Tuesday at Hawkhurst and Bedgebury.

Dear readers,

Today we visited Hawkhurst Primary School.  Hawkhurst goes up to year 6 only, which means that its pupils leave for Secondary School when they are 12 years of age.  There are about 140 children in the whole of the school.  As soon as we arrived we noticed the warm atmosphere and the smiling faces.  They were expecting us, and the pupils had even learnt a few words in Castilian that they practiced with their Chilean visitors.  It was a marvelous experience from every point of view.  Our students established excellent rapport with the Hawkhurst children and shared their break and joined in their games. The school staff had organized a treasure-hunt type of game where the Chilean and English pupils had to locate clues around the school while getting to know one another.  When they finished they came back to the assembly hall and had biscuits together.  Then we were invited to attend assembly where we showed the Chilean cuecas that our students had prepared for them.  The Redland contingent looked very smart in their typical huaso and huasa outfits and performed magnificently.  All in all a wonderful morning.

Below is a photograph of assembly.

The following are two links to You Tube where you will be able to view the two cuecas our students prepared for the occasion.   The first is La Rosa con el Clavel, while the second is La Consentida.  Enjoy the show.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJTPw1E48Z0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24jlcns6vCI

The events above took place in the morning.  After lunch, our young people gathered for a lesson on how to make gingerbread biscuits.  Once they were ready, they put them in the oven and left for the lake.  Once there, they were separated into three groups and were given instructions on how to build  rafts which they would then race to a buoy and come back.  

The following are two videos I took of the seventeen after they had built and launched their rafts.  The racing competition was fierce.  Judge for yourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onImMaluPCk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaeCRLxKR4

After the regatta was over, the boys and girls helped to dismantle their craft and stow away all their components.  Once that was done, they returned to the main building, took a shower and headed for the kitchen to see how their gingerbread biscuits had turned out.  They decorated and devoured them on the spot.  Their teachers, who'd expressed a wish to sample said biscuits, were completely forgotten in the feeding frenzy that took place.  Words fail me to convey our disappointment.

Until our next post.