Howdy everyone!
It has been an INCREDIBLE week 2 here in Lima and I have so many stories to share! If I shared everything, it would be WAY too long - so I will pick certain moments that stood out to me. The first half is about the classes from this weekend, and the second half is adventures - Enjoy! :)
My classroom of 1st and 2nd graders is FULL of energy. There is NEVER a dull moment with them and I am constantly challenged to help my co-op with classroom management, lessons, and explanations (all in Spanish). I absolutely love it. My Spanish communication skills are constantly improving as the kids correct me and I love to hear advice from them and the fellow teachers. Here are a few highlights:
- The classroom is run "Laura Ingalls WIlder" style *Mom you would love this* so the 1st graders are working on different assignments than the 2nd graders. It calls for a lot of planning on behalf of my co-op and she is so excited to have me to help out and teach as well.
- The kids have physical education once a week, which also means every Thursday I get to wear a blue jumpsuit (featured below). Just FYI, my soccer skills were tested and I have to say I'm pretty darn good! Granted, the kids are 7 and 8 years old...so I guess it's not too much of a competition. Apparently the physical education teacher for the primary school recently moved onto another job, so the primary teachers have to teach their own class. My co-op has never led gym class before, so I let her know that my brain is full of games thanks to all my years working at summer camps. *Shoutout to my Allouez and Shepherd co-workers - I knew all the games would come in handy some day!
- The kids get a snack break and lunch everyday and they offer parts of their food to the teacher (and me). Let me tell you. This is a HUGE stretch for me for those of you who know me as the "germaphobe" I am. But...I did eat the food they offered me - without using hand sanitizer! I really think the gesture is sweet, and the kids are helping me overcome my pettiest fear.
- On Friday, I got to help with an English lesson! The english teacher came in and asked me to step in and run the lesson. Without any preparation, I helped the kids say the ABC's in english and talk about some pictures that corresponded to the letters in english. The kids did AMAZING! I was blown away by how much they know and I loved being able to teach. Next week, I am going to teach them the ABC song and I am really looking forward to it!
Here you can see some photos from this week at the school:
1) Stages of Water
2) Musical Chairs
3) Reading Time
4) Story for Reading class. If you can read this in Spanish, it's about a women trying to loose weight after christmas, but her husband says it's not worth it because she's going to continue to eat the same amount. I relate to this woman on a spiritual level.
5) Me in my jumpsuit
6) Pure joy in the classroom
This week was full of adventures for Maeve and I as well!
On Tuesday night, we headed to Larcomar which is a HUGE mall in Lima that is carved into the side of the cliff. Fun fact: it is the second most visited place in Peru (after Machu Picchu of course). We dressed up in costumes and took pictures by the ocean. It was truly spectacular! Some people here celebrate Halloween, and we were able to see kids walking around in their costumes (some even offered us candy!). But October 31st in Peru is actually Day of the Criolla Songs where the people come together to celebrate their Creole heritage through song. Sounds like something up my alley with music right? Yes. However, we were unable to participate in it because it was during the day and we were at school :(. I guess that's an excuse to come back...right?
Here's us in our low-budget costumes by the ocean:
The next day, Wednesday, was "Dia de los Muertos" and it was a holiday for the kids in the school. Maeve and I took our first "siesta" or rest day and just chilled at the house. I, being me, did get a little restless, so I went for a run and burned off some of the food I've been eating all this time...haha.
We finished the week at school, then prepared for the weekend!
Saturday was Mistura! Here are some photos of the event:
Misura is the yearly festival of all the Peruvian food. Let me tell you - it was amazing. We got to sample so many dishes, snacks, chocolates, drinks, you name it. Besides from being asked to take pictures with people (because we were outsiders) the highlight was probably eating "cuy." Wanna guess what it is? Well, folks, cuy is guinea pig. Maeve and I watched as the vendors cooked the pig, then put it on a plate for us. We ate it, and thrived! It was actually pretty good - we just wished we hadn't seen the entire animal being roasted on a stick before eating it..haha. We also got to eat food from the "selva" or "jungle" and some fried fish with "canchas." - more on these later, stay tuned. But, we loved the festival and learned so much about the culture and food while we were there. Truly. Amazing.
I know you all wanna see it, so here's a photo of the cooking guinea pigs. Yes they still have heads. Yes they still have teeth:
Today Maeve and I went on a 24 km bike ride along the coast of Lima. Probably one of the best days of my life. We got up early, got into Miraflores (a district of Peru) met our guide, and got riding! The whole trip took about 4 hours and I can honestly say I could have kept riding all day! We went along the coast, and got to bike up "El Morro" which is where you can see the entire coastline of Lima. A few of the people on our trip did not want to bike up that part, so they took the steps and locked the bikes up. I was not about that, so I made my legs suffer a bit but biked up to the top. I wanted to cry it was so beautiful. Here are some photos:
"When people ride bikes, great things happen." Yep! I seriously was speechless. The photos do not do the trip justice, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Our tour guide, Chris, was amazing and kept us safe the whole time. We had to ride along busy streets and nothing bad happened *See Meghan? Bikes are fun. However, I did fall once because I almost hit a dog, but eh we can forget about that part (the dog and I are fine!)
Chris also told me that there are bicycle tour groups for various locations around the whole world and they are hiring! Look out world, I think I found my new summer job! Biking and giving tours? Count. Me. In. *Shoutout to my fellow SNC tour guides - once a tour guide, always a tour guide!
After the tour, Maeve and I did some walking around downtown Miraflores! We ended up buying the 2 of the same romper and changed into them (even though I was wearing gym shoes) We also went out to eat at a burger shop called "Papachos." Sounds pretty normal right? Wrong.
While walking around, we noticed many people were looking at us (more than usual). I then looked at myself in my reflection and I saw...a tomato. I am SO SUNBURNT. When we started the bike tour it was cloudy so I didn't think to use sunscreen..but then the sun came out and fried me. Hahaha. Below there is a photo of me in my new romper, rocking my sister Grace's shoes, and my lovely sunburn. If this photo doesn't capture who I am as a person I don't know what does.
When we got back my host family was so concern and they helped me with my sunburn. Their method you ask? They put tomatoes on me then followed it with some cream. Of course, tomatoes are the one food I do not like to eat! I was not about to object because it hurt pretty bad and I forgot my aloe at home (*Sorry Dad). However, I do feel a lot better now but I was the laughing stalk of the host family for a good 45 min. My host brother who is 4 was worried I was dying and everyone was huddled around my tomatoed face - it was the most, it was a quite (*Shoutout to T10). Expect nothing less from me!
We're really enjoying ourselves here and I am loving every second! In the upcoming weeks I hope to bike some more, swim in the ocean, learn even more about teaching practices, and buy some aloe.
Miss you all, but until next time,
Lauren:)