There's a Land that I've Heard of...: A Much Better Day and Some More Pictures

The snoring dog - Yonyo

   I have had a much better day today! Both today and yesterday my teacher was at the school for the whole day. I was so happy. Yesterday she was stressed out and sick, but today she was feeling better and I felt that we were starting to work well together. Yesterday, to entertain the kids during recess, I brought a photo album with me of pictures of my family and friends. The kids loved it and had fun guessing who my mom, dad, aunt, grandma, brother, etc. were. Most of the times they were wrong. Today I brought books to read to the kids. When my family was in Fort Bragg this summer, we stopped by a bookstore that was going out of business and I bought 5 children’s books in Spanish for a $1 each. What a great purchase! Today during recess I brought out “Donde esta Spot” and read it to a couple children. They loved it, especially because it has flaps that they can lift to find out where Spot is. The director and my teacher came over when they saw so about 15 kids crowding around the book and were thrilled that I had bought these books with me. I showed them the rest and they are planning to make photocopies of them to give to each of the children. The problem is that the government requires the kindergartens to have kids read a certain amount and know certain Spanish phrases, but does not donate any books. However, they have donated a TV, DVD player, and legos…something isn’t right. I told my teacher that she can have all of the books I brought. She commented that it is so easy to buy books and school supplies in the United States, but it is almost impossible here. She told me that she started working at this school about a year ago when they decided to open three classes instead of two, so that they could have a separate class for each age group. When she started teaching she said there was nothing but tables and chairs in the classroom and she has had to make and/or buy everything to put on the walls herself. Now that I know that, this classroom looks very impressive!
    I really enjoyed talking with my teacher today. She is from Cusco, but takes a bus from Pisac home so today we rode in the collectivo together. She told me about how she has a 19 year old daughter and a 2 year old son (and she filled me in on her whole surprise pregnancy with her son…definitely too much information, but it was nice to get to know her!). She also complained about being an old mom, but I did the math and I think she is about 38...so really not old! She told me about how she did a similar program to me when she was younger where she stayed with a host family in St. Paul, MN and worked in a school so that she could learn English and teach the kids Spanish and facts about Peru.
    Going back to the classroom, there are two kids in my class, Moises and Diego, who really struggle with numbers (what they are called and what they look like) and counting. They can get to the number 4 and then they just start saying random numbers, occasionally and with extreme luck, ending up at the right answer (that or by copying). Today, my teacher moved everyone’s seat around so that we now have an advanced table, an average level table, and a table with the kids that are really struggling. Moises and Diego’s weakness with math really stood out today because they were not able to copy off their smarter peers who were moved to the advanced table. I am going to try to come up with an activity that I can do with just the two of them on Monday where we can just work on counting. I am not sure what to do though because I worked with Moises individually today and the teacher worked with Diego and neither of us were able to make any progress. Any suggestions are welcome and much appreciated!
    I am very excited that I am starting to get to know my teacher better and that hopefully I can help Moises and Diego. I am finally excited to go back to school on Monday. Also, there are two new volunteers starting at the school on Monday, so that will be fun.
    My Spanish teacher canceled my class for this afternoon because she had to go to Cusco. I am so excited to just have a restful afternoon. I have been so busy this week and have had such a range of emotions that I am beyond exhausted! Tomorrow I don’t have anything planned either, so I am excited for my first relaxing weekend since getting here!