We have been busy celebrating the many "fiestas" here! It seems that they Peruvians like to celebrate! On Saturday, Sam's "jardin" (preschool) had a "fiesta de primavera" (party of the springtime). The Saturday before that, the other children's school had a family day (possibly also to celebrate spring?).
Sam's party was a typical Peruvian children's party! We arrived about 10 minutes late, which really was about 30 minutes early for them. We were only the second family there, and the clown was just beginning to set up. Each child was asked to wear a costume, and thankfully we had packed a few for the boys to play with! There was a clown to provide entertainment, and he kept it going for three hours! He had a puppet show, lots of dancing, and story telling. He included the parents in the dancing, so we were sure not to get bored either! It is also interesting how they have food at a party... you don't fix a plate of food at a party. They pass around bowls and plates of snack food throughout the party and you take one bite of each thing. They had a lot of food - chips, cheetohs, rolls, tiny sandwiches, waffles (no syrup), chocolate cake, little pizzas, jello, and popcorn. They drink was chichi morado, which is a Peruvian drink made of purple corn, pineapple, limes, and sugar. It looks and tastes a little like grape koolaid. Most of this is pretty traditional for a child's party. They also had a beautiful cake, but they never serve the cake at the party! They slice it and send it home with the child. They also gave Sam a cute little bag and a pin with his name on it, and a bag full of candy and more snacks.
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| Miss Sondra, Sam's teacher (she is bilingual, but is now speaking only Spanish to Sam) |
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| Miss Lula, in the floral shirt, she picks Sam up every morning for school, and owns the "jardin" with Miss Sondra |
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| This is the clown trying to "present" Sam - they had a little parade "desfile" of each child in their costumes. |
The other blonde haired children are from Norway... so for Sam, he still has to speak Spanish to communicate with them. I enjoyed visiting with the moms, who are able to speak English as well as Spanish, and Norwegian.
The family day was also fun at Rey de Reyes (King of Kings), where the older three children go to school. They had a cookout and lots of food for sale, volleyball games, dance shows, and we enjoyed visiting with parents and teachers.
Miss Edith, Luke's teacher - she is syrupy sweet!!
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| this is how they were frying huge batches of chicken |
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| a "bunela" - a special treat of Arequipa - think funnel cake... yummy! |
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| the playground with some of their friends |
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| the men grilling some pork - this photo is for my dad who loves every kind of grill invented |
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Sarah Caroline's teacher, Miss Fatima, is on the far left (she is so sweet) and Miss Maggi on the far right has helped translate, especially our first week getting the children adjusted in the school.
Also last week was the "dia de estudiante" (day of the student), and the children actually had two days of celebrating at their school. One day they had special treats, volleyball and futbol (soccer) games, and no classes. The next day they had more special treats - Luke's class had a clown for entertainment and a party all morning, and Sarah Caroline's class went to the movies for the day. They got out of school early as part of the celebration. |
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