Lucas and Henry attended Sol y Luna School for the three weeks we stayed in Urubamba. Sol y Luna was started by a couple who moved to Urubamba in 1988. The school began as an association to support local education and then decided to open a school Sol & Luna Association (asociacionsolyluna.com).
The school offers English, computers, physical education, math, reading and art. The school day starts at 8 am and ends at 3 pm. Lucas and Henry got picked up and dropped off from our apartment every day by Ronald in a Mototaxi. They liked getting to go by themselves to and from school.
Lucas and Henry brought a snack each day, but they ate the lunch provided by the school. The menu was usually rice and beans with chicken or fish. Sometimes they ate pasta or potatoes. They did not always like their lunch, but the teachers made them eat it. Lunch is the primary meal for many students at the school.
Much of the instruction at the school is in Spanish, of course. Lucas and Henry did not seem to mind not understanding a lot of what was going on. They still enjoyed interacting with the other kids.
They would get there before 8 am and play soccer until the bell rang. The first class of the day was an hour and twenty minutes long. It was usually English, math or language arts (Spanish). Lucas and Henry helped the teacher and students in English class. After the first class the kids would have 40 minutes of either art or computers.
Snack time was 40 minutes long. Lucas and Henry did not like the snacks provided, so they brought their own. The snacks were bread, crackers or oatmeal with a tea drink. They played soccer after they finished their snack.
After snack, they finished the class they started before snack. The next class was either vocabulary or art for an hour and twenty minutes. After class it was time for lunch. Lucas didn’t like that he didn’t get time to play soccer during lunch.
After lunch, they had a final class for an hour and twenty minutes. The class was either Quechua, math, or English, depending on the day.
Ronald would pick them up in the mototaxi at 3 pm and take them home.
Lucas enjoyed playing soccer every day with the kids. The kids were all nice. Lucas’ favorite teachers were his English teacher and math teacher. Lucas would help his math teacher say numbers in English, and he made his math teacher laugh. He also helped the other students in English class. The hardest part was not understanding the students and teachers when they spoke Spanish, but he could understand more by the end of the three weeks.
Henry is social even when he does not speak the language. He loves getting to hang out with other kids. A challenge of traveling during the last couple of years has been meeting friends because of Covid.
We are looking for more opportunities to meet other families while we travel. It is beneficial for all of us, and we enjoy making new friends. Sol y Luna was a wonderful experience for the boys. We will look to put them into local schools again during out travels.
