Today was my first day of volunteering at the school. It takes me about an hour to get from my family stay to the Chynchaysuyo School. I have to walk about 30 minutes from the house to the bus stop located on the city's main street, Avenida El Sol. I take the Santa Ana bu, and all the buses come quite frequently. It's only .60 Soles to for bus fare, which is about 20 cents each way. They even have a bus route called "Batman" with the logo, too! The bus ride is about another 30 minutes long and my stop is right at the end of the route, so I don't have to worry about climbing over people to get out of the bus.
The school has about 80 students ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grade, with only about 6 teachers. To my friends in the Education field, you will find this interesting. I was informed previously that at some placements, they may not be well organized and you'll just have to throw yourself in there and interact with the kids without any direction. Two other volunteers work with me, and it was definitely challenging and frustrating at times for us. The teachers of the younger classes didn't seem so welcoming with volunteers, so we only got to play with the little ones during recess. As with any school, there are always students that are more willing to learn than others. In the 3rd/4th grade class, which is taught by the director of the school, is definitely the most rambunctious class. When the teacher leaves the classroom, and she does at times for short to long periods, the kids go loco! When it comes to discipline, the teachers will threaten to hit the kids to get them to behave, but I never actually saw them do it. Before recess, I am usually with this class, and after recess, I'm with the 5th grade class.
Recess/snack time can last anywhere from 30 mins to a little over an hour; again no structure or consistency. I brought my Spanish/English visual dictionary and the kids love it! They love looking at the pictures and learning the words in English. I noticed that some kids wear uniforms and others do not. So it seems as if they are not required, and only those whose parents can afford to buy them wear them.
My other 2 roomies' placements seem more organized. Marisa is at a school playing and coloring with little children. Jamie is working at an all girls orphanage and each morning they have specific activities before their academic lessons: volleyball, ceramics, knitting classes, etc. The girls also learn to bake and those baked items are sold at the El Buen Pastor Bakery in San Blas. All 3 of us usually meet back at the house for lunch before going out to enjoy the rest of the day. That night, we went to the Indigo Bar and hung out with other fellow volunteers.
