The kids are all right!

I'm a grandfather now, so just about all kids are great to me. I don't have to feed them, clean them, discipline them, or worry about paying for whatever they damage. But still, the several hundred fifth and six graders who climbed all over the Baiona yacht club and the glider on Wednesday were, as I often say about my grandson, more fun than a barrel of monkeys and a truckload of beer.

As the glider made its way from the Investigador to the yacht club dock, the kids crowded the walls of the fortaleza, straining for a look.


When the glider was wheeled up the old stone ramp the to the lawn of the yacht club, they ran after it.


Their teachers struggled to keep them in order. Lots of important people -- the mayor, the president of Puertos del Estado, the minister of development, among others -- were making speeches, and the teachers wanted the kids to chill out and listen, or at least, to chill out. For brief periods, the teachers succeeded.


But not for long. The kids started sneaking little grabs at the glider. In the pic below, the teacher, wearing the red hat, has turned away, and one of her pupils sees a chance to feel the rudder.


And eventually, the teachers lost. There were just too many kids, and they were too excited, and I told the lady in the red hat it was okay to touch the glider. (Let me tell you, all kinds of slimy critters have touched that glider since April; a couple of hundred kids won't hurt it.)


And the stern lady with the red hat? She couldn't keep her game face on forever. Eventually, some of her pupils and one of the kids' parents prevailed on her to pose with them, one of the dads, and the glider.


One more pic to sum up the day: