All about Papua

This February we geared the class unit theme from Australia to Papua.. Back to our home country, Yay!
We talked about the people of Papua and their homes and festivities, we collected pictures of the Papuan people, the animals, and the forests of Papua and we also downloaded their music and dance. The children were delighted to know that many of the animals of Australia are similar to those in Papua. And to top it all, the children visited the Papuan Village in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII).

'Orang Papua hitam. Aku kulitnya hitam jadi aku orang Papua ya?' tanya Zahra (The Papuans have dark skin. I have dark skin, am I Papuan?' Zahra asked)
'Ooo..dia pakai apa di hidungnya?' ('what's he wearing in his nose?' Jaffan wanted to know when he saw a Papuan man statue with a wild pig canine protruding from his nose)
'Koq kerangnya bisa bunyi?' ('How come the shell can make a noise?'  'Yes, the Papuans blow this shell when they want to gather the people of the village', a Papuan official explained)

'Lihat, aku bisa keluar dari sini, lho!' (Look, I can go in and come out on the other end of this honai house.'The children were excited to enter the Papuan Honai house.  'but this house's not nice!' Al commented.)

While at TMII, the teachers took the opportunity to take the children to the fresh water aquarium, the insect museum and the bird park.
'ikannya gede seperti papaku!'


 
('This's fish is as big as my dad', Al said. The children were amused to see the fish play ball - fish food was attached to a ball.

At the insect museum, Apta was excited to find a cocoon. Nayla saw a butterfly sitting on a leaf and said, 'itu kupu-kupu lagi bertelur!' 'Look, that butterfly's laying eggs.'
The children finally found the 'cendrawasih' bird at the bird park.
 'Ooo...look at its loooong tail.' 'Isn't it pretty?'
And the cassowary bird, too! On hearing its gurgling song, Jaffan exclaimed, 'burung kasuarinya mau muntah!' 'It's going to vomit!'
Shirin referred to discussion in class about the cassowary bird feet being so sharp that the Asmat people make knives out of them 'Itu kan burung kasuari, kakinya diambil untuk dijadiin pisau.' 

A very fruitful trip indeed! Next unit theme is Kalimantan island.