Independence Day-Peruvian Style

I'm on my winter vacation for 2 weeks. It's wonderful. It's Monday morning and I'm actually free in the morning to get organized, update my blog among other things. Friday was the last day of school and the students had a show they put on for all of the parents. Independence Day is today so they put on the show before the vacation to learn and teach about the country. Two grades teamed up and did a mini-show on a region of Peru. There are three regions, the jungle, mountains, and coast. They did dances and the older grade of each group explained a little bit about each region. My second graders (red and white outfits) did the coast and they did a great job. They looked super cute. Five year olds were teamed up with them. You can see Ella, the Brubakers daughter, dancing in the middle.

First and fourth grades had the mountain region. This is the region I live in so it's very typical to see these outfits whenever there are parades. Third grade and the four year olds had the jungle. Carrie decided to have the four year olds dress up like jungle animals and do a really cute jungle song, then while the third graders danced (pretended to be native americans hunting and collecting food), the four year olds came back out and snuck around until some of the 'hunters' started carrying these little 4 year olds of the stage. Everybody loved it. It was really adorable.

So far Uncle Dan have checked out this beautiful building from Incan times that I always pass when I'm in the city but never took the time to go inside. Yesterday we were in one of the 7 wonders of the world all day- Machu Picchu. It was neat going a second time and still seeing some new things, and its always different going with a new person. We were stuck in the city until our train at 9:30 but we managed to entertain ourselves with restaurant hopping (dinner one place, dessert another) and checking out stores and the market. After a train ride from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo, a crazy taxi ride from Ollanta to Cusco and another from Cusco to my house, it was 1:30am and I was happy to be home.

My cute little bunnies, dogs, and annoying rooster.

I'm teaching first grade about animals and the words long, short, and then body parts. So one day we made either long ears and a short tail for a rabbit or short ears and a long tail for a dog. They has so much fun chasing each other around the room and I decided to get a pictures of all of them with the tails and ears. I thought I'd share the pictures cause it is too great to keep to myself.

I've had a bit more patience with my students lately. God has taught me that I really just have to work hard at it, having a calm voice and not letting myself get upset as easily as I have been. So, even though the kids had trouble listening today, I stayed pretty patient. I have a 2 week vacation starting on Friday so I hope to come up with some good lessons for the kids to learn respect for their teachers, their friends, and adults in general. If you have any ideas, let me know! Anyway, thank GOD, for real, God, for the patience I'm learning. This is a really good life lesson that I need to learn more of!

Also, we have one rooster left and so I took a picture before Marga kills it. It's big and still noisy, even though it doesn't have any friends to sing along with. Anyway, its pretty and cute when its not being noisy. Uncle Dan gets here Thursday morning, bright and early, so I'm excited for the adventures to begin!!

4 down, 3 to go

We've been killing our roosters, and my goodness, how I've been waiting for it. Those roosters are no longer these cute little chirping birds, but these cock-a-doodle-dooers and they do it everytime they're hungry or they hear a loud noise no matter what time of the day, night, or morning. We originally thought there were 3 hens but we misjudged by a lot. All of them are roosters. Tomorrow we're donating one of our roosters to the church, so we'll only have 2 left. I have learned to dislike my roosters so I haven't taken any pictures of them lately but it'd be good to show you our full grown roosters before they're all eaten.

Carrie's friend was visiting for a week and so we had motivation to do touristy things again. This time we went to the Sacred Valley which is a whole area of ruins. It's a whole day trip because you need to drive to all of the different locations and for some of them, hike as well. I only went to 2 places and left early with Bethany though. The pictures are from a place called Chinchero. The picture of the women sitting in the field, they are sorting potatoes (those dark piles) that are 'freeze-dried' potatoes. I don't actually understand how they're freeze-dried but I know that I don't enjoy eating them. Quick story... I was eating lunch with the UCF team back in May and I didn't have a cup so I just used my friend's cup who was finished with it and my friend, Bani who lives in Peru, said to me, "Wow, you're a real Peruvian recycling his cup. Oh wait, no, you're not a real Peruvian unless you like chuno" which is the freeze-dried potato. So, needless to say, I'm not the only one who doesn't like these potatoes.

The next day, we took a hike in Huacarpay, where my church is. I had never gone past a certain point on the road so I was in for a surprise when I learned there's a big beautiful lake as well as ruins. You can see it in the picture of my friend who 'got stuck' going through the entrance of the ruins. We walked to a different part later that was known as the 'door', a portal to the future I think. I could be making that up, but not entirely. It was cool because you could walk up the stairs they built into the big walls that make up the door. The stairs are spaced out and not that wide so going down was a bit of an adventure but we made it safely.

Some of you have asked me, How do they celebrate the 4th of July in Peru? I'm sure after you've gone to your 4th of July barbeques that you realized the decoration theme is the US flag and so we don't celebrate this holiday here, but I did make my students celebrate it yesterday with cake and cookies and we made US flag hats. I'm not really that creative, but the kids had fun. I had a barbeque with my EMM team today (since everyone had work yesterday) and it was exciting, all traditional food. It's interesting realizing how many traditions we have in the states but it seems so normal that you don't even realize it. How many of you had hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, potato salad, and an american flag cake at your 4th of July party? Anyway, it's a neat way to look at the way I've grown up when Peruvians ask what the 4th of July traditions are.


Praises: ~I'm able to make better friendships now that I'm becoming more fluent.


~I've been able to see more of Peru and my Uncle Dan is coming at the end of this month and we'll be able to see even more of the country.



Prayers:

~That God would teach me self-discipline because I'm still disorganized in all areas of my life.

~I'm taking Spanish classes again (in the evenings for 5 1/2 weeks) and I have 1 1/2 left. Please pray that I'd get the most out of it that's possible.

~That now that I have the ability to make better friendships, that God would give me the time and motivation to do that.

Special note: I'm losing touch with everybody from home! Email me. Let me know how you are. I really do care, I just lose track of time and before I know it, it's been a couple months since I've talked to you. And thank you to those who really did send stickers and other school supplies. They're being put to good use and the kids love it all. Also, thanks to those who continue to pray for me. This year has been pretty rough, even if I am enjoying myself, so I appreciate all the help I've been getting/can get. Blessings to you all and Happy 4th of July (a day late).