Charlotte’s class had a field trip to Bali’s one and only
butterfly park a couple of weeks ago. I
volunteered to join the festivities.
We drove from school to the park in a caravan of mini-SUVs. Charlotte and I traveled with two of her
Balinese friends, Belle and Tirta (whose name means “holy water” in Balinese),
and Nikita M., who speaks next to no English. In a strange coincidence, there are two
Russian boys in Charlotte's class, both named Nikita.
On the hour-long ride, we played “20 questions,” “I Spy,” and took turns
counting to 10 in English, Bahasa Indonesia, French, Spanish and Russian.
The park is small but it's the largest one in Indonesia. The kids held giant
insects and marveled at the developing butterflies and moths.
Putu, a young woman on staff at the park, explained how the butterflies emerge from their cocoons and eventually dry off enough to fly away.
Everyone enjoyed the exhibit (and a bit of clowning around).
After the tour, the kids had a chance to roam free through the park while parents guarded the exits.
Of course, no trip to a "tourism object," as Dewa calls it, is complete without a visit to the gift shop. Charlotte and many other kids were delighted to purchase a single framed (dead) butterfly. Here is a much larger example:
Finally, they posed for a group photo.
Charlotte’s class is a lively, interesting group of kids. I was impressed by their curiosity and kindness toward each other on the trip. It
was good fun spending time with them.
I am both impressed and horrified at the size of that beetle!
ReplyDeleteIf that was a live beetle, as I assume it was, that is one brave little boy! Nasty looking pincers!
ReplyDeleteGlad Lynn posted about this outing with Charlotte's classmates. Enjoyed hearing about the counting game en route -- a constructive way to have fun with kids who don't speak each other's languages. (Wondering how little Nikita who has no English is managing in school ....)
The non-English-speaking kids seem to have a rough go of it at first. But after about six months of ambient English and language support at school, I'm told their English usually improves dramatically. That has certainly been the case for Alexa's classmate Vega, who arrived from Mauritius in January speaking only French. She speaks basic conversational English now and is somehow able to participate in the classroom work.
ReplyDelete