We have been living in Cusco for 1 month now. I can hardly believe it! Time has flown…
About 23 years ago, I spent a semester in Guadalajara, Mexico. I lived with a Mexican family and went to school at Universidad de Autonoma. It was an incredible opportunity for me to experience another culture and learn another language. I can still remember sitting in a restaurant and seeing two American children speaking fluent spanish and I have always dreamed of my children learning spanish someday. It is surreal that it is starting to happen!
Two of our main goals, for our trip to South America, are for our kids to learn spanish and to immerse ourselves in the culture. After some time here and reflection, we have realized that our original plan will not truly give us what we were wanting. We were originally planning on being in Cusco one month, but we are not where we want to be with our spanish, and we feel like moving from place to place, we won’t be able to really to immerse ourselves in the culture.
So after some careful consideration, we are going to stay in Cusco for 2-3 months more, so that Kane and Kat can attend Peruvian school. Yes, Kane and Kat are going to real school starting this Monday, March 10, 2014. After some research and alot of help from a friend we met here, Raisa, Kat is going to attend an all girls Catholic School, called Santa Maria Reyna and Kane is going to attend a coed school called Collegio San Jose. They only speak spanish and are not bilingual at the schools, so our kids are going to be forced to learn and use their spanish. The Fall Semester, first day of school, was last Monday, so our kids are only a week behind. Kane and Kat are so excited to attend! We are so happy about this!!
Kane and Kat’s spanish teacher, Carina, went with me to sign Kane up at San Jose. I would not have been able to do it by myself. No one spoke english and my spanish is not good enough to comprehend everything they were saying. Thank goodness for Carina! Kane will be in 5th grade, section A. There are 14 kids in his class. His teacher’s name is Profesora Maria. Kane is required to wear a uniform also which he is excited about.
After, we got Kane signed up, Carina had to head back to spanish school, so the kids and I took a taxi to Santa Maria Reyna. I was pretty nervous about trying to sign Kat up by myself, but it all went well. I was able to communicate in spanish with the director and I got her signed up. Whew!! I felt like I achieved a blue ribbon for that. 🙂
Next, was running all over town for the uniforms and school supplies. No Wal-Mart here! After shopping yesterday afternoon and today, we think we have all the supplies, uniforms, and shoes that we need. Can’t believe our kids are going to school in PERU!
What an incredible experience. We’re so excited for you guys!