Day 14~ FTGC 🚙

Travel day back to Lima !! 

Goodbyes~ 🌿

Our host teacher Miss Elizabeth came to our hospedaje to have breakfast together, and then see us off. 

We were so lucky to have her as our host in Chontabamba!! 🍏

We left around 8:30AM and arrived to the airport at 1:30PM.  Our driver was speedy, and would pass several vehicles on the road. We stopped in La Merced and in Tarma for restroom breaks, and we still arrived super early!!  There were plenty of windy roads going up the hills and back down the hills and you can see how the lush green landscape changes from Chontabamba to the drier landscape of Jauja.

We had plenty of time to spare before our flight at 4:55PM, so I walked around the outside lot a few times until it was time to check-in around 3:10PM. 

The other group of Fulbrighters coming in from Haucavelica arrived around 3:00PM and it was nice to reunite with others and hear about their experiences. They all had altitude sickness for the first two days upon arrival. 😣 BUT were able to adjust and have a great time the rest of the week.

Airport in Jauja ✈️

Eventually we all made it back to cloudy Lima. 

Traffic wasn't too bad, and we arrived at the hotel around 7:15PM!!

Day 13~ FTGC 🧡

 Last Full Day in Chontabamba!! 

COAR Pasco Band Competition 🎵

The school band participated in a music competition Friday morning, and they ended up placing 2nd. They were sad since they did not get 1st Place. 😕

We had the afternoon free, and returned to the school around 4:00PM to see the library and then say "See you later!~"

Library Entrance... waiting for a new librarian. 📚

They added photos from our visits throughout the week. 💕

Thank You Miss Elizabeth & Fulbright for this opportunity!! 🌐

We said some words to the whole school, and then we went to each classroom in the school to say farewell. It was a long process because each class said some kind words thanking us for our visit, then we took a class photo, and then students wanted signatures and selfies too!! 💛

It was a bittersweet goodbye~ 🌞✨

Day 12~ FTGC 🎆

 

COAR Pasco 

It was the anniversary day for Chontabamba on Thursday, June 29th. 🎉 

The morning started off with a parade from various schools in Chontabamba and Oxapampa. Then there was a Bingo Game and Cowboy Competition!!

Bingoooo!!

Cowboys 🐎

Day 11~ FTGC 🌞

Small Group Discussions with 5° English Class

 

These students were in 3 groups and each group had a theme for their questions. 

• Group 1: Cultural Background and Education Systems
• Group 2: Opportunities and Scholarships
• Group 3: Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management

They had so many great questions and it was wonderful to get to chat with them all about these three topics!! ❤☺

Teacher Miss Ana looking through English books.

Later in the afternoon we met with Miss Ana and she had some questions about any tips or strategies with having an English Week at their school in October. We shared with her some ideas 💡 and hopefully they will have a fun + successful English Week event!! 🎉  They also asked us about challenges with teaching and how teachers are evaluated at our schools. #ExchangeOurWorld

Day 10~ FTGC ✏️

 More classroom visits!! 🤓

*Side Note: So I found out that student in 3° do not have their uniforms yet from the Ministry of Education, but students in 4° and 5° have their uniforms.

4° Math Class

Today I had the opportunity to visit a math class for grade 4°. They were studying Exponential Functions. I do NOT remember how to do these! I tried asking the teacher if this was Algebra I, but I think it seemed like something that would be taught in Algebra II (usually 11th Grade in the U.S.), and these students are learning this in "10th Grade". Which makes sense since they would graduate the next year in "11th Grade." I am not familiar with the IB program, and I found out that the students that are in 3° Grade are not in the IB program until 4° and 5° Grade. Students seemed to be trying to solve the problems, and the teacher would walk around the classroom checking to see if students understood the problems.

4° English Class

The second class I went to was 4° Grade English. I shared about myself. Then I asked the students to talk about "Why learn English?" and "Why learn another language?".  They mentioned opportunities to talk to people from different countries, to be able to study in the U.S., to learn about different cultures, etc. Then they asked me some questions about the differences in Peruvian culture and my culture, what's good about living in the U.S., what my favorite Peruvian food is, etc. It was a nice exchange! Then some students performed a dialogue they created about their favorite piece of technology. We had some extra time so I taught them to fold an origami heart, which I think they enjoyed! They asked me to sign the hearts they made, and some students wrote a message to me and gave me the heart they made!! ❤

It was a lovely exchange and I hope we can continue these connections when I have my classes start up in September!!

〰🔆

Day 9~ FTGC 📓

 Monday Morning~

I saw how students arrive to school by 7:20AM, and line up for the pledge and announcements. Our host teacher had us say a few words to the whole school. The first class starts at 7:30AM.

Later we returned around 9:30AM to observe 2 classes. The first class I observed was a mathematics class for 3°. Students were learning about proportions and solving for the variable x in linear and quadratic equations. Teacher lectured and had students take notes and solve problems. They were using a science lab room since it was bigger to fit the whole class.

Grade 3° Math Class 

They have a daily break from 10:30 - 10:50AM and the next class starts at 11:00AM.

The second class I observed was an English class for Grade 4°. The teacher spoke English the whole time, and the students worked in groups of 4 or 5. They used an IB curriculum, and were just starting a new unit, which connected to one of the five themes in IB: human ingenuity. The unit will take 4 weeks and students will produce a written product and an oral product. 

Grade 4° English Class

It was nice to be able to observe two classes this morning before lunch and then have the afternoon off to rest and reflect. I've been able to keep up on reflecting on each day, but I've been exhausted with the long days... tonight we have the option to join students for mass at the local church in Chontabamba, but I am going to take time to rest. Tomorrow we have a fuller day with plans in the morning and afternoon.

Day 8~ FTGC 🪶

On Sunday we started the morning learning about the Yanesha indigenous community here in Oxapampa. We went on a walk to learn about dance, songs, plants, and about wakon in the Yanesha traditions and culture.

El Wakon Yanesha Walk

The Yanesha created patterns from animals and natures. The photos above show the geometric patterns/ designs and its connection to an animal or natural thing.

These designs are on clothes, bags, and straps on headbands. We stopped by an artisan store owned by Claro who is known for her designs using natural materials in the Yanesha tradition.

For lunch we went to Picaflor, which serves Yanesha traditional foods. Picaflo means hummingbird in Spanish, and in Yanesha it is Chomoth.

Otarech

I tried the Otarech dish, which is a fish dish served with yuca and two different local potatoes, red onions, and tomatoes. It was very delicious!!! 😋 

It was an honor to be able to learn about the Yanesha community. We next went to a viewpoint which also highlighted the Yánesha and Asháninka communities. 

The Yánesha were broken into 48 communities across different regions.

Entrance to the stairs to walk up to the Oxapampa viewpoint.