Living and Teaching English Inside the Volcano
PERU | Thursday, 10 April 2008 | Views [908]
Views from above. On the right is the cone that pushed it's way up through the middle of the crater after the big explosion 2500 years go.
My first week was quite an adjustment. No phone or internet, but the silence was what I really needed. Every day as I walked the half mile to the school I was greeted by the morning traffic. Cows, horses, pigs, dogs, chickens and of course my students. There are about 18 kids in all. Grades from kindergarden to 8th grade. The kids seemed really excited to have a new person there. I spent the first week trying to figure out the school system and schedule. Then, I realized there was none. This place was run completely day by day. My first lesson, I tought the kids some verbs so we could play a game. Run, walk, jump etc... They seemed to really enjoy it and the next day remembered the the new vocab and wanted to play more. They all seemed excited to learn. Slowly I got to know more about each kid. Living here is like a cross between Little House on the Praire and Land of the Lost. The kids are really sheltered here and do not really know what life outside the volcano is like. They do however go on a big school trip at least once a year so they can know their country.
