Ben Beyond the Bubble: Flauta Friday

Today was an early morning for the weary travelers as we had to be at Huch 'uy Runa by 10:30. It was another cold day, although the rain held out for most of the day. We wanted to arrive early to set up and visit their "gift shop" to buy some of the crafts the kids made. We spent a good amount of time "shopping" then made our final preparations for today's workshops over tea and pastries made by the kids.

Today we had only the first and second graders to work with to give us a smaller group. We had three workshops planned. Lorna and Ofelia taught the piano workshop, Pastor Dale and Annie taught the rhythm workshop, and Deb and I taught the recorder (or "flauta" in Spanish) workshop.

We all started off at the beginning and went over some of our old songs. We saved "Siempre que me muevo es en Ti" for the afternoon as to not get them too riled up. We performed two songs for them on the recorder and Pastor Dale played the drums to show them what they would be learning today. They were really excited!

We split them into 3 groups and started with our workshops. Each group had 25 minutes in each workshop then rotated.

In our workshop we taught the kids how to hold and play a note on the recorder. We also taught them how to take it apart and clean it for the next group.

Annie and Dale taught basic rhythm and counting. They taught them about the different types of notes and note lengths.

Lorna and Ofelia taught basic keyboard and "do re mi" fingerings to the kids.

At the end, we had them all come to together again, and now it was time for "Siempre que me muevo es en Ti".

Next, as part of our Sunday School project to bring back to Normandale and also per Clara's request to have in their archives, we took pictures of every child. Below are a couple good ones.

Then, all the kids from all grades met in the courtyard for their pre-lunch meeting. Today was a very special day because it was Ofelia's birthday! The kids in the bakery made Ofelia a cake and presented it to her. They all sang and she blew out the candle.

Then, the kids of Huch 'uy Runa and Clara gave her a present. Lorna captured the perfect "Mary Poppins" moment as Ofelia opened her gift.

As the kids were dismissed we were all mobbed with hugs and "Hasta Lunes" or "See you Monday". Lorna captured Dale being mobbed.

Again, we gathered for a debriefing. This time with Clara and the teachers. We asked them how they thought we did with the children, and they were very happy. Then we passed around pictures from Normandale's mission bazaar and they loved seeing how our kids learned about Peru and Huch 'uy Runa.

We said goodbye for the weekend and went to lunch. We ate out on the patio facing the main plaza. It was sunny now, but still chilly.