Let me start with a quick comparison between my school here, Santa Maria Eufrasia and the school I spent my first 3 years of high school at, J. I. Case.
| | | J. I. Case |
| Location | La Molina, | |
| Control | Private- Catholic | Public |
| Students | 250 | 2,000 |
| Student Body | Only GIRLS | Mixed |
| Grades | Kinder-11 * | 9-12 |
| Graduating Class | 16 | 500 |
| Mascot | Saint Mary Eufrasia | Eagles |
| Hours | 7:30 am – 3:45 pm | 7:15 am – 2:30 pm |
| # of Courses | 23 | 7 |
| Language | Spanish | English |
Well. I thing that adequately shows that there is basically nothing similar between the two schools except for the most basic fact that they are places people go to learn. I don't want to bore you, so now, I am just going to tell you all about some of the weirdest and/or coolest things about my school.
Formacion: Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays all 250 girls line up in the auditorium for Formation. This consists of us all Standing int perfectly straight lines, while several girls read from the bible, then say the Lord's Prayer and Other Catholic chant things. Also, on Mondays they have a "Civic Moment," which is when six girls march in with the flag and then stand their with it for the duration of the assembly. We also sing the Peruvian national anthem And the School's Special anthem (which talks about how it is the future of Peru...).
* Grade Levels: The Progression of grade levels is different here. You start in inicial (kindergarten), then go through 1st through 6th grades of primary, then start secondary, which is grades 1st through 5th. So when people ask me what grade I am in, I have to say 4th year of Secondary, I can't just say senior or anything.
Regular School: So. A normal day of school is pretty boring. We have 10 class hours every day! They are only 40 minutes long though, and they vary daily. We also have a 20 minute recess at 10, and 45 minutes for lunch at 1.
Irregular School: I do not think I have had a week (or, even two consecutive days) that I would consider perfectly normal. There is always something going on. Sometimes, we get to leave early (like the day that all of the girls in my class were getting confirmed). Sometimes, they have
Also, quite often, the teachers do not show up to class. This can happen for any sort of reason, from them forgetting, to them just not being at school (the idea of substitute teachers is a weird one down here) or, sometimes I think they just do not want to come to my class (I can't blame them).
Rules/Strictness: There are a lot of rules. A lot. There is a uniform (blue plaid skirt, white shirt, very frumpy blue sweater) policy that is strictly enforced. If your skirt is not touching your knees, it obviously shows that you are a horrible person (or so the civics teacher says). We are not allowed to have cell phones, or any other form of technology or makeup (although that does not stop anyone in my class). The senior class has the right to take away the cell phones/I-pods/whatever of anyone that they see, which then get stored in the Principle's office until the end of the year!
Classes: I am currently taking 23 courses! I will not bore you with a list, but let me say I have 4 maths, 4 literature like things, 3 sciences and a mess of other things. Some I have only once a week (like Modern Dance and Chess), others I have 4 or 5 hours a week (like Geometry and English). Overall, they are way easier than the IB classes I took at case, minus the small fact that they are in Spanish.
School: The grounds of the school are surprisingly nice for being right in the middle of the city. There is a giant white wall closing us in from a major highway on one side, and a small mountain on the other. We have a decent ammount of green area and trees, which is almost weird for this city. The school building is alright, and there is also a small monastary, where a dozen or so nuns live on the grounds.
On an unrelated note, it is November, which means it is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. I suppose it is kinda late to "spread the word," but I just want to mention it because it has been a big part of my November (and the reason I did not do this blog earlier). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 day month of November (meaning you have to write 1,667 words every day). I did it and completed a novel (55,500 words) last year, and am doing it right now as well. I'm at 44,237 words right now, which puts me ahead of where I have to be :) I have a feeling I might be the only one in Peru doing it, but whatever.
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