sea shell city, the golden zone, and feeling useful

We decided to venture into the tourist zone, the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone). It is what our Lonely Planet guide book describes as an "unashamed" tourist playground. We didn't stick around too long, although there would probably would have been some interesting dive/snorkelling shops if we had looked for some. We came across a huge store specializing in selling seashells and other sea treasures. It was ridiculous. I have never seen so many in one place. It made us a little angry though because all the seashells were there and not on the beaches for us to discover ourselves. They also had some funny coconut faces as you can see in the picture.
We also found a non-denominational christian church (second picture above) that offered free internet and phone calls to Canada and the US, for a small donation, which we didn't mind at all since it went to some excellent programs. They help kids go to school, they feed and clothe hundreds of people, they build water filter systems, they help with orphanages, etc. They told us that what they really need other than donations are people to go and play with the kids in the orphanages. I went to talk to the couple that runs the Salvation Army down the street but it was hard to communicate because of the language barrier, so not much came out of that. Our friend Mimi from "the breakfast club" is also interested in helping at one of the orphanges so maybe she can tell us something next time we see her. Despite our good intentions, we find it a little frustrating because of our inability to communicate (we are getting a little better) especially with kids because they seem to have a harder time understanding our heavy accents. We also find ourselves spending most of our time just keeping our own kids content and out of trouble.
One thing that I have started doing is working at the volunteer-run library in the old historic downtown. It is only once a week for a few hours, but it is something that I think I will look forward to each week. I feel at home in a library and at least a little bit useful. This has been easy work because the majority of the books and patrons are in english.
We have found quite a few Spanish language courses here but they are out of our budget. There are plenty of courses offered at home that I think we will look into when we return instead.