School performances in Peru, continued

You might think, from reading this blog, that I'm walking around Lima, eating and taking in the sights. In truth, I'm working hard. Having a great time, but working hard. Last week I told stories at four schools, in fifteen performances. That was a relatively light week.

First I went to Colegio Franklin Roosevelt, the American school.This is the first school where the librarians organized the storytelling, the way they often do in the US. I had a great time talking libraries (and everything else) with the librarians, John and Karen. It was clear that this friendly, busy library is a hub for the school.

Some of my performances were in the library itself, some in the small theater. The last group was fairly small, so the students grabbed big pillows and relaxed on the mats in the library. It's nice when that's possible.

After that I went to Colegio Santa Rita de Casia. Hmm, I must have left my camera back at the apartment, because I have no pictures of this pretty parochial school. The older kids especially seemed to like the story "Razzles," a new personal story I've been telling a lot on this tour.

On Thursday and then on Friday morning, I visited Villa Alarife. The first performance was outdoors under a canopy, in the space where the students have lunch. In between the shows, I noticed some unusual school pets:

Pet rocks (or maybe this was something else--either way, they were delightful).

Turtles! While I was having lunch, I saw one trying to join a basketball game. It was about the size of a large frying pan, moving step by step onto the court until a student gently picked it up and moved it out of the way.

Geese, safely behind a net. Or are these ducks? I always get those mixed up.

The kids here were very fun. Some of the little ones came to ask for autographs, and to try out their English. The older kids clearly understood everything and were enjoying themselves.

We had to rush out of the school on Friday to go to the next school, Newton College, in another part of Lima. Thank goodness it wasn't rush hour!

At Newton, I had just one session. These 11- and 12-year olds had been studying writing, including the use of the senses and narrative structure, so I skewed the stories in that direction. I told Laundry Soap to demonstrate one story structure, and Gramps' Appendix as an example of an anecdote. When I left, the kids stayed where they were, for a bit of writing.

Today is Monday, and after a busy weekend (I'll write more about that soon), I was up bright and early to go to Colegio Reina de los Angeles. This was the only all-girls school I've been to so far. I told stories to everybody, from age 6 to age 17. In a brilliant move, the teacher asked the oldest girls to help out with the youngest, so those helpers got to hear stories twice. This teacher, Molly, loves stories and has been working on storytelling with the girls. At the end of the last set, I gave them some advice, because they'll all be telling stories this school year. I wish I had more time (and energy) to answer more questions there.

This is the last week of the tour. I'll write about the final sessions, but not until I've written about last weekend. Right now, though, I'm going to bed.