Today, we had our four hours of classes at El Sol, followed by our second-to-last day teaching at the high school. I grabbed some empenadas, yogurt and a banana and grabbed a cab to the school. Our itinerary told us that we would continue going over clothing and shopping in the states, but when we entered the classroom, our teacher specifically told us to go over the school system in the United States. We started off comparing the elementary and high school grades with the Peruvian system. Then we went on to discuss college, including the application process and different years in school. We also taught tuition costs as well as books, meals, etc; housing options; financial aid and more. The students were very interested in the topic but probably very intimidated by the extreme cost of colleges in the US. We had another lecture afterwards, where we continued to discuss the independence of Peru.
Afterwards, I was really tired so I headed home. Some people had mentioned going to the Parque de la Reserva, or water park, around 6pm. Others were planning to go to a salsa club later in the night. At first, I thought it would make more sense for me to go home, see my family (since I hadn’t spent much time with them lately), do some homework, rest and go out later if I felt like it.
When I got home, though, I mentioned the water park to Renzo and his eyes lit up. I decided it was something I shouldn’t miss, so we met up with my friends at El Sol (Amy, Kim, Kat, Allison, Tara and Natalie) and took a cab ride over.
I had checked it out online before but didn’t know quite what to expect. It’s called a water park but it’s not what Americans think of when they hear that term. Rather, it’s a park full of different water fountains, built in neo-classical style, all different shapes and colors.
At 7:15pm they had a show at one of the fountains. I thought the show would just include some cool water effects and lights, but when it started, it was much more impressive than I could’ve imagined.
They projected music and lasers and had dancing shapes, words and more during the 30 minute show. They projected images of a ballerina dancing to Swan Lake; transitioning each set with flowers, shapes, bubbles and more, the show then projected typical dances of Peru.
After it was over, we went over to a fountain with an arch of water at the top. We ran through the middle, not getting too wet unless we sprayed each other with water.
Then we saw a larger water fountain where you had to judge precisely when you could run over the sprinkling fountains until you were safe in the middle. We didn’t feel like getting that wet (most of us brought an extra tshirt but it was still kind of cold outside), but finally decided we should try it. I’m glad I did because we all really enjoyed it. I did a pretty good job of avoiding the water, too.
Afterwards, we all went back to eat dinner with our host families. I had an omelet and toast with Renzo. I felt like grabbing a beer afterwards, so we went to Parque Kennedy to a small, cheap bar and ordered a Pilsner. He wanted to go out with his friends after, but I needed to sleep, so I grabbed a cab and headed to bed.
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