Aventuras en la Amazon

This is the Amazon River

We said goodbye to our Cajamarcan home April 12.  Our bus driver was CRAZY!  We were sitting on the top floor at the very front so we got a great view of him passing all the other cars and almost going off the road, it was certainly a roller coaster.  Because of his craziness we got to Lima an hour early.  We stayed then night of the 12th with the wonderful Zara who took us to the Lima airport the morning of the 14th where we caught our flight to Iquitos- aka the Amazon Jungle.  

Relation status being painted on Cynthia's face (single)

We got picked up at the airport and took a boat to our lodge.  It was a beautiful 45 minute boat ride on the Amazon River. It was pretty hot our first day.  There were also about a billion mosquitoes-- we used 98% deet.  So the lodge we were staying in was pretty cool.  There's no electricity, so we used Kerosene lamps for light at night.  One of the walls in our room and the ceiling was just made out of netting, which was kinda cool too.  That day we also went to visit some places to show us "how Amazonian life is."  We got to try our hand at the blowgun and get our faces painted with our "relationship status."  We also got some sugar cane juice, which is delicious.

Me in knee high mud water

Beautiful jungle flowers

The next morning it was really rainy and actually a little chilly.  First thing we went dolphin watching and I got to see two pink dolphins!  Sadly my timing was bad, so I only saw their backs and not their heads, but it was still awesome!  Next we went to the primary forest where the vegetation was a lot thicker and there were way more mosquitoes.  We went wading through a flooded area to see a huge tree and we got to swing on vines like Tarzan.  We were wearing gum boots, but the water was a lot higher, so we just ended up with boots full of water.  On the way out I was trying to get mosquitoes out of my face by shaking my head.  And my glasses went into the river.  Luckily we were close to the shore and our two guides hopped in the brown water to look for them.  After a few stressful minutes they actually found them.  Which was a miracle because my glasses are about the same color as the river!  The afternoon was beautiful and we saw some cool wildlife.  We also went on a night walk where we saw lots of cool bugs and got to hear the cool sounds of the jungle at night.

Cynthia loved playing with the monkeys

The last day in the Amazon we went to a wildlife reserve.  When I read that I thought we would go look at things in cages.  But no, the animals were just roaming in this one open area.  The monkeys literally walked onto our boat when we got there.  They run and jump on you, so I ended up screaming quite a bit when they came to visit me.....  We also held a sloth and an anaconda.  I refused to hold the head of the anaconda though.   It peed on my jacket while I was holding it...

After the wildlife reserve we went home and packed our bags for our Cuzco Adventure!

Tiempo para Escuela!

Playing memory games with the 3rd graders

As the school year begins to wrap up back home, classes here are just getting started. And guess who goes to school every morning at 8am with the rest of the kids? That's right, us! But not to learn our times tables or practice spelling (even though I could probably work on both), nope, we are the four newest teachers at the Pulyucana Primaria, or elementary school. We work with the kids every morning for 2 hours and we take turns teaching English and Computer skills to each grade.

So many kids, so few computers...

Each class is different and sometimes we are able to teach numbers, colors, and greetings in one class period. Other times (like when there are 44 first graders in one class), we don't quite cover as much material. One teacher asked me and Liz to sing a song to the class in English. We had not exactly put that in our lesson plan, but they got a kick out of us singing "Good Mornin'", from "Singin in the Rain". As for computer classes, it was a little challenging deciding how to structure a class that included 30 students but only 3 computers... With a lot of sharing, a little extra time and a pinch of patience; we have managed just fine. It is interesting to discover that there are still some kids in the world who don't know how to play computer games, or use a mouse for that matter.

Look at me writing on the chalkboard like a teacher!

Liz helping kids with their questions

It has been very interesting to learn more about the school system here and we understand a little more about how classes and homework works here. In many ways the school here is like those back home; there are lots of energetic kids, classrooms with cute little pictures and chalkboards or whiteboards on the wall. In some ways it is a little different... Remember that cute little nursery rhyme about the lamb following Mary to school? Well here it actually happens, except with dogs. One day there were 2 or 3 dogs just running around the school, and classes carried on as normal. It is also very different to be the person at the front of the classroom, and I now have sympathy for all of my old elementary school teachers. I find myself thinking things I am sure every teacher has thought, like, "This seemed like a much better idea when I planned it..." or "Is anyone even listening?". I think I got a glimpse into the life of a teacher. Some days it is hard, really hard. Sometimes you feel like there is no way anyone is learning anything you are trying to teach. But once in a while, the entire class can answer your question, or you see a child all of a sudden understand what you have been explaining, or the entire 4th grade class will take turns giving you hugs when you have to leave. And that is why you are a teacher, because you want these kids to become all that they can be.

Erin teaching a group how a mouse works

Special thanks to elementary school teachers every where, and especially my wonderful roommate; who taught me what it means to be passionate about teaching.