Week one: Reflections

So today marks one full week that I have been in Canto Grande, Peru. There have been challenges, but I would say that overall it was a good week. The rest of this week was really busy; we spent our days going to our service sites both in the morning and the afternoon, and we also started our classes this week.

Working at Fe Y Alegria this week was so great. Even on days when I was in a bad mood, after spending time with the kids I was always happy again and ready to experience more. We are not going to be going back to the school until Wednesday, and I am going to miss the kids so much! I have gotten so attached to them ,and they to me. When I left on Friday they all crowded around me giving me hugs and kisses- it was several minutes before I was able to make it out of the classroom!

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we met with our conversation partners a second time, and it was even more fun this time because we had already gotten to know them. We ended up talking for an hour longer than we were actually required to because we were having so much fun! It was really neat to be practicing Spanish by talking to our peers in an informal setting; I think it made speaking Spanish more comfortable and enjoyable for everyone.

Our classes have also been going pretty well; although at first  all of us were having a pretty hard time managing the work load with such busy schedules, things seem to be working themselves out and I am not so overwhelmed now that I have gotten used to the schedule.

This weekend has been very relaxed compared to the rest of the week. Yesterday we had classes during the day, and then a game of soccer against our conversation partners. Although Profesor Rafa tried very hard to coach and encourage us, we failed epically. It was a really fun game though, even though a couple of us, (mostly me) took a couple of hits and have the bruises to prove it. After the soccer game and dinner, we played a very entertaning game of Loaded Questions until 11:00. It was a lot of fun and by the time we all went to bed everyone was exhausted from the exercise-filled day.

This morning we left the Peyton Center at 7:00 am (SO EARLY) to go to mass at the local church. Even though I am not Catholic, I really enjoyed the mass and it was interesting the many ways in which it was both different from and similar to mass in the US. I also really liked that we were handed a song sheet at the beginning of the service, so we were able to sing along in Spanish. Basically, it was worth getting up at such an unholy hour to experience that side of Peruvian culture. The rest of the day we have just been studying, writing papers, and napping, as well as following the election coverage on TV and online. Today is the day of the presidential election in Peru, one of the most important (and dramatic) in Peru’s history. Because I am not interested in am not very good at understanding politics, I don’t really know what’s going on. I do know, however, that neither of the candidates is a good person, so the country is pretty much trying to choose the lesser of two evils. I also know that another aspect of this election that makes it a big deal is that one of the candidates is a woman, and if she wins she will be Peru’s first woman president. Although I don’t keep up with politics well, I do think it’s really cool to actually be in Peru for such an important event, experiencing the election rather than just hearing about it from back home. (BTW the woman on the poster is not the woman running for president. This is just an example of what the election billboards which are all over Canto Grande look like.)

Tomorrow we leave for Lima and we will be there until Tuesday night. I am SO excited for this. It will be nice to have a change of pace, and be able to do some tourist-y things. We will be staying at a hotel, visiting museums, eating at restaurants, and SHOPPING, all of which are things I am very excited for.

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