Day 7- Lima

Today I woke up around 7 and had a small breakfast of bread, ham and cheese as well as more hot chocolate and juice. We were told classes started at 8:30, so I left around 8 to wait for the bus. However, by 8:15 it hadn't shown up yet, so I hopped in a cab for 5 soles and arrived at El Sol. When I first got there, I was required to take a placement test. The first part was a written exam, for which we were allotted 30 minutes. Most of the questions were multiple choice but there were some short answer responses as well. The next part was an oral exam, which was really just a casual conversation with one of the administrators (or maybe teachers) at the school and lasted a few minutes. The school offers free coffee and tea every morning in the upstairs cafe (you can also purchase pastries) and I was told to wait there until they placed me in my class. My fellow students were Eddy and Elisa, who both go to the University of Texas, and Bernd, who is from Germany (though he speaks English) but currently works in Miraflores since his fiancée moved here. I was expecting to be in a classroom with fellow Northeasterners. However, there are 4 levels of classes at the school. Only a handful of my classmates are in level 4 and I soon realized I'm the only one in level 3 from Northeastern (NOTE: I now realize that other people were in my level that week... either they got moved up after a few days of school or had already been placed in level 3. Only Tomas, who lived in Argentina for 6 years, and Diana, who is from Columbia, are in level 4). My Spanish grammar is definitely more advanced than my speaking abilities, so I feel comfortable in my classroom. The first day, we had a conversation about the upcoming election in Peru as we waited for our books. Once we got the, we went over passive voice and did other activities in the textbook.

The class lasted from 9am-11am. Afterwards, I was told to stay in the same classroom for the next part of our day, Spanish Conversation with a different professor. However, I soon learned that Northeastern isn't taking that class and I went into a different room for our culture lecture. Classes ended at 12:40 and we walked down the street to wait for a bus to take us to Manuel Polo Jimenez High School. This local air force school has about 3,000 students. We will be teaching English to a small portion of them as well as telling them about life in America, such as typical restaurants and eating customs. We didn’t go to teach today, but rather to attend a reception and meet the students. Once we arrived at the school, we walked through the main gate and ate lunch at the cafeteria. For 5 soles, I had spaghetti, salad, bread and juice.

Afterwards, we stepped outside the café to begin the reception. Students carried our nametags around as a way to greet us; I found mine and started conversing with the children there. In Peruvian high school, students attend grades 1-5, with 5 being the highest. (My host sister is 15 years old and in grade 4.) They typically graduate between the ages of 16-18 years old.

The high schoolers were so excited to meet us and learn about our culture. They also love Americans in general and go crazy over my blonde hair and blue eyes. For our reception in an upstairs classroom, the school administration greeted us with kind words and local foods, such as some sort of tuna sandwich and potatoes with cheese sauce. My favorite part was a speech that two students gave; they took turns speaking in English and Spanish and expressed their sincere gratitude for having us teach. We went around the room and introduced ourselves to the students formally, then had an informal conversation with them all. I talked to a few students, including Daniel, a 16-year-old boy who is very smart and eager to learn. He has only been studying English for one year but is almost fluent; his English is much better than my Spanish and in such a short time. In general, I was very impressed with everybody’s language skills there and so happy to see how much our time there means to them. I also learned that some students there wear different colored rope to signify their duties in the school, from security to watering the plants.

I talked with the students for a while then headed back to my host family. I immediately started feeling sick and spent the rest of the night in bed. I probably ate something bad, but my host family said it’s normal to get sick the first week there until you adjust to the food. I did my homework and went to bed early.