We had heard even before we came here that this island is so safe that the police are bored. It seems to be true. The times we've seen a police with its lights on it was driving very slowly; locals explained that they have to test their lights to make sure they work! Today we learned that the police escort school field trips; a class of pre-schoolers was transported in two police vehicles.
Also today, I learned that this place is so safe you can leave your child with any stranger! We had begun our after-school class indoors, but when it was time to play louder percussion we moved our group outside to the boardwalk area. As has happened before, a mother and young children stopped to watch us play. Her 4 year old came closer to get a better view, and when I glanced toward the mother she asked of it's OK to watch. "Of course," I replied, and we continued with our class session.
After 20 minutes, when it was time to end class, we packed up instruments and our students left for home. But the 4 year old who had watched with great interest was still with us, and her mom was nowhere to be seen! I was to quick to assure the girl that her mother must be close, but the girl didn't seem concerned. So we set off, first looking around the immediate area, where benches and the playground are. To my surprise, we were going to have to search harder. We began walking, hand in hand, along the store fronts. She had some ideas of where her mom might be; some I couldn't understand (soft, rapid, child's Spanish), and some I was able to understand. Then, as we made a second lap past the shops (after 15 min or so) an older sister came running toward us. The sisters happily hugged, and soon their mother and younger sibling had joined us. The mother apologized, thanked me, and noted how safe it is here!
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