middle of the school day, at 10:30 am, bringing fresh hot lunch to their kids, and then they wait (!) while the kids eat so they can take the empty dishes home! Now that's commitment!
Lea became pretty well known in the school. Soon everyone knew her name. And she helped in English class. (I am a bit red-faced to say that she corrected the English teacher's pronunciation.)
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| Lea and her Mexican cousins Lisset and Josecito on their way to school together. |
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| Lea's classroom. Exactly 38 chairs at 16 desks. Not much room for play in here. And yes, in case you were wondering, ONE teacher! |
Our friend José started coaching two children's fútbol teams since our last visit and he was delighted to have another player. Although Lea hasn't had a lot of experience playing, she had a great time!
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| Lea and Josecito in their uniforms and on their way to practice. |
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| Any good team needs lots of practice. Here you can see José joining in! |
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| Los Reyes--Chupones League, before winning a game 8-0! |
