Walking with Dinosaurs

Children playing. Scrambling for the front of the queue. Shrieks of delight. Screams of despair, then... “I’m sorry but you’ll have to wait your turn.”

The September excursion for the youngsters of Flora Tristan English School was to the not-just-your-ordinary-park in Socabaya.

One of the many things for the kids to do on the excursion

A long morning, gathering the students together, handing out ID badges and suffering the hour and a half bus journey (standing up!) led us finally to this kids-mecca. A forest of play – trampolines, swings, ball pools, an inflatable slide, bouncing animals, tree houses, tunnels, mini-cars and even a bucking bronco! Things to clamber and climb on, under and through, all of which are surrounded by an educational array of life size dinosaur sculptures with accompanying explanatory boards. Misti overlooks all and the Arequipeñan sun shines unfailingly.

The ID badges (a new departure for the HOOP excursions courtesy of our excellent Tawianese volunteer – Kai) came in exceedingly handy as all the volunteers, even those who haven’t been here for long, were able to identify which children were part of our group. It all felt rather organized and orderly, probably also due to the fact that the whole group was in one place with a clearly defined entrance and exit – we weren’t going to lose anyone.

Unless of course they were thrown discourteously off the bucking bronco.

Trying to stay on the bull!

Or jumped too high on a trampoline.

One of the many trampolines

Or flew unceremoniously off the swing in full throttle.

Or were eaten by a dinosaur.

A view of Misti Volcanoe from the park

None of which happened of course, in case you were worried for a minute there... We might lose someone however if they went into the bouncing animals ride and refused point blank to get out again…little Mauricio is rather notorious for his confused expression of “but I’m having fun, why would I leave this place?” followed by a pitiful wail if we insist on removing him.

Mauricio is still too young to reason with but the rest of the youngsters are generally well behaved. The wonderful thing to watch is how, even in such a huge park with many distractions and attractions, they seem to manage to methodically try out everything as if their lives depend on it, some of them looking so forlorn when they couldn’t get into the ball pool or the bouncing animals.

Usually a volunteer is on hand for such tragedies and we can check to see if it is possible to get them their turn and if there’s a problem explain to them why (some of the rides were only opened intermittently depending on the park’s staff who have their work cut out trying to run numerous rides all at once).

If your interested in volunteering with HOOP Peru you can find more information here: 

http://www.hoopperu.org/get-involved-volunteer/

This excursion was a lovely leisurely day. The children really enjoyed the park and it was safe and diverting enough that the volunteers were able to spend time getting to know the youngsters, rather than just herding and organizing them. This was particularly nice for me as I only know the older ones through my teaching role and don’t get a chance to meet the rest of the school other than in cancha time and on the excursions, so it was a privilege to spend some time putting names to faces, pushing them on the swings, taking pictures and chatting.

However, there was a bit of herding required when it came to taking the obligatory group photos. A process of gathering unwilling children from every corner of the park ended in a countdown to photo-time and anyone who wasn’t there by the time we hit “1” wouldn’t star in our excursion piccie. Needless to say the picture is missing a few rather more willful young‘uns but we got most people in.

A group photo in front of the entrance of the park

As usual, there were a lot of mothers who came on this excursion to keep an eye on their teeny tiny ones. This made for a precious family atmosphere, huge picnics produced from bags slung over parents shoulders and mothers chatting about who-knows-what, relaxed and evidently enjoying the day out. I sensed, from the peaceful smiles on the mothers faces that this was a day not only for the children to let their hair down but also for the hard-working mothers to breathe a sigh of relief and to allow the weight of their tough day to day existence to melt into the soft green grass and flow silently

 away to be devoured by the grey-brown 

fiberglass jaws of dinosaurs.

Posted by Julianne Ezra


To learn more about HOOP Peru please check out the following websites:

 http://www.hoopperu.org/
 https://twitter.com/HOOPPERU
https://www.facebook.com/HOOPPeru

Happy Birthday Teacher Julianne!

Upon arrival at Floran Tristan English School on the 10th of October 2013, I was directed in no uncertain terms to wait outside my classroom while my students shuffled about inside, giggling, Esperanza barking orders at the boys.

A few minutes later, little Joel from Kai’s class ushered me over to the door…I walked in…

The work of my students

“Feliz Cumpleanos Teacher Julianne!”

The shout greeted me as my students leapt out from behind the door of the classroom and presented me with a snow dome with the label “Happy Birthday Teacher” stuck across the bottom of it…well, it’s a version of a snow dome where, upon vigorous shaking, the animals disappear entirely under a sea of slightly polluted-looking froth and it takes about half an hour to get back to normal. However, I’ve never been quite so moved by a snow dome before given that such thoughfulness lay behind the idea.

Then, in front of me on the white board, the elegant handwriting of my student Jesus welcomed me in the form of the words “Happy Birthday Teacher Julianne”.

And yet more! Luz, the eldest student in my class, presented me with a painstakingly detailed handmade card with Snoopy-themed pop-up figures adorning the inside and a lovely message on the back.

Our class party with Kangaroo class

To be honest, I wasn’t completely surprised that they’d planned something. The previous day I’d mentioned that it would be my birthday and later in the class I caught Luz, Esperanza and Daniel passing a note around when they were supposed to be doing something else. Normally I would insist sternly that they give me the note because it’s not really acceptable classroom etiquette. However, this time Daniel’s beaming grin coupled with Esperanza suggesting that it might-just-might be a surprise made me think twice and I let it lie. I’m glad I did. My awesome students came up with the goods and made me feel very special.

The past month has been a busy but successful month in Leopard class. They all passed the exam for the Cambridge Starters Curriculum – with flying colours I might add, everyone got 75% or more – and we had a party to celebrate, combining with the three littler students in Kai’s Kangaroo class. I’m going to be teaching them as part of my class from mid-October so it was a nice opportunity for the two classes to get to know each other a bit more.

I’m starting to discover the big personalities that have been hiding away while my students have got to know me…and now, with just three weeks of my volunteer placement remaining, I feel like I'm only just starting to get to know them properly.

The students happy during their well earned party

As is usual at the end of the month, there was an assembly for the whole school, at which I presented specific students with certificates for enthusiasm, reading and listening. Sometimes I award writing but we hadn’t done much writing this month.

The next thing was writing letters to penfriends in the U.S.A. With a bit of encouragement most members of the class created beautifully written and decorated letters. Every time I do something that involves drawing I’m endlessly pleased and surprised by the talent in the class. They always come up with something beautiful. This is a wall calendar they created in the first month I taught them.


If your interested in volunteering with HOOP Peru you can find more information here:

                                    http://www.hoopperu.org/get-involved-volunteer/


As for the rest of my birthday celebrations…well, I made the most of what Arequipa has to offer and went out for an exceedingly un-Peruvian Italian meal for the evening of my actual birthday, enjoying a delicious vegetable lasagna to the dulcet tones of live panpipe music (which made up for the un-Peruvian-ness of the restaurant choice!).

Then the Friday night was a jovial gathering of almost all the people I know in Arequipa…which actually turned out to be more than I thought!

Junior, Elisa, Kai and I

An enormous chocolate and cream cake was produced later in the evening…

...which subsequently ended up all over my face and up my nose! Apparently it’s a Peruvian tradition to take a bite after blowing out the candles (and of course get a face-full of chantilly), but I’m not sure who to believe. The cake throwing that ensued almost outdid the cake eating but I managed to enjoy a few slices while watching Team Taiwan and Team Arequipa go head to head in "Torta Wars"…

All of this was followed by plenty of dancing in Arequipa's boogy establishments and a feeling of general merriment. I slept soundly despite my sore feet and reflected on the past few happy days with the friends I’ve made over the past few months…what a wonderful way to celebrate. I will remember my 31st birthday in Arequipa with great fondness.

                                                                     
                                                             
                                                                   Posted by Julianne Ezra



To learn more about HOOP Peru please check out the following websites:

http://www.hoopperu.org/
https://twitter.com/HOOPPERU
https://www.facebook.com/HOOPPeru