Hi y'all!
The title says it all: I've been in Lima, Peru and out of the United States for one week and WOW have Maeve and I been able to experience SO MUCH!
This past week in school has been full of learning experiences for us and for the teachers of the school. There was a bit of miscommunication between the school and us because the teachers thought we were coming to the school to teach English, but that was not the case. Maeve and I had to explain to them that we are not english teachers, and that instead we were to be teaching all the subjects that they would normally teach in the school. After getting that information through (with a bit of a language barrier) we figured it out and I am excited to be helping with the 1st and 2nd graders here in Peru!
Here are a few photos and explanations that go along with my first week in the school:
Above you can see the picture of a classroom in the school. There are only about 10 kids per classroom, and my 1st and 2nd grade class has 8 kids. Only 2 of these kids are second graders and the other 6 are first graders. This mix of grades is a completely different type of school setup than the typical structure I am used to. However, this is a private school, so it is much smaller than the public schools. I absolutely am loving the small atmosphere of this school, especially because not only am I able to make relationships with the 1st and 2nd grade students, the other students in the primary school also are so excited to see me every morning! I am greeted with hugs when I arrive and hugs when it is time to leave. It really already feels like I belong here and I am loving every second.
Also, shoutout to the 5th and 6th grade students who continue to correct my Spanish grammar because they know I need practice! Muchas gracias!
This week, the students and teachers were celebrating the anniversary of the school. To help celebrate, the students were competing in "El Concurso" where they were able to show judges their abilities in spelling, math, poems, and English! On Tuesday and Wednesday they had their spelling, math, and poetry demonstrations. It was such an experience to watch all school academic events during our first week! However, it did throw the teaching schedule off and we have yet to see a normal day. Because of "el concurso" on Friday in English, the teachers of the school had Maeve and I practice english words (their spelling and meaning) with the students so they could prepare for the competition. Above, you can see me posing with the English words I used to help my class of students. They are actually learning how to pronounce and say important words (like although and should) in English. It was SO impressive to watch these kids learn so quickly.
Friday, Maeve and I were asked to be judges for "el Concurso" in English. It was quite the experience to be the ones to give the words to the students and give them points based upon their pronunciation of the words. We also were asked to address the whole school and talk about ourselves a bit - in Spanish! The thunderous applause after we spoke let us know that even if we didn't pronounce everything completely correctly (which was likely), they still understood and appreciated us! It was quite the Friday as "el Concurso" ended and the whole school started to chant "SA-LI-DA" or "exit" because the students wanted to leave school early! The teachers and principal laughed, as did we, but the students were still required to stay until 3pm. The teachers here are really laid back and find the humor in many things that the kids do - which I find important in order to survive in this teaching profession (right 8th grade team, fellow SNC teachers, and Mom?)
Maeve and I are also looking forward to this Saturday because the kids have a celebration for the school in the morning and we are attending to watch the show! There will be pictures to come!
Now, I want to share a few random stories that I find fun (and typical "Lauren" stories):
- This week, Maeve and I were asked to be on the news for the school. So, on the live television in Peru, we talked about our student teaching experience, and what the differences were between the schools in Peru and back in the United States. Now, at this point we had only been in the school for 3 days, so we did the best we could! We also had to sing a song from our school days...in the heat of the moment, all I could think of was "Row, Row, Row, your boat." Sorry Mom and Mo, I definitely could have thought of a better song...hahaha! But, leave it to me to have to sing on TV. Below is a photo of Maeve and I ready to talk on the TV! You might be looking at your future weather women (still not giving up the dream..I could have the right face for TV right?). Also, *shoutout to Lyd because the whole "welcome to the abroad life - you never know what is going to happen" definitely came into play here.
- Every morning, we get driven to the school. A lot of times, the music on the radio is common pop songs or popular songs of the Peruvian culture. I talk about music a lot (go figure) and so many conversations circulate around that. So one morning, the driver wanted to put on rock music..and I did not object! The first song was "Take on Me" by Aha and we were pretty excited about it! And for those of you wondering, yes we did try and sing the high parts of the song... *shoutout to Davey because I don't think we measured up to your vocals on the song.
- If anyone is planning on studying abroad, make sure to tell your bank you're taking your debit card with you abroad. I forgot to do that before I left because I was just planning on using my credit card. However, the culture uses a lot of cash here, so I also need my debit card to get more cash. But, I failed to let my bank know about my debit card before I left. So that posed a problem because I couldn't call them or do it online because my phone doesn't receive text messages here. However, shoutout to Dad for problem solving and helping me find a way to talk to the bank! No worries friends, I got it all sorted out. Long story short, just call your bank before you go anywhere..don't make silly mistakes like me.
- Our host mom's cousin helps take us places, and I wanted to take a moment and give him a shoutout because he always makes sure we have whatever we need. Today, Maeve and I were explaining to him what Macaroni and Cheese was because we were wondering if in Peruvian culture people ate it (of course we were talking about cheese - we have to express our love for Wisconsin, right?) Turns out, they do have mac and cheese and he went out and bought some for us for the heck of it - we didn't ask him to buy any! It was such a random act of kindness and it made us realize that all of these people really care for us and want us to be happy :)
-For breakfast on Friday, we had a type of preserved fish that is a part of the Incan culture here in Peru. After talking about its history, I learned that it is preserved with salt because in the past people were to transport the fish from the ocean to the mountains near Lima. They needed to use salt so the fish would stay as fresh as possible during the transportation process. It is now a tradition and people still will make the fish similarly as it was made back then. It is very salty and also has a lot of bones. I sure was awake that morning because I had to be careful while eating it (but don't worry - it tasted really good!)
- In the nights, Maeve and I have been able to explore the culture of Peru. We have found 3 malls in the past 7 days (shocking I know. Don't worry Caytie Joe and Mikaela...I won't buy too much..hehehe). We also have eaten at new places, danced at a salsa concert, and met with a Rotary club that our host dad is a part of. You can check out some of these photos in my gallery! It's really been an amazing experience so far.
Stay tuned for a blog post about the differences between the cultures of Peru and the United States. Also stay tuned to hear about our adventures form the weekend!
Hasta Luego,
Lauren