Field Trip to Zone 1

Field Trip / Día de Excursión
Worst field trip ever.  The kind of day where you think things are as bad as they can get, but they keep getting worse.

I wanted to throw up my hands, laugh, and say "just go with it; just make it through this day". 
But I couldn't because I still had 10 (then 9-8-7, as my parent volunteers kept leaving) students to keep track of / not lose in DOWNTOWN Guatemala City.  At a free Christmas event on a Friday afternoon.  In Guatemala City.

To start with, this field trip was planned in 4 days.  The teachers and parents were informed on Tuesday about the excursion on Friday.  Friday the 13th, nonetheless.  

Stop 1:  National Mint / Bank Museum
This stop goes pretty smoothly.  Nobody from school called ahead (to any of our stops) so our 125 student, +parents, +teachers group is an unexpected treat for the tour guides.  We are broken into several groups, and there is a lot of waiting around.  

Stop 2:  Train Museum
Starts ok.  The kids enjoy walking through the trains.  Ironically, most were imported from the US.

We are given time to eat lunch and the older students order pizza.  Then the director and her family order pizza.  It is almost 1pm when we leave here...  We were supposed to be back at school at 3pm. 

These boys are driving me crazy!

Almost everybody.  I'm on the right-hand side.

Y ahora tengo ganas de ver "Harry Potter".

Stop3:  Parque Central
We are supposed to go ice skating.  The line is so long, they offer us bracelets for 2:40 (remember, we are supposed to be back at school at 3pm).

Many of the teachers offer different solutions.  No attention is paid to any of them.

It is decided to tour the National Palace during the wait. 

Into this confusion and Friday-mess of people we enter with 125 students. 

Cathedral

National Palace

Of course, they are not expecting such a large tour.  We have to wait almost an hour outside the palace.

I give up...

Do what you want.  I don't care...  (This picture totally makes it look like he jumped halfway up the wall!  He's actually sitting on the tiny ledge.)

But please can someone get me out of here!

Once we get the go-ahead to enter, this stupid lady says "solo niños", "only children".  So she takes in all the 1st graders, and my boss won't let me or the other 1st grade teacher go with them.  

When I finally convince the director that somebody needs to be with the children, this Palace lady thinks she's going to tell me that we need to control the students.  She picked the wrong day to do that...

The Palace is gorgeous though. 

I am looking forward to the tour.

But we only have 10 minutes before our skating time and this whole thing is quickly unraveling.

So after a boring talk about art styles, we leave.  Having spent more time waiting outside than we did on any tour.  It's embarrassing.

Stop 4:  Winter Wonderland

Making our way through crowds of people, trying desperately to keep all the students with us, we come to the ice skating rink.  

My students had all received bracelets to skate.  When we get to the gate, the man informs us that they are too little to skate.  Our director's husband tries to talk him into it, but the adult-to-student ratio is too small for him safely consider it.

The director's son (also 1st grade), of course, can go in.  His father will watch him.  The man says that some of the taller students can go in.  I have to step in here: "todos sí o todos no".  All or none.  

(One of my taller boys, however, is already through.  The director's husband assures me that he will keep an eye on both boys.  I check with him 3 times before I leave that he's watching him.  Yes, yes, Miss.)
  We decide that 1st and 2nd can go across the park to the Snow Games.  Ok.  It is now 3 o'clock.  Let's just do something so we can leave.

They skate with helmets and hanging on to the edge.

The "Snow Games" area.  Looks very similar to a hill of ice.  Something goes right for us and they let us skip to the front of the line!  Thank you Stefany's dad!

But they had fun!  It was neat to see them experience Snow!

(After we are done and waiting on the bus, I see the director's husband and his son come back without my student!  I am panicked as I run off the bus.  The director, to her credit, picks up on my mood, and the husband just stands there trying to think with which of the middle-schoolers he left him.  Then the boy walks up with his 8th grade brother and I am very relieved but not too happy with the husband... or this day in general)

Finally on our way to Antigua.  Not too unusual to hit traffic, but is everything supposed to go wrong today?

Final Stop:  A well-earned dinner out