I made it through my first week!! I’ll admit I was a little worried when I already felt like I needed a break after Tuesday. The weather today was, again, hot and sunny, and Debbie and I spent both the morning session and the afternoon session outside. It’s amazing how much the sun can wipe out your energy. We tried to stick to the shade as much as possible, but there’s only so much you can do.
The morning was another trip into Chilca with the C4 kids (the oldest group). They got really creative with the rubbings which was fun to watch. They got the textures of columns, signs, trees, decorative benches, and one kid even did one of the Volvo symbol on someone’s car. During the walk, they did a good job of following along on the map, reading street signs, and trying to understand where we were.
I think we might be cursed though. Yesterday, a kid’s flip flop broke about halfway through the walk. I had no way of fixing it and didn’t know what to do about it, so I just stayed back with him while he shuffled along the sidewalk. This morning, I considered putting some extra supplies in my backpack, just in case anyone had a footwear malfunction and thought, “nah, it’s not like that’s going to happen again”… Today, a kid’s flip flop broke about halfway through the walk. Yes, seriously. Eddy came by and picked him up so he didn’t have to keep walking like that, but I was shaking my head at myself. From now on if we go anywhere with the kids, I’m packing tape, rubber bands, and safety pins (those are the supplies that I’ve decided you can fix almost anything with). Maybe I’ll see if I can get some crazy glue too. Is this what being a mom feels like?
After lunch, we were with Vanessa’s C3 class again. She wanted us to do something outside if we could, so Debbie found this 100 Brick Challenge and we pulled some activities from there. Instead of 100 bricks, each team got 25 brick-like rectangular pavers that Esperanza de Ana had on hand. First, we did another “tallest tower” challenge, then they had to make a perfect circle without talking that the whole team could fit in, and they had build a pyramid. The one challenge that they got REALLY excited about was making a domino run. Who knew? The one team made a line first, then made a curvy line, then a circle, a heart, and other crazy shapes. That occupied them for probably 40 minutes, which is amazing. Maybe it’s a stretch say it’s an engineering challenge, but they did have to be creative, work as a team, and think about where to put each “domino” so that their creation would function. Nope I just convinced myself. That’s engineering.
For dinner, Debbie, Julie, and I went to this place along the side of the highway that used to make pizza, but now they’ve switched to “pan de queso” (aka cheese bread). Each one is a 8”x2” mini-calzone and is filled with cheese/ham and cheese/some other things/etc. Debbie said there’s another place that does the same thing and has gotten really popular because it’s on the way to the beach and is a quick and easy thing to grab and go. Well, all I can say is that bread and cheese are a couple of my favorite things (understatement), and I don’t think there’s a bad way to put them together. They were so good… I don’t know what kind of cheese they used, but it seemed like fresh mozzarella and was a little salty and awesome.
We went to the gas station to get snacks for the night (because apparently that’s the thing to do), and it was an interesting experience. I’ve never been to a gas station that has product representatives trying to sell you their stuff, but there’s a first time for everything, right? There was a woman pushing Lay’s potato chips and a man trying to sell pisco (a Peruvian brandy). I’m sure they made some very convincing arguments in Spanish about why I should buy their stuff, but I was 1. caught totally off guard, 2. not interested, and 3. incapable of understanding anything they said. Debbie said that isn’t a thing that normally happens there, but at this point it’s my sole impression of Peruvian gas station stores.