Day 12: Our Peruvian Debut
We are so back! This is Keira and Nuria once again. This morning we dressed up in all Menlo gear for our cultural exchange day with the local high school. We ate our typical breakfasts and then headed to Don Tomas' to meet up before heading to the school. Once we arrived they performed a dance in traditional costumes and a song in English. We displayed our American spirit through our performance---it included the National Anthem, an American football play, a dance to Party in the USA, and a mosh pit to Fe!n. Claire also performed an original song in Spanish and then we all gathered together to sing Riptide with the guitar.
After the performances, we got paired with buddies in what they call the 4th grade of high school (equivalent of 11th grade in the US). Part of their school work is harvesting corn from the fields to then sell. We went up to the field and they taught us how to cut down the corn stalks and dehusk them. All of our buddies were so chatty and eager to practice their English---we even sang Shakira's Hips Don't Lie all together.
Following our journey in the field we met up in a classroom where we learned about the history of water in Zurite. Johanes taught us about the myths of water collection, the several canals that span across the city, and steps we can take to be more water-conscious. We were tasked with drawing a map of Zurite from memory to track the water canals. We even learned Latin America contains 1/3 of all the freshwater in the world!
After heading back to Don Tomas' for lunch, we returned to the high school for an afternoon of volleyball, basketball, soccer, and card games.
To conclude our night, we signed up for which project we want to work on tomorrow: hummingbird trail restoration, mapping the water canals, and working at the tree nursery. We then headed back to our homestays for dinner and lots of rest.
Peace and Love,
Keira and Nuria
