The Amazing Race!

Last week was my last week in Cochabamba.  I had originally thought that I would have a lot of time this past week to continue studying Spanish on my own, however God had other plans for me.  This is also my cousin’s last week at his school with his basketball teams, so he wanted to do a special activity to wrap up the year.  I found myself Monday morning at his school, mapping out a course for “The Amazing Race” activities.

Wednesday and Thursday after school kids who had participated in Michael’s basketball program gathered for these unknown activities.  We had 7 stations set up throughout the school, each with a different fun activity that promoted critical thinking, leadership, sportsmanship, physical activity, and teamwork.  The activities were as follows:

#1-Frisbee Toss.  A team worked together to pass the Frisbee from one soccer goalpost to the other and repeated this twice.

#2-How to Tie a Knot.  Each member of the team was connected to another team member by a short rope.  The team then had to think about how to tie a knot in one of the ropes without letting go and by moving various members of the team.

#3-Basketball Shootout.  There were 5 cones set up on the basketball court.  Team members had to take turns and make 5 shots at each cone before moving on.

#4-Hanging Nails.  A thin string was suspended between two chairs and team members had to balance the head of the nail on the string.  5 nails had to be hanging together before the team could move on.

#5-Oreo Eating.  Each member of the team sat in a chair and were handed an Oreo.  The kids them put the Oreo on their forehead and had to find a way to get it to their mouth without using their hands.

#6-Pass the Noodles.  Each team member placed a straw in their mouth and formed a line.  They then had to pass penne noodles down the line and place the noodles in the bucket at the end without using their hands or dropping the noodles.  They had to get 10 in the bucket before moving on.

#7-Rubber Band Shootout.  As the final activity, the team had 8 cups on a table that they had to knock off the table by shooting rubber bands.

            The kids had so much fun at each activity and quickly raced to the next activity in hopes of getting a prize for wining at the end.  The first team back to the starting point won t-shirts, shorts, and hats that my Aunt and Uncle brought from Michael’s high school.  When all teams were back, prizes were handed out and the kids had a dinner of pizza before playing one last basketball game with their coach.  Sadly none of my teams won, but we had fun completing the activities and I will forever remember their smiles as we raced around the school.

            I have now been at my own site, Okinawa, for 2 days and this truly is a wonderful village!  I continually am given many hugs from my future students and when I see them on the street the greet me with an enthusiastic "TEACHER!".  There is only one week left of school for the year so instead of jumping into teaching a class I am helping the other SLMs and the sisters until school ends.  After that we begin planning activities for Christmas camp but for now, time for recess!