Día de la Suerte

            Today is 12-12-12 and according to the newspaper, that makes it Dia de la Suerte (day of luck).  So I hope everyone is having a lucky day.

            Tomorrow my class is going to Cusco for a field trip.  We are going to go to the zoo and a park.  I am nervous because I think the only chaperones for this adventure are going to be Vanessa, the principal, and me.  With the 18 crazy, 5-year-old students.  I wish tomorrow was Dia de la Suerte.

            This week, Vanessa has been giving the kids, who have been crazier than normal because they know Christmas is almost here, warnings that if they do bad things or don’t complete work well then they aren’t going to be allowed to go to Cusco.  Both the kids and Vanessa, I think, realize this is an empty threat, but usually it makes the kids behave a little better.  Today, Vanessa left a half hour early, leaving me to glue pages into the kids notebooks for homework, have the kids clean up the classroom and complete more worksheets, while Dora the Explorer was playing.  Given that the TV was on, I had no control over the kids, so I decided to turn off the TV and tell the students that they didn’t have to do any more work but they had to clean up their tables and the classroom before they were allowed to watch Dora.  Usually this creates an immediate reaction of cleaning extremely fast, but given the recent increase in craziness among these students, instead of cleaning chaos ensued.  There was a group of boys in the back of the classroom wrestling on the floor, kids were running around with scissors, Diego went to get a broom to help clean but then Frandud decided he wanted to sweep instead and then the two boys ended up wrestling over the broom and Diego got poked in the eye and started crying.  While I was trying to comfort Diego, who wasn’t actually that hurt, Flordeli decided she didn’t want to clean up and would rather go home, so she picked up her backpack and headed out the door.  When I yelled her name to come back, she gave me a big grin, as if to say, “I dare you to come and get me.”  I didn’t because right then Reyna punched Marco or pulled his hair or something and he was standing in the middle of the room sobbing.  Oy.  There was so much noise and commotion in the classroom, I could barely think.

            Once I got Marco calmed down, I went back to the door to see if Flordeli had come back - she had, I think she was surprised I didn’t come after her.  I told her that if she didn’t come back and clean up her spot (which was messier than anyone else’s) she was not going to be able to go to Cusco tomorrow - following Vanessa’s lead.  She didn’t come back and we only had two more minutes until it was time to leave so I got all the other kids in a line to leave.  Finally the whistle blew to say the school day was over and I let all the kids leave.  I was just going to forget about Flordeli and leave her place a mess for Vanessa to find, but I guess the other kids had heard me tell her she wasn’t going to go to Cusco if she didn’t clean up and pretty soon, Flordeli came running back to the classroom sobbing.  At first I didn’t remember telling her she couldn’t go to Cusco, because there had been so many other things going on and I had heard Vanessa use the same threat without any consequences a hundred times.  After asking her lots of questions - are you mad at me? No. Are you mad at your brother? No. What happened? No answer. Do you think my scarf is ugly? This got a laugh and smile, but no answer.  It finally hit me that I had told her she couldn’t go to Cusco and I felt horrible, I asked if she wanted to go to Cusco and she nodded and started crying again.  I quickly told her that she was of course allowed to go to Cusco if she would just clean up her table with my help really quick.  We cleaned up the table and then I was surprised that Flordeli wanted to wait for me while I cleaned up the classroom and locked the door.  I thought she would hate me, but Flordeli and I walked to the main street hand in hand talking about going to Cusco tomorrow.  I am glad I was able to work everything out, but feel bad that I caused the problem in the first place.

            Speaking of crying children, which seems to be happening a lot lately (I think because it is near the end of the year) this past Thursday, Diego was crying alone outside during recess.  I went up to him and asked him what was wrong.  He finally told me that his grandmother had said that she would be right back with fruit for his snack.  I think she had been gone barely a minute.  I reassured him that his abuela would be back soon and everything would be fine.  He sulked for a few minutes, until Grandma came back with his mango.

            So, given the craziness and the crying, we will see how the day goes tomorrow.  I hope I am not the one crying by the end of the day.

Cusco Chicha Cleaning

            On Saturday, I went to Cusco to spend the day with Vanessa and her family.  Vanessa, her husband Saul, and her daughter Sharmley all speak English, so it was really nice to spend the day with a Peruvian family and be able to speak English.  Sharmley, is 19 and I spent the morning walking around Cusco with her and her boyfriend, Rodrigo.  First, the three of us went to the public university where Sharmley studies anthropology (she and Rodrigo study law at the private university).  Unfortunately, we could not go into the buildings of the university because it was a holiday (when we heard this, Sharmley rolled her eyes…even the Peruvians get sick of celebrating the saints so frequently - it seems like there is always a party for one saint or another).  We walked around the outside gate of the big university, made up of big white, square, ugly buildings and Sharmley pointed out which school each building contained.  The building that stood out to me held language and tourist schools.  Sharmley said that the most popular language to study is English and every student is required to take a minimum of one year of basic English.  Sharmley, however, learned English through a private program where she took classes in Cusco when she was younger.  She also said that the tourist school trains most, or maybe all, of the guides for Machu Picchu and is a very popular school. 

            After seeing the university, we went to a neighborhood of Cusco called San Blas.  San Blas is a Spanish colonial neighborhood, so whereas other places in Cusco feel both very Incan and Spanish, San Blas does not have any Inca history present.  We went into a Spanish house that has become a museum where we saw paintings and statues of various saints, Jesus, and Mary, all with elongated necks.  San Blas is on the mountain side, so we had to walk up steep staircases to get to the museum, but we were able to see beautiful views of Cusco.

            Next we walked back down to the plaza de armas and then went in the other direction up steep stairs to San Cristobol.  At San Cristobol there was a huge Spanish church and to one side of it an Incan wall with niches in it like I have seen at many ruins.  Here there was another beautiful view over Cusco.

            After all this walking, we went to meet Vanessa, Saul, and their 2-year-old, Inti, at a typical Peruvian restaurant for lunch.  It was a fun restaurant - there were very few tourists and there was traditional dancing.  I ordered the trucha frita (fried trout) even though Sharmley tried to get me to order something more adventurous.  She made me try her cow tongue though and I enjoyed watching Saul eat his pig feet.  We also ordered two pitchers of chicha, the Peruvian fermented corn drink.  Saul kept telling me to drink the chicha and pouring me more, saying it was completely natural, there’s no alcohol.  Between him saying this, having his two year old son drink the chicha, and having had chicha before, I didn’t think there would be any problem.  Boy was I wrong.  But, after I fainted three times, threw up, and drank four cups of coca tea, I felt a lot better.

            Besides my chicha adventure, it was a great day!

            On Saturday, Vanessa told me that she had left the party at the school on Friday at 4:30, but it was still going strong, with the teachers from other schools and the parents starting to drink.  Unfortunately, they did not clean up after themselves, so when we opened the classroom doors at 8:30 this morning, the classroom stunk, had full bottles and glasses of beer on the kids tables, and had soda and beer spilled on the tables, chairs, and floors.  It was disgusting.  Vanessa and I had the kids stay outside while we cleaned up and another teacher wiped down the tables and mopped the floor.

            That was the most exciting part of my day at school today.  And the most exciting part of my afternoon was when I was shopping at the market (again!) this afternoon and was bargaining with a vendor.  When we finally agreed on a price, he asked me where I was from and when I said the U.S., he looked surprised and said my Spanish was really good!  He said he has friends in Oregon who sell his jewelry.

Dancing and Chatting

Dancing

            Today was the big party at my school.  When I got to school, all of the teachers were there and only a few kids, helping to set up and get things clean and organized.  I helped make “books” out of cardboard and paper to be used as props for one of the dances and I helped hang paper chains that I had help make earlier in the week.  At 9:30 Vanessa and the principal led a procession of students holding the Virgen del Rosario to the church on the main square.  I sat with the kids in the pews of the Spanish church built around 1580 and there was a mass.  Like any religious gathering when the majority of attendees are between the ages of three and five, there was a lot of fidgeting, talking, and running around (it kind of reminded me of being at family services at JRC).  My favorite part was when the priest came around with holy water which he sprinkled on all the kids and the kids kept jumping on him and asking to be sprayed again.  He took this surprisingly well and did spray them with the water again.  Much of the service was dedicated to blessing the “mischievous” kids.

            After the mass, we were greeted outside by a teacher and some of her students from another school who were carrying a flag and they led the procession of the kids holding the Virgen del Rosario back to the kindergarten.  When we got back, there was a mad rush to organize and distribute all of the costumes, that the teachers had rented in Cusco, for the dances .  All the moms and some dads were there to help their kids get changed.  And then the parents got changed into their costumes too.

            The dancing started outside in the schoolyard in the sun with the three year olds.  It was really funny watching these kids who had basically no idea what they were doing but looked adorable in their costumes.  And the schoolyard was packed with people - teachers from surrounding schools and towns, older students from two or three other schools in San Salvador, parents, friends, and people from the municipality.  Since my class is the biggest, the girls were put with the 4 year old class and the boys danced alone.  When the girls from my class started to dance the sky clouded over and halfway through it started to pour.  Although the people watching started to sprint for shelter, I was amazed that these 4 and 5 year olds stayed smiling and dancing like nothing was happening.  Eventually, Vanessa made the other teacher stop the music and got everyone inside.  We watched it pour for twenty minutes and the yard fill with mud.  Vanessa made the decision to have the boys (the last group of students to dance) dance in a classroom and we quickly made room for them by pushing the chairs and tables to the outside of the room.  It was fun watching each class dance because you could really see the progression in skill from year to year.

            By the time the 5 year old boys were done dancing, the sky had cleared and the parents danced in the mud.  It was kind of boring watching the parents because they really didn’t know what they were doing and it wasn’t made up for by them being cute.

            After all the dancing it was time for a big lunch of cuy!  During the dances, I watched the parents bring in huge buckets of roasted cuy and giant pans of pasta mixed with hot dogs.  I was so glad that I had the excuse to go home - I hadn’t told my host family I would be missing lunch so I had to get home for lunch there.  I have never been happier to eat lentils.

Chatting

            This morning, a woman who is frequently in the collectivo with me from Pisac to San Salvador introduced herself and asked me what I was doing in Peru.  I was able to have a short conversation with Ruth (a teacher in San Salvador at another school who also came to the party at my school) and felt very proud of my Spanish.  Even though it wasn’t much (where are you from, what are you doing here, etc.) it was fun to have a relatively quick conversation where I didn’t feel like I was holding it up with too many ums and ahs and actually understood what she was saying the first time she said it.  Now I have two friends to ride to school with, Ruth and Estelle.  Estelle is a teacher from Qosqoayllu which is a town near San Salvador, who also made the effort to ask me about myself a couple weeks ago.

            This afternoon, when I was shopping in the Pisac market, I ran into a woman who is a host mom in Pisac.  I have met her through other volunteers a couple of times.  I chatted with her about how it is my last week here and that I really like Pisac, especially for the market.  It was fun to talk to her and have this second biggish (for me) conversation in Spanish for the day.

Some of my students in their costumes!

La Gringita

            I think that we have officially entered the rainy season…when it rains it is cold and dreary, but in the morning there is usually sun and warmth.  Unfortunately, this means that my clothes that usually dry in less than a day outside in the sun have been soaking wet for more than 24 hours.  On the bright side, along with the rainy season comes lots of mangos, my favorite fruit!

            Changing subjects, when the taxi pulled into San Salvador on Tuesday it didn’t stop by the bridge like it normally does - it started to go down a side street, which was the wrong direction from my school.  It turned out everyone in the taxi, except for me, are teachers at another school so they were having the taxi take them straight to their school.  As I started to move to get out, one of the women in the back of the car with me yelled to the driver to stop the car for “la gringita”.  Since being here, I have not directly been called a gringo (although I am sure that I have been called a gringo many times behind my back) and I am not sure how I feel about it. However, this was made up for because that night I was in a taxi on the way home from a meeting in Urubamba and the taxi driver asked me how long I was in Pisac for.  I think he expected me to say just a couple days, but when I said three months he said, “ahhhh peruana”.  It was fun to be called a Peruvian.  I obviously am tall and white and don’t speak great Spanish - I’m a foreigner through and through.  When I am with only Peruvians, I notice my differences very frequently…especially my height.  I am actually more aware of my height when I am standing next to my host family than my lack of Spanish now!  However, when I see tourists walking around the Pisac market, for example, I feel way more Peruvian than them.  It is a weird thing to feel both like an outsider and part of the culture at the same time. 

            Speaking of culture, there are still a lot of things that surprise me about the culture of my school.  For example, most of the kids are not dropped off or picked up by their parents, and some have to walk or take a bus long distances home.  One day, Emerson, a very mischievous boy in my class, was outside the gate of the school playing with fireworks until 10 a.m. and no one knew he was there until Vanessa was going to buy a snack during recess and then dragged him into the school.  In the classroom there is a white-board with each student’s name printed on it (except for 2 students who joined the class half way through the year) and Vanessa puts a mark next to each name at the start of the day if the student is there.  However, this board is erased at the beginning of every week, so there is no way to tell how many days a student has missed.  I think it would be helpful to keep an official attendance sheet because it might help explain why one student is struggling more than another if we could easily see how many and which days he or she has missed.  Also, parents don’t have to report absences, so the school has no way of knowing if the kid is sick or playing outside with fireworks.

            By the way, the same woman called me la gringita again today.

            Tomorrow there is going to be a big fiesta at my school for the Virgen del Rosario.  The students have been practicing their traditional dances for the past two weeks.  Today, most of the moms were at the school cleaning and practicing their dancing.  And the four teachers were helping to clean and meeting for most of the day, so it was really not a real day of school – no formal education.  I played with the kids outside or in a classroom for the whole day.  This was fun because it was the first time I was really able to play with the kids for a long period of time.  They only have half an hour of recess every day, during which they are also eating their snacks.  I taught a bunch of my students 4 hand games that I used to play, which they loved.  Some of the songs I sang in English and it was funny to hear them try to repeat what I was saying – I am sure they think it is just as funny when I speak Spanish.  Later, some of the students decided that I was the perfect jungle gym, since theirs has been taken apart because of the construction going on at the school.  It was all fun until one of the girls somehow did a somersault off of my shoulders over my head, taking my glasses with her.  Amazingly, neither Flordeli nor my glasses were at all hurt, but after that we went back to calmer games. I am looking forward to the fiesta tomorrow!

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts

1) I forgot to write about this:  Yesterday, in Calca, Fortunata, Chaska, Judith, and I ran into two men that Fortunata knows.  First she introduced Chaska and Judith as “mis hijas” (my daughters) and then turned to me and introduced me to the two men as “tambien mi hija” (also my daughter)!  It made me feel so good because usually Fortunata introduces me as her volunteer.  I am part of the family!

2) I have been thinking about all the things I am going to miss when I leave soon (two weeks in Pisac and then one week in the Amazon jungle doing the Projects Abroad conservation project).  Most things have both a happy and sad side to them, like I will miss my host family, but I am so excited to be with my family in my house.  I will miss the school and kids, but am looking forward to going back to Wooster.  Three things that I have recognized (so far...) that I do not want to leave at all are 1) the mountains…I am so not looking forward to being in boring, flat, ugly Skokie.  2) public transportation: it has been so nice not having to drive myself anywhere.  Wherever I want to go, there is a bus, taxi, or collectivo that I can take for pretty cheap.  Even though I don’t drive when I am in Wooster, I miss it because it is hard to get places, so it has been so nice not having to rely on having a family or friend’s car.  I wish we had better public transportation in the States (especially in Wooster!).  3) The Pisac market.  I have been living in Pisac for over three months now and am still not sick of walking around the market.  I love the colors, sounds, people (locals and tourists), buying things or just looking.

3) I have already started having stressful dreams about how I am going to pack everything up and get it all home…hey, it’s better than having stressful dreams about finals, right?

4) Seeing improvement - I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that I am really

seeing an improvement in how the students count, color, cut, write their names, etc.  It is exciting to see this progress and I am so glad that I decided to stay in one classroom for three months so that I would get the chance to see this progress.  For example, last week a few girls were playing a game where they had to see how many times they could swing around a bar and they would all count as one girl took her turn.  In the past, the girls would do the same sort of swinging, but it had never been a game before.  Now that they know how to count they were able to create a game/contest all on their own.  Also, a couple of the girls have jacks that they play with - they used to just throw the ball and collect all of the jacks but now they are able to go in order and collect 1, then 2, and so on.

            In addition to counting, over the past month and a half I have been working with the students on writing their names.  At another volunteer’s suggestion, I found plastic sheet protectors and put a paper into each one that I had written the student’s name on in solid letters and also in dotted lines.  The students traced over their names with a white-board marker on the sheet protector.  The kids had fun (and still have fun) using these because they get to use the special white-board markers and can erase easily and whenever they want.  And the improvement is amazing: one student, Flordeli used to just draw random lines when we would ask her to write her name and was not able to even make an “F”.  Now, she can write her name in cursive in a straight line without any problem.  I am so excited by this improvement.  Especially since it was my idea to have them practice their names.  Vanessa used to just rewrite their names if she could not read what they had written.

5) Buenas Noches Luna/Good Night Moon.  One of the books that my parents brought in October and the kids love is Buenas Noches Luna.  I have read it to many children over the past couple weeks during recess and, a couple days ago, Vanessa read it aloud to the class.  It was great because for the line that reads “And a bowl full of mush” (in Spanish mush is “papilla”) Vanessa decided that the kids wouldn’t know what papilla is so she just said “comida” (food).  At this, Adriana shouted out, “No! No! Papilla!” and wouldn’t stop until Vanessa went back and read the line correctly.  Today, I watched and listened to four boys looking at and “reading” Buenas Noches Luna.  They would turn the pages and say the lines that they had memorized, sometimes repeating the same line for different pages and would try to correct each other.  This is the beginning of reading!  I am very excited.  Also, most of the students didn’t even know which way to hold a book when I first got to the class (many would hold it upside down and backwards) but they all hold the books correctly now and really enjoy using them.

Updates

Wednesday: Mariska came back to Pisac after two weeks of traveling with her boyfriend to pack up her stuff and say goodbye.  I sat and talked with her for two hours about her travels to the Amazon and doing the Inca trail - they both sound great!  Mariska said that she loved doing the Inca trail, even though it was hard (they had to walk 8 hours a day and the second day was all up hill) but was not as impressed with Machu Picchu as some of the other ruins we saw, mostly because it is so touristy.

            Wednesday night, Mariska, her boyfriend, Fortunata, Ricardo, Judith, and I gathered around the table to celebrate Mariska’s time here and say goodbye.  Fortunata had made her special hot chocolate and bought a cake that said “Feliz Viaje Mariska” (Happy Travels).  Fortunata said a prayer like she does before almost every meal, but this time it was giving thanks for Mariska’s time here, wishing her safe travels home, a nice reunion with her family, and a merry Christmas - it ended in a loud round of applause started by Fortunata.

            It was nice to celebrate Mariska’s goodbye with Ricardo and Judith, however the circumstances under which they were there were not the best - Ricardo was hit by a car in Cusco on Monday and didn’t seem to be doing too bad, just a scraped elbow and a slightly bruised leg.  However, starting Wednesday and since then his leg has been hurting more and more, so bad that he now has to walk with a cane.  Luckily Judith is a doctor so she has been visiting frequently.  Ricardo usually goes back to Cusco for the night (the family has a house there too) but since Wednesday he has been staying in Pisac because of the pain in his leg.  It’s sad and I am hoping he feels better soon!

Thursday: The whole group from the night before plus Chaska joined for breakfast of more hot chocolate and cake and, this time, popcorn.  After breakfast, it was really time to say goodbye to Mariska.  Even though she has been gone for the past two weeks, at least her stuff has been here.  It is very weird that she is not in Peru anymore!

Friday: I had a good day at school, but as soon as I got home I started feeling really sick and felt progressively worse throughout the afternoon and evening.  I told Fortunata I was too sick to eat dinner.  She tried to convince me that it was a really delicious dinner and I should eat something, but when I started to cry she told me to go and rest and that Judith was coming to the house later to see Ricardo so she would check on me too.

            Around 8:30, Judith and Fortunata knocked on my door.  Judith kneaded my stomach, asked me various questions (which I hope I answered correctly but I am not sure that I did because it was especially hard to speak in Spanish when I felt that miserable), and looked at what medicine I had.  She said she would go out and buy me some medicine (or would I rather have an injection? NO, I said) and be back soon.  20 minutes later she came back with a mystery white tablet that I took with some tea that was overly sugary and tasted disgusting.  Fortunata came in too and she and Judith decided that I had too much hot chocolate on Wednesday and Thursday, who knows if that’s right because I have had it a bunch of other times and have been fine but I can’t think of anything else that would make me sick.  Fortunata said she would be back at 10:00 with more medicine for me.  I figured that would mean 10:00 Peruvian time, so I went to sleep.  I was right and Fortunata knocked on my door at 11:30 with Chaska.  Fortunata gave me more medicine and Chaska put a carpet on my floor.  It was great to have all of these people look after me.

Saturday: In the morning Fortunata brought me another mystery pill and Norma brought me tea.  I felt sick all day, but started feeling better around lunch time so Fortunata made me some chicken noodle soup and tea.  I spent all day, except for lunch and dinner, in bed.  I slept a lot and luckily I have a good book.

Sunday:  I felt like a new person today.  During breakfast Fortunata invited me to come with her and Chaska to Calca to see more traditional dances.  An hour after breakfast, the three of us went to get a bus, taxi, or collectivo to Calca.  First Fortunata asked a taxi to take us and he even offered us a good price, until he realized that his keys were locked in his car.  Then we tried to get on a bus, but it was so full that not even one more person could get on.  Next a collectivo pulled up, which we were able to squeeze into.  I was able to sit on the very edge of a seat.  It was fine until we got to Lamay, a town ten minutes from Calca and no one got out, but they squeezed at least 10 more people into the van.  I couldn’t even turn my head it was so crowded.  As people piled in, Fortunata said, “Nosotros somos personas no somos animales” (we are people not animals).  This was a perfect way to describe it, it felt like (and smelled like) it was a crowded van full of animals.

            I was very thankful when the collectivo pulled up in Calca and we were able to get out.  All of a sudden, I realized that the three of us were marching in the parade with others from Pisac holding the Virgin del Carmen float (the Virgen del Carmen is specific to Pisac - each town has their own Saint).  We walked throughout the streets of Calca with other people holding small saints or candles and people in traditional costumes dancing in front of us and behind us.  Only once did I notice someone point me out to her friend and whisper something about the “Gringo.“  I can’t blame them, though.  I was the only white person in the parade and at least a head taller than most people.

            After an hour and a half of walking, we got to the plaza and found seats on benches that had been brought outside from the church.  Then a lengthy traditional Catholic service began.  It was very cool.  I liked being able to pick out words that I now know in Spanish and connect them to my religious studies knowledge (I am so glad that I am a religious studies major!) so that I could get an idea of what was being said and done.  There was a lot of singing, especially about the body and blood of Christ when communion was passed out.  One line that was repeated frequently in Spanish was something like “Jesus is our blood, Jesus is our body, Jesus is our life, Jesus is our love.”  It was so interesting to be in the midst of this big outdoor service - there must have been more than 1,000 people there.  The celebration was for Calca’s 475^th anniversary!

            After the service, we met Judith and the four of us went to a typical Peruvian restaurant for lunch.  Restaurants that Peruvians tend to eat at have a two sided menu - the choices are chicken, trout, carne, pork, or a mixed plate and whatever sides they have (usually potatoes, rice, and noodles).  The other side of the menu has your choice of drinks - coca cola, inca cola, beer, or tea.

            After lunch we got on a crowded bus back to Pisac and now I am relaxing and preparing activities for my class tomorrow.