On Friday we traveled by train to visit and tour the Lora Tamayo school for the first time.We are very much looking forward to continuing the special relationship between Carleton’s Sport and Globalization program and Lora Tamayo! We are returning for another four weeks together using sport as a means for cultural exchange and giving back to a community during our term abroad. The school is located in Bellavista, a less affluent neighborhood in the southernmost part of the city. After listening to a brief history regarding the surrounding neighborhood, we had a chance to go outside and meet the kids during their break time. We were greeted by enthusiastically by chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A.” Yet, that wasn’t not even the biggest surprise, as we were then swarmed by young girls and boys asking us for our autographs!
Recess at the Lora Tamayo is a chaotic affair. All the school children are let outside to play and there are many different activities going on at once. When we visited there were two games of soccer simultaneously going on and one basketball game on the court in the corner of the yard. Some of the children were shooting hoops or jumping rope while others were gossiping and eating food. It was common to see a kid holding the local snack, a bocadillo, basically a sandwich, in their hand while still playing their sport. Everyone was just excited to be out and moving around and us Carleton students had fun getting involved too.
After the kids were ushered inside we were given a tour of the entire building. Although Lora Tamayo is located in a lower income neighborhood, it still was a very impressive public school. Moreover, the school prides itself on the parent involvement. We could see this demonstrated by the fact there were parent volunteers in many of the classrooms helping out with art or music class as well as with the younger children. The Principal showed off the recent improvements, which included smartboards in many of the rooms, a new cafeteria (that is used as a daycare before school begins and for lunch after the day ended) and a brand new gym. He was proud of the school’s new additions and keen to explain the way the public school system worked in Spain. He fully believed in the school’s integral place in the Bellavista community and the importance of maintaining good public schools. His own daughter attends Lora Tamayo.
In all, it was a great day and we are very excited to return to the camp. It was outrageous fun and we think the kids felt the sameway.
