National Day of Mourning

The former president of Peru, Valentin Paniagua, died yesterday, so today is a national day of mourning. It is a very strange phenomenon. We got a notice in the middle of our last class yesterday saying that Paniagua had died and that tomorrow would be a half day of school. The kids, of course, wanted a full day off and they are actually right - I don't understand the significance of a half day versus a whole day, but whatever. And to top it off, Paniagua was only president for about 5 months. My kids have been giving me Peruvian civics lessons to help me understand who this guy is. Here is what I have gotten so far: Fujimori was the president of Peru for over 10 years and he was very corrupt. He eventually fled the country, leaving no president. It wasn't an option for the vice president to take over, since he was corrupt too. Paniagua was the president of the Congress, so he was chosen to take over the government. He was president for 5 months, then there were elections and someone else won. He then ran for re-election in the last elections and lost to the man who had been president of Peru in the 80s and basically ran the country into the ground. The political history of this country makes me shake my head in amazement. So, anyway, we have a half day of school today to honor the memory of a man who was president of Peru for 5 months and, according to what I've heard, didn't do much good in that time. This place...