Today Maxine joined us to observe a lesson I was teaching to primary students. I planned a critical thinking activity and incorporated movement and the English vocabulary words that Maria Eugenia suggested. Students had a hard time verbalizing why one of four choices was different from the other three. When asked to choose, they wanted to choose their favorite. I explained the directions again to Maria Eugenia. I didn't realize that she was having trouble explaining critical thinking to the students. The second round went a bit better, and eventually students did an excellent job explaining why they choose the object they did. It was a learning experience for me. These students were not accustomed to critical thinking. I would like to collaborate with these students throughout the upcoming school year. It would be exciting to Skype with each other and participate in these type of critical thinking activities together. After the lesson, I was able to share some gifts with the students. I brought Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazines for the science teacher, maps of the world, Minnesota and the Twin Cities, pen pal letters, Minnesota postcards, handmade bookmarks, smencils, and bracelets that read Amistad on one side, and Friendship on the other. I ran out of time, due to our scheduled field trip to Tucume. I had to leave the extra gifts with Jose Luis to distribute at a later date. Tucume was amazing. The roads to this archaelogical wonder were horrendous. Again, security seemed to be lacking, by US standards. The museum was well done. It was so much fun to experience this incredible site with students. I especially enjoyed the walk to the dig site. There are 26 pyramids in this region. Archaeologists are currently working on site, still finding artifacts and new tombs. In fact, as we were walking by an area, with archaeologists at tables labeling clay vessels, I asked if I could take a photo. They answered no. (Update: I now understand why. Two weeks later a press release was shared, explaining the new findings at Tucume. We witnessed history being discovered!) Other delights from today include spotting a turquoise iguana, a Peruvian hairless dog, walking along people's farms, watching the restoration of the tombs, hiking up to a breathtaking panoramic view. We finished our time at Tucume with a lunch of goat. Our final destination for the day was a visit to an all-girls public school in Chiclayo, named Santa Magdelena Sofia Barat. Jose Luis arranged this visit with his sister, one of the assistant principals. This school was large and had multiple shifts. The girls wore brown uniforms are welcomed us with their smiles and heartfelt welcome posters. The classes we visited were packed with female students. We had an opportunity to introduce ourselves and answer their questions. At the end of the classroom visits, we were presented with a gift, a satchel that said Chiclayo. That was so thoughtful!
We met with the administrators afterward and explained our purpose for visiting Peru. After Maxine communicated with them in Spanish, they seemed to feel more at ease and trust our intentions. Phil asked some specific questions that turned things around and a relationship began to develop. We learned that the state of public education is rough. Only about 40% of the females will go on to a technical school. Most will prepare for jobs as a secretary, or acquire a job in hospitality. We decided that we would eat at Kullayki Piruw due to an early morning pick up. Maritza made delicious sandwiches that hit the spot! We said our goodbyes to Maxine and headed to bed. Tomorrow is an early start.
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