Watsonville Weekend Day Camp

*I have pictures from today, and I'll upload them soon !

Today I took my first trip to the Buena Vista Labor Camp w/ a group from TOUCCh & Red Cross. I was anxious on the way there this morning, because I had no clue what to expect. I had spoken to some other students from TOUCCh and they gave me "mixed reviews" about their experiences there. So I went in expecting to be the odd one out. I'm normally very shy and sometimes awkward, but I was completely wrong. The whole point of Saturday's visits are to have fun with the kids, who often have nothing to do while their parents are out picking for long hours.
Upon our arrival, we began a search for kids, to try and attract them to our group. Two boys came and played soccer with us, and pretty soon we were outnumbered by 15 little boys and girls scrambling to get in on the fun. Three teenagers from the camps came out to see what the noise was about, and we spent some time talking to them about their high school/post graduate plans as well. I even got to 'bond' with Jasmine, a 17-year old high school junior & her toddler sister who recently returned from a 6-month trip to Mexico and had to deal with finals and catching up with the curriculum (which obviously didn't correspond to the one in Mexico). I was glad to hear a lot of these kids had plans to go to college and were trying their best to make a better life for themselves.
After playing everything from soccer to basketball to Duck, Duck, Goose (in 3 different languages), we left the kids promising to see them next week. I was so happy I decided to come this morning, and so glad I was able to actually hang out with the kids, instead of studying them. I realized on my way home I was putting Schwalbe's words to good use, and being sociologically mindful--trying to see their situations from a 360 view, instead of the conventional route.