Off to the Cloud Forest School (Centro de Educacion Creativa)

Here are some pictures of Hayley and Jack just before their first day of school on Monday, August 3rd. The biodiesel bus picks them up right at the base of our driveway off the main road. Everyone rides the bus to school, even the teachers. Notice that they are decked out in their rain gear.....you never go anywhere around here for long without your rain jacket and we've already started to feel a little naked when we're not wearing or carrying them. Hayley and Jack also take two pair of shoes to school, one for outside and one for inside (or they can just wear their socks inside).

Jack's teacher is named Erica and she's young, pretty and very nice. Hayley has several teachers and they are all very nice. Hayley likes them all. All their teachers are from the US with the exception of each of their Spanish teachers, who are local instructors from Monteverde. Hayley is also taking an American History class with two other US students taught by one of the students' father, who is a teacher back in the US taking a year off.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, Monteverde is a pretty cerebral town. There is always some sort of class or instruction going on. Art classes, dancing classes, cooking classes, language classes, lectures on biology and lectures on Central American political topics are regularly offered. In fact, the Stancil family has broken out of its shell a little bit and have started taking Salsa and Merengue dancing lessons on Wednesday nights. Cindy is by far the most advanced in our class. This is owed in part to her tap dancing childhood.