This is the second of two parts on our third day in Peru. Eventually I will get caught up! I promise that the rest of the blog posts won’t be this long. There is just so much to say! It was an incredible experience.
Institución Educativa N°5117 Jorge Portocarrero Rebaza
From our first school visit we immediately went to lunch and I definitely ate too much. This is a recurring theme and it is a result of large serving sizes, multiple courses, and all the food being so good. Once lunch was finished we were back on the bus and headed to a different part of the city. This school was located in the Comas district which is one of the poorest districts in Lima. Although significant progress has been made in building infrastructure it still has a long way to go to ensure that all residents have equal access to necessities. As we grew closer to the school the homes became much more dilapidated and the roads were no longer paved. I’ve wavered back and forth about sharing a picture of the neighborhoods surrounding the school but I decided against it. Instead here are pictures of the program for our school visit.
This part of Lima has a large population of people that moved to the city from the Andes and therefore many of the students speak Quechua in addition to Spanish. In some households, the parents/guardians only speak Quechua. When we walked through the main gate we found lines of students along both sides of the walkway. Many of the students were dressed in native attire. As each of us walked in a student took us by the arm and escorted us to the main courtyard. Once we entered the courtyard another student escorted us to a line of chairs at the far side. The rest of the students, and many family members, sat on the bleacher-style seating that surrounded the courtyard.
Once we were all settled there were several speeches and introductions made. After all those were completed students from the school performed some of their native dances in front of everyone in attendance. There was some sort of ceremony with these four groups coming in from four different corners and I would find out several days later that these four groups represent the four quarters (Suyu) of the Incan empire: Chinchay Suyu (NW), Anti Suyu (NE), Conti Suyu (SW) and Colla Suyu (SE). I don’t have any clear pictures of any of the groups but I do have some videos of some of the other dances. Enjoy!
As soon as the dances were over everyone just got up and left. I figured that this was the end of our visit to this school. Walking through the courtyard was a gauntlet of excited students. Just like the previous school, many students wanted selfies with me. At one point I looked up and I could not see anybody from my group. Where did they go?
Was I Left Behind?
No, no I wasn’t. Apparently the school visit was far from over. As I walked around the wall I found another courtyard and this is where everyone went. Around this courtyard were tables set up for different disciplines and students stood around each one to present what they have been working on in school. It was hard to really hear what was going on because of all the excitement and the neverending stream of students looking for autographs/selfies. There was a table for la interculturidad (interculturality) which to be honest I wasn’t quite sure how it fit this theme. It was a collection of objects students had created.
At the conclusion of their presentation students walked to the table, picked up the objects, walked to a teacher, and presented it as a gift. I got a nice basket made out of recycled newspaper. They must have known that I have recently discovered my ability to construct baskets. Another teacher got a large garbage can made out of recycled paper while this other teacher got this elaborate box made for fathers day which consisted of family photos.
The next table I visited was the science table. At this table students were talking about the Peruvian biodiversity. I was able to admire the incredible posters that students created and I was able to taste a delicious tea made out of a plant called muña. The science teacher at this table was so excited to meet me she kept inviting me over to the table for more pictures. We may look to see how we could create a partnership between our classes in the future.
The third table I will discuss was for mathematics. Once again, students demonstrated some impressive work. I was only able to catch a small part of it but students tried to model how to use a quipo, a system of knotted strings used to record numbers. After the presentation I spoke with the student that is holding the microphone in the picture below. He is 15 and has an interest in physics. When he found out that I teach physics he was very excited! At the age of 15 he has already started taking physics classes and has already taken calculus. We briefly spoke about the joys of integration.
Not too long after this the crowds of students started to disperse. There were a few more selfies/autographs and I spoke to the science teacher one last time. Our visit to the school was finally coming to an end, an hour or so after we were scheduled to leave.
The Visit Was Not Over
We were now brought into one of the classrooms for a dinner prepared by the teachers. The dinner would consist of traditional Andean foods as well as chicha, a traditional corn beverage. They claimed that it was not fermented but we could tell what fermentation smelled/tasted like. Over dinner we introduced ourselves to several of the teachers from the school and they introduced themselves to us.
Next came the gift giving. This school was so generous with the gifts that we were provided and just like with the morning school I felt bad that they spent some of their limited resources on us. I was grateful for the hospitality and their generosity.
The last thing on our agenda was that two of our teachers gave brief presentations to the faculty that had attended dinner with us. Once those were completed we were able to say our goodbyes, take a few more group photos, and return to the bus. We were scheduled to leave around 5:00 p.m. but left closer t0 9:00 p.m. I’m glad we had the opportunity to visit this school. Its amazing just how much pride these students have for their school and just how late they would stay to meet us. It was definitely worth the late night and I do hope that I can build a partnership with this school in some capacity.
But the Night Was Not Over
Yes it was. This time it was over.