Hi, I am a first grade teacher in Phoenix, AZ. I am teaching in a low income area, where many of my kids have not seen anything beyond their neighborhood. I want to give my kids a global perspective and teach them that there are things beyond Phoenix, Arizona. I want them to have a dream for something wonderful and believe getting to know about the world is a great way to do that. As a part of that the kids will be "traveling around the world" throughout the year. They are going to learn about different parts of the world during the year. What I am hoping to find is some information about what life is really like in other parts of the world. I have lived in Russia, China and Taiwan, but have yet to travel to many of the places I want them to learn about. As of right now I will have them "traveling" to sixteen places, but would love to add more if I get more information. The kinds of things I am looking for include what a day in the life of a first grader (six or seven year old) in that area is like, some fun facts, pictures, famous people who are from that area, cool places to see and fun things to do. I would also love to know some cultural facts about the country, especially if they are things most people don't know. If you can help in any way, I would be so grateful!
Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You are doing a wonderful thing!
Here is an observsation about Mexico City (usually referred to in Spanish as the D.F. (meaning "distrito federal" federal district), much like we call Washington D.C. "DC.")
When I flew over Mexico City on a trip, it was an amazing sight to see. The city is so large it seemed like it never ended. Even from the plane I couldn't see the end of it on any side. A lot of the out-lying growth comes from people from rural areas of Mexico moving to the capital in search of jobs and opportunities. I'm sure they have wealthy areas, but what I saw most of were very small shacks and poor conditions. I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun while I was there. I also saw an old cathedral near the presidential square. They have a subway/train system that I rode, and there are lots and lots of taxis.
I spent five months living in a town outside of (and above) La Paz, Bolivia. La Paz and the surrounding Altiplano are amazing and rather unbelievable. La Paz is a large city built inside a canyon. Imagine the Grand Canyon wider and without the river at the bottom and with shacks crowded together and built up both sides. There are lots of steep, winding streets that are crowded with taxis, street vendors, markets, and people. Above the canyon (on both sides) is the Altiplano ("high plane"). The Altiplano seems to go on forever in either direction (and actually does extend into Peru and Chile). Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world) is on the Altiplano. I've been on a boat on it. The elevation on the Altiplano is so high that it is hard to breathe and impossible to run if you are not used to it. It makes your lungs feel like they are burning. There are lots of villages and some towns on the Altiplano. There are even mountains rising from the Altiplano. Those are REALLY high in elevation. The highest airport in the world is in the town of El Alto, right above La Paz on the upper edge of the canyon. There wasn't enough flat ground in La Paz, so the airport had to be built outside of La Paz, even though it is still called the La Paz airport. It has the longest runway in the world. It takes a long time for the planes to get off the ground because the air is so thin. The planes have to be as light as possible. They only carry enough fuel to get to Santa Cruz, a city to the east. Then they refuel there. No matter where you are heading, all planes out of La Paz go to Santa Cruz first. It is a much lower elevation. The people in the villages mostly farm (barley and potatoes and some other things) and raise livestock (mostly sheep and some llamas and other things). The people on the Altiplano are mostly all of Indian descent (Aymara Indians, Quechua Indians). They are pretty poor. Most of the younger generation speak Spanish and their native language, although the older people often don't speak Spanish. They have an interesting food staple called chuno, which I will explain later.
Post a Comment