Pictures, the Zoo, and a Playground

            What a wonderful day!  The class trip to Cusco that I thought was going to be miserable and stressful, turned out to be really fun.  This was partly because 11 moms and 1 dad ended up coming at the last minute (or maybe I misunderstood and they were always going to come?).  I am glad they were there though because it made our job much easier and the principal never showed up, so it would have only been Vanessa and me on this trip if the parents hadn’t come.  So, Vanessa and I were really only in charge of five children.  It was fun to just have to watch over a few students because I could really pay attention to them without feeling stressed.

            Instead of leaving the school at 8:00 like planned, we left at 8:50 - not bad by Peruvian standards!  We crammed all 12 parents, 18 students, a younger brother, Vanessa, and me into a collectivo built for 18, which was nothing compared to on the way home when we got the same number of people into a collectivo built for 11!

            When we got to Cusco, we first went to the Koricancha, which is apparently the designated picture taking spot for school groups in Cusco.  It was amazing how many groups of students came to take a class picture there before heading on to their next destination.  Somehow we got all 18 5-year-olds to stand still and smile.  Then all of the parents wanted me to take individual pictures of them with their kids.  It was fun to be the photographer!

            Next we went to the small zoo at the public university.  I heard from another volunteer who went with his class to the zoo last week that a monkey bit one of his kid’s fingers.  When we got to the zoo I wasn’t surprised that this was possible.  Before going in, Vanessa warned the kids not to touch the animals or put their fingers in the cages.  Of course, the parents immediately started holding hands with the monkeys and feeding them bananas and encouraging their kids to do the same.  Good role models.  Thankfully no one got bitten, but at one point Emerson was poking around at a cage and somehow the monkey reached under the netting and started pulling Emerson’s hand with both of it’s hands.  The monkey looked angry and I got scared, so I pulled Emerson away quickly.  The other scary thing was that one of the mom’s was throwing leaves at an ostrich to try to get it to stand up.  Well, it did stand up and put its head right over the gate with a big squawk leaning towards us - luckily there was enough room to jump back, otherwise the ostrich would have been able to bite/peck someone!  Other than the dangers, though, it was fun to be in a zoo where you could stand so close to the cages.  There was a toucan, condors, parrots, various kinds of monkeys, a peacock, turtles, the ostrich, and various kinds of pigs.  It was fun to be at the zoo with 5-year-olds.  They loved it!

            After the zoo, we piled into three different taxis and drove to a playground.  This playground was amazing.  It kind of felt like a less advanced version of Disney land.  It even had a flying merry go round with Dumbo.  There were huge slides, small slides, swings, a hand pushed merry go round and Ferris wheel, seesaws, and anything else you could possibly imagine in a playground and more.  It was so fun to watch the kids run around with huge smiles on their faces.  Any child would love this playground, but it was especially great for these students whose tiny playground has not been available to them for the past two months because of construction being done at the school.

            We had a picnic lunch of chicken and French fries from Vanessa’s family’s restaurant and we bought all the kids ice cream.  Then it was time to go, but first the parents asked me if I would take their pictures with their kids in the park.  When I had finished my photographing duties, Vanessa announced that tomorrow would be my last day and we would be having a fiesta.  This induced another round of pictures, but this time I was included and Vanessa was the photographer.  Every mom wanted their picture with their child and me. I felt like a pop-star, with Vanessa calling out, “Who’s next?”

            At 2:00, we piled into a collectivo to head back home.  I sat with Rene’s mom on the front bench seat next to the driver with four kids piled on our laps.  All of the kids fell asleep on the way home.  It was a wonderful second to last day and I am looking forward to having a fiesta in my class tomorrow for my last day.  I am so sad to leave, but am glad that my time here is ending on a high note.