Happy Peruvian Independence Day! Today, July 28, is the official date, though celebrations have been going on for several days now and will continue for at least one more after today. Most people are off work today and all the schools suspend classes for today and tomorrow. Throughout the last few weeks in schools all around Cusco, students have been practicing traditional dances to celebrate the special occasion. PROMESA is no exception to this. The classroom teachers (those who teach in Spanish) and Carrie have all been working very diligently to teach their students dances from the three geographic regions of Peru: coast, mountains and jungle. Shannon, Marisol (the computer teacher) and I were put in charge of decorations since we didn't have classes to teach dances to. Every spare minute (and some not so spare ones) was spent learning the steps of the dances. 
Traditional clothing can be rented here in a number of little stores. Since this is a high-demand time of year, the price was 8 soles a person (roughly $2.50 - $3 American). Normally, it's about 7. At El Molino (think the number of stores in a typical American mall, one right next to the other, each one about 3 meters long by 4 meters tall by 3 meters deep - roughly - jam packed floor to ceiling with stuff) you can buy pirated DVDs of traditional music and dances for a little over 1 sol (roughly $.50 American). 
So that's what the teachers did, since having someone come teach the kids would have been very expensive and out of PROMESA's budget. Everyone did really well. There were PowerPoint slide shows about the various regions of Peru, highlighting some of the flora, fauna, typical foods, and typical dances. And then there were the dances. These kids can really dance! Oh of course, it wasn't perfect. There were wiggly kids. And there were kids who just plain didn't want to cooperate. And there were kids who forgot what they were supposed to say. But I was proud of them! They did a great job.For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of the program. Ron (the missionary who works with the school) taught the elementary students all how to sing "We Want to See Jesus Lifted High" in English and Spanish. I filmed it on my camera, but it's too big to put on here, so here's a link to YouTube where you can see that, if you're interested.
Also, just in case you were ever curious, here is a link to learn about and hear the Peruvian national anthem
This comes with a warning, however. It usually gets stuck in my head and then I go around the house...or the school...or walking down the street...singing it. :)
The pictures are as follows (sorry, Blogger doesn't let me put captions directly with the pictures): Top: Aaron, one of my fourth graders, holding the flag while the parents sang the national anthem.
Kindergarteners dancing the marinera from the coast
Second graders dancing from the coast
Some of the third grade girls dancing from the jungle.
First graders (the little girls with the colorful caterpillar-like things) dancing from the mountain region
Four-year-olds (dressed like animals) dance about life in the jungle
Katy and Nurieth, two of my fourth graders, ready to dance. Katy danced the boys' part because fourth grade has 8 girls and 5 boys.
My third grade boys show their true colors pretending to be jungle natives. Sometimes they act like it in class too! :)
Fourth graders dancing (they're the ones with the big hats with straw on them).
And for those of you who miss seeing my face, here is a picture of me with Crhisnna, one of my fourth graders.
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