Student Appreciation Day

Here in Peru they have a holiday for students. (I personally think we need one in the US...) Every year on September 23rd school is basically a party. So, on Tuesday Nuevas Americas had a party! 

When Flor told me that student day was coming up I immediately asked if we could go to a park. We are always just cooped up in that little classroom, so I though it'd be fun to go out. Flor liked the idea but said that the park costs money. It was only like 20 cents per kid, so I told her I'd just pay for it. I wanted to go to a park! So, Tuesday morning Flor, Emma, a mom, 17 kids, and I walked a little over a mile to a park. When we entered I couldn't believe my eyes! This park was huge! It would never meet safety codes in the US, but boy we had a good time. When we first entered most kids didn't know how to swing or go down the slides, but by the end they were all loving it! It was so fun to see them all SO happy!

 

I still get to push kids on swings. 

Elvis checking out the teeter totter. 

Looks like an animal cage, but the kids loved this thing. We'd pile them in and they'd just spin and spin and spin. 

The swings at Lagoon?

Some huge, fun slides that I went on. 

There's more park on the side that wouldn't fit. This place was huge! 

When we got back to the classroom we had a little surprise for them. We had made little pencil holders out of the milk cans from lunch and filled them with candy. The kids were so excited about it! I was so happy they liked them too, cause let me tell ya, making little pencil holders is a LOT harder when you don't have a can opener, pliers, or a laminator. 

To make these cute little cans we first had to cut the lids off with some dull knives. The we had to hammer down the sharp edges with this awkward, large metal thing. It took so much longer than I expected. Then because the edges were still decently sharp, we out foam stuff around the top. On the boys cans we then glued a spider man (hand laminated  with tape haha), and on the girls, a butterfly. Filled these babies with candy, and we called it good! 

I honestly can't imagine too many kids back home being to thrilled about these cans, but these kids were pumped about it! It was so fun to see their smiles. So, Student Appreciation Day was a huge success! I think well just have to have a few more fiesta days before I leave :)