Graduation Day!

6/9/16

The last day in classes at El Sol has arrived and I must admit I'm a bit sad. Spanish class was the initial reason I wanted to come on this particular dialogue and I think the programs that El Sol has set up is incredibly well crafted and engaging for all parties involved. They facilitate a collection of cultural exchanges between people of many different countries, and do so in multiple ways. For example, the program that helped us find our homesteads is through their school. I also think it is very important to point out that their administration to my knowledge is a total of 5 women in one room.

So far in this blog I have really only mentioned my El Sol classes a couple times early on, however it has been an integral part of my education here. After three years in public school Spanish classes, one year of rosetta stone, and one year of college level Spanish, I can say that teaching a language is much harder than most other subjects, and in order to do so schools need a special kind of person. So I want to thank the teachers I have had Diana, Elsa, Carmen and Sandra, four amazing women who managed to keep me engaged and having fun in class for the better part of four weeks. From talking about Peruvian culture, to cultural differences between American and Peru, to creating stories, to watching videos, the list of different activities they used ends. Some of my favorite classes were the ones where we used new grammar we had just learned and created circumstances to tell the class. I liked it because I was free to create situations and have fun with it while using the new skills. I also appreciate how well they handled our fun activities. For example when asked if we could go out for bunch one morning our teacher obliged, or like today when we asked to make Pisco Sours.

To top the day off we had a fun graduation ceremony. The school made sure we wouldn't forget our time there by giving us all certificates of completion and a El Sol hoodie. Finally lunch was prepared especially for us on the menu was tuna in potatoes and lomo saltado. Lunch was followed by dessert, more pisco sours! Talk about a long day, and we still had to go to UNIFE after.

At UNIFE we had another lecture this one on the latin roots of Spanish language. Followed by our presentations on sections of our Lima books. I had to present today on the subject of La Otra Trayectoria or "The Other Path". The other path was a phrase to describe the immigrants of Peru who moved to Lima in hopes of making better lives for themselves. However because of the massive influx Lima was not prepared with resources especially jobs. Therefore the other side is the life they had to live to sustain their dreams and family. After our presentations there was a graduation ceremony. First we taught them one of our great american dances The Soulja Boy, and then they taught us a couple of theirs. Finally we ended with the passing out of certificates and then departing for the last time.

That night we went to the club Help in Barranco. Let me just say it was one of the most popping places I have ever been. It cost us 20 soles to get in but once you got inside it got crazy. Essentially a giant warehouse with a stage and some art on the walls. Giant masses of people were dancing and bumping to the music. Every now and then circles would open up and people would break dance in the center. Oh gosh I wish I could dance like them, maybe I should listen to Diana at Northeastern and join her dancing team. Over all the whole club was awesome and we left about 2am.