All we need is Love

Yesterday and today have been really meaningful and encouraging. Right before we sat down to have lunch yesterday, our day security guard, Cesar, brought the mail in. What do you know, but it's a letter addressed to me! How pleasantly surprised I was to see my friend Sarah's name on it. She told me she sent a letter, but I thought it might take a month or two to arrive. I ran upstairs to read it and when I opened it up and saw that it was from my whole small group, joyful tears welled up in my eyes. It was just what I needed and it brightened my whole day. Prayers and encouraging words from home were just what the doctor ordered! The joyful ambiance seemed to fill the house the entire day as we went about our Tuesday routine. The only thing that was different this week was that our friend and roommate, Connie, was leaving that night. We went out for fruit salad, cake, and icecream (yup, we do love our sweets here--cheap and yummy!), and then we returned to the house and gave her a card and said our goodbyes. Shortly after she left, I passed out the individual notes she had written earlier in the day. She even made everyone little envelopes to go with their personalized note--so thoughtful! Her note was so kind and straight from the heart, she gave the nicest compliments. To be honest, she reminded me a little of me. Sometimes I have difficulty expressing myself verbally about how much someone truly means to me. But I really enjoy writing it down and explaining it that way. She did just that and by the end of the day, I felt like a million bucks. I was so sad to see her go.

Today, we got started bright and early in order to travel to another shanty town (Villa El Salvador) to volunteer. This time we weren't doing our normal thing, teaching, instead we were going to spend time with the elderly. Our director, Lara, volunteered with this program that placed people in various areas of Lima to serve. She spent part of her time at a center for elderly folks that is opened for their enjoyment three times per week. The best way to describe it is a day camp for the elderly. They come early in the morning to have breakfast, and then stay the rest of the time before noon for various activities. Today's activities consisted of literacy class, crafts & jewelry, and March birthday celebrations. At the end of every month, they celebrate all the birthdays of the month and have cake and dancing. We arrived just in time to sing "happy birthday" and pass out cake. Then we joined a few of the real lively "abuelos" (as they were called) on the dance floor. I found myself smiling and laughing that entire time. It wasn't even just because I was having such a good time, but whenever I looked over at another housemate, they too had a huge smile on their face, and that made me so happy. I just love volunteering as a team, and I think it was such a good experience for us to undertake together. We can get so caught up in our own separate classes during our weekly routine, that many times it hardly feels like we're a cohesive group who work for the same organization. Today was special and spending it together was really meaningful. We agreed that we want to make monthly trips out to visit the old folks and "shake a leg" with them again.

Volunteers with the lady in the hat--she was a dancin' fool!

What sound does a monkey make?

Today was such a fun day--the zoo field trip went stupendously well! We got all 16 children there safely and (surprisingly) didn't lose any on the trip around the zoo. They are a wild bunch so we were a bit worried about a few running off. However, our guide was wonderful with the kids and they followed her every command. The zoo itself was interesting, there were the "standard zoo animals", zebras, bears, monkeys, birds, but the strangest thing was the dinosaur exhibit. When you walked inside, you immediately had to enter this dark "time travel" tunnel with rotating neon stars around the entire inside. It felt like the whole room was spinning and it was difficult to even walk straight. The kids were loving it, but I actually got really dizzy. So we hurried on through and walked past the rooms of eerie, large mechanical dinosaurs. To me it was comical how fake everything looked, but I could tell that some of the kids were a little frightened because it was dark and really loud inside. I would say that's the most odd exhibit I've been through at a zoo. We finished our last half hour at the gigantic playground, complete with the most fantastic pirate ship I've ever seen. It was so wonderful to watch the kids run and laugh and seem to have the time of their lives. Where they live they don't have any playgrounds that even come close to how great this one was. They seemed to enjoy all parts of their journey through the zoo, but on the playground they were free to roam and laugh their little hearts out. I even had to join in because the pirate ship was too cool to not try out myself. I pretended to be the witch that was coming to eat them all, so their giggles turned to elated screams as they scrambled to run away. I loved this time to bond with them and to just be wild, silly and carefree. Back at home for dinner, the day came to a nice end with our traditional "guacamole night". Every Monday we whip up a HUGE bowl of guacamole (like the size of one of those giant popcorn bowls). We make it a complete meal by adding red peppers and choclo (giant sized corn kernels) and then pairing it with fried yucca (aka yuca frita) and bread. Tonight was even more special because we went out for cake, ice cream, and fruit salad to celebrate Connie's (a friend and fellow volunteer) last night in Huaycan. Sadly, she will be leaving tomorrow and her last request was to get a taste of her favorite deserts she's grown to love here. But all in all, today was great! Another volunteer and I, finished off the night by throwing around ideas about what to do about the attendance issues. It was refreshing to talk to someone and come up with ideas about how we can make things better. I want to change the negativity I've felt into something positive, to actually improve things. So it was so nice to feel like we're starting to get somewhere in coming up with a better system of getting the kids to attend the classes. I'll go into more details later, but it pretty much entails giving them more of a motivation to come to class. Despite my frustrations, I am excited that I have four more months to stay here and observe their progress and the growth of the organization. 

Outside of the dinosaur exhibit with our lovely guide

Guacamole with a multitude of ingredients

Giggling is good for the heart

I don't know think it's an official mark but a month and a half in a foreign country is about the time where you stop being a tourist and start seeing more of the way local people truly experience life. When you first arrive there is so much going on that it was really just a big whirlwind of new things to see, hear, and smell. After a few weeks things become more familiar, and then going from the mark of one month to two, the "newness" of things begins to wear off. I think that's partially why I haven't kept up my blog very well. At first new things were happening so frequently that I felt like there was always something interesting to report. Now I feel like I've gotten used to things and it's not as exciting as it used to be. However, it's still an entirely different experience than I've ever had before and part of the whole process is going from the early phase, to in-between, and then the end. Part of it has also been that I feel like I've hit a bit of a rut with my work here. To be honest, some weeks have felt monotonous where I feel like not much progress is being made, and the same problems keep happening. For example, in pretty much every zone, just about every class has attendance issues. First, just getting the students to come to class on time is a struggle all itself. But second, we've had repeated classes with only about half the students who actually show up. As far as the tardiness is concerned, I think it's something that as long as we push, we will still run into problems because that's just the way things are here. "On time" is merely a suggestion, and this is not just a problem with the younger students. It makes it really hard to plan a full lesson, when sometimes only one or two students come to class on time. We've tried the 15 minute rule, where anyone who comes 15 minutes late or more, cannot enter the classroom. Unfortunately, those students then get behind and then sometimes just lose interest in coming to class. With the issue of missing students, we can attribute most of the reasons why to the beginning of a new school year. Students are in school all week long, a standard 6 hour school day. Then they have to attend English class shortly after they get home from their school day. However, the English classes are only once per week, therefore not demanding very much of their time. I've adjusted one of my class because it overlapped with the time that a few students were on their way home from school. It's made a difference, but still more students miss class than before the school year began. There is confusion over whether the students are motivated and truly want to learn English or they are attending because their parents want them to. It's difficult to decide what's more important, because many times parents know what's best and ought to demonstrate authority. But if there are students who go and do not pay attention because they are not interested, it feels like a waste of time. I hate to say that but it's true. That's how it can feel to me. Especially because I run into kids and families on the street who ask about being admitted into English classes. When the parent asks, they usually point to their child who appears eager and ready to learn. So that's where I'm at with everything. I've been feeling bad about it because I didn't know if I should really go ahead and post about it out of fear that it would seem like I'm not enjoying myself. Because that is not the case. The time I do have with the students who come, is very special. I'm loving my women's class on Saturday's. It's so great to be able to teach them phrases and have them conversing with one another that same evening. I do also enjoy singing songs and coloring with the group of young students I have on Monday's and Friday's. Another reality that I have to consider is that this organization is still very young. We are not quite 2 years old, so there is still a lot of trial and error taking place. This was communicated during orientation and that suggestions are always welcome.

Now switching gears to current news. Sooo because I've been in a bit of a frustrated slump, I go through times where I feel like there's not much joy to be found around me. Being at home can be very solitary, which sounds odd in a small house of 7 people, but it happens. Yet it's amazing how opening up and sharing your feelings with God, helps to reveal joy around you. I told Him that I hate going to see the kids when I feel 'blah' because I don't give them the energy that I really want to. I don't feel like my goofy, fun-loving self. But after talking with God, my day with the kids on Friday was just great. The title of this post is "giggling..." because I don't think I've ever heard anything that adorable before. During playtime, we usually play futbol (can't say soccer here, it feels weird!) or another group game. However, we were down a ball, so we brought out the long jump rope and took turns. Two kids that I don't think I've ever witnessed jumping rope decided to participate and they had me laughing so hard. During each of their times to jump, they were giggling like it was the most fun, joyous thing that they have ever done in their lives. They giggled like jumping rope was more thrilling than any game they've ever experienced and it made me so happy it just about brought tears to my eyes. It was the most heartwarming thing I've witnessed in a while. One of the kids I simply adore for his happy nature and bouncy, contagious energy. His name is Jean Carlo, yup that's right, he's Peruvian. He always runs up and gives me a big hug and then holds my hand when we walk outside to play. I thanked God in that moment for giving me such a precious reminder that joy can be found all around me. On Monday, we get to take that group to the zoo. I'm looking forward to it; it should be fun to see how they react to a trip to see the animals. I'm also curious to see what all a Peruvian zoo entails. 

Tonight at home we celebrated the worldwide Earth Hour and ceased to use electricity for one hour. At first it felt a bit strange to all of a sudden shut off the lights and sit there in the dark. However, we turned it into a fun bonding experience with a game of hide n' seek. It was pretty comical because there's not an abundance of really good hiding spots, minus under the beds. But beneath the mattresses and bed frames lie all sorts of things that I'd rather not uncover. I was pretty happy with the turnout, everyone participated. Usually I'm ridiculed for being such a "gamer" and have to plead with others to get them to play a game. But without lights or technology (aka being glued to our laptops), we took a trip down memory lane and pretended to be carefree kids as we scurried around in the dark.

Zona I

Today turned out to be really great. I'm so glad I took the time to go visit the kids in Zone I. I wasn't planning on doing a formal class, I just wanted to go spend time with the kids and show them that although classes are canceled, I still want to see them. There only ended up being three girls around, but it was still worth while. I taught a mini-lesson and then we chatted while coloring pictures. It was super sweet just to spend time with them relaxing and mindlessly coloring. One little girl even went home and came back with a glass of homemade limonada (lime-aid) for me--so thoughtful! These couple hours were absolutely worth staying behind today. When I was leaving, I heard some children yelling up on one of the steep hills. (This particular zone is situated on really steep hills--remember the scary "path of death" that I described in an earlier post, yeah, this is that zone!) So these kids recognize me and start yelling "Miss Lorena, Miss Lorena, Miss Lorena" and then came sprinting down this steep hill towards me. It was some of my favorite little girls, so I was really happy to catch them on the way out. They pulled it out of me to sing a few songs, and then they walked me part of the way back to the main road. It was quite funny because on the way back some boys starting laughing as we walked by. So I had the girls all wave goodbye and say "chao" and I said that we were off the the United States (in Spanish). Then a few of the boys run up to join us. So there I was with a pack of about 8 kids walking down the road, leaving Zone I. A woman walks by and asks (with a smile on her face) if I'm stealing the children-lol! Of course I eventually said my goodbye's and gave them a million more hugs. Now, I really can't wait until the next time I go back. They made my day =)

Relaxing Day in Huaycan

Today starts the weekend for us, but it still feels like the middle of the week to me. It's going to take a little longer until I get used to it. The group went into Lima today to visit "La Punta" and get ceviche. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed my trip there last time, I'm trying to limit my excursions in order to make the money I have last until the end of July. Plus I'm planning to go to Mira Flores and spend some time at the beach tomorrow. If I take a sandwich I don't have to buy lunch, so it won't be an expensive trip. I'm also looking forward to having time just to walk around and sight-see. When we go out as a group, we generally have a goal and some sort of a time constraint, so there's not really much time for casually walking around and popping in stores here and there. Wandering around without a real destination in mind also helps me to navigate for myself. Now that I've gone into Lima several times and a couple by myself, I feel much more comfortable getting around. 

The house to myself has been quite nice so far =) I decided to organize and clean my part of the room I share with another volunteer. When I got here, I just plopped things in random places and have kept it somewhat tidy, but it has been getting out of control. It's amazing what just two people can do to a room. My life feels a little more organized when my room is clean. Then I came downstairs to eat lunch and found one of my very favorite dishes prepared on the counter. It's called tallerin verde and it consists of noodles with this thick green sauce made of spinach and a variety green herbs for flavor. We eat it with sweet potatoes and hard boiled eggs. Many things in Peru are prepared with eggs and potatoes. In fact I've never eaten so many potatoes in the summer before! I usually eat hearty foods like potatoes when it's cold outside. It's funny because most days during lunch I'm sweating just eating because it's hot out and the food is hot. But I will gladly take being a little sweaty in order to eat delicious home cooked meals everyday!

This afternoon I'm planning to go visit the kids in Zone I, the one where we aren't continuing programs this session. They live on a super steep hill so I get to test my leg endurance while climbing up to see them. Although they don't have classes with us right now, I thought it'd be fun to go and play with them and teach them a little English while I'm there. They are one of the groups that really enjoy my silly songs the most, so I course have to humor them by stopping by for a song and dance session =) Later I'm planning to meet up with two of the guys from our adult English conversation class. We try to meet up about once a week so that they can practice more English and I get a chance to practice a little Spanish as well. They are super nice gentlemen and I feel completely comfortable when I spend time with them. Many Peruvian men, especially here in Huaycan have a false image of what American women, or really foreign women in general, are like. So we don't spend time with too many guys here. Minus our three security guards, a few of the men in the English classes, and the guys I've met at Agua Viva, I generally steer clear of any other interaction with guys here. Sometimes I feel like I'm not being very welcoming, because I have no qualms about smiling and saying "Hola" to a woman or child passing by, but I don't really do that with men. It's just the reality of being a woman in a foreign country.

Tallerin Verde: I like LOTS of sauce!

Another favorite of mine: Papa Rellena--riquisimo!

New schedule....no students?

We started the new schedule this past week, but with the kids busy going back to school, our numbers have been down. We're told that in the very beginning it takes a bit for the students to re-adjust to the new schedule. Saturday's and Sunday's we have full days, but the past two days most students have failed to show up. I also think it can be difficult to get them to come out on the weekends, especially Sunday. I think many adults work through Saturday, but if they can have Sunday's free, it's for time spent with family. After my last class today I went out to get some yogurt for smoothies tonight, and the streets were packed. It can get pretty busy at times during the day, but weekends are crazy. There's so much to see and smell, and so many noises that it can be overwhelming. The roller coaster of smells is sometimes too much for the nose to handle. You might pass by a delicious smelling bakery, and then many food stands along the street, but then you pass by random heaps of trash or animal waste and then it's all ruined. You also always need to keep your eyes open for sudden holes or cracks in the pavement, or wandering dogs or children--they do not look out for you. I will attempt to get some photos of the main road "quince" sometime, but probably not when it's extremely crowded. 

As far as classes are concerned, yesterday was fun and eventful, and today was more low-key. On Saturday, I helped teach an English class and an Art class. Then I led a dance class and an adult English class. I enjoyed getting to help out in both the English and the Art classes, getting to spend more time with individual students. One of the new volunteers has Art experience, so she has taken over those classes. We made 3D animals out of that "fun foam" material. However, dance was immediately after art, in the same room. So we quickly transformed an art room into a mock dance studio. I decided to be goofy to entertain the kids, so I wore my bandanna like a sweat band, gym shorts and knee-high red socks. I was going for a look of "the tackier, the better". We stretched for a bit and then did the silly "banana song" and then learned the Cupid Shuffle. It was a fun class, but way to hot to be dancing around inside with no air conditioning for 45 minutes. Afterward, we decided that we'd extend art and shorten dance class by 15 minutes. The most rewarding part of the day was during the final class, English for women. The students were very enthusiastic and had lots of questions. I really love my children's classes, but there's a lot more discourse and (generally) no behavioral issues when you're instructing adults. One student in particular was so gracious to receive the lesson and was very adamant in asking about the proper pronunciation. It's interesting because a few words that she inquired about would be correct in the way that she said them, in British English. So it's not that the way she said it was incorrect, but we had to explain that there are ways that we speak in the United States and other ways, like British English. It's also funny at the time being because one of our new volunteers is from England, and we've had debates about English from the states being incorrect and British English being correct. As if explaining English grammar wasn't difficult enough, going through various dialects and accents only further complicates things. 

Today's classes were pretty laid back. There was a small attendance in each class, but there was more time to connect and teach one-on-one with the students. However, for such a quiet day we had a few small mishaps...two cuts and one bloody nose. None of which were from fighting, thankfully. I almost felt more like a nurse and a babysitter than a teacher today though. But I'm sure many teachers would claim to hold all three roles, and more at times! Now I'm relaxing at home with a quiet house. I think I'll turn in early tonight because my stomach's not been itself and I'm sure some extra sleep could help (one can only deal with so much peptobismol!). The excitement for the night--smoothies(!) when the other volunteers return from class. Smoothie of the day: banana berry (a berry called sauco, plum, and of course banana). That's all for now!

Catching up!

So I've been a bad blogger….I've been meaning to blog about my weekends and I have failed to do so. I will make it up to all you readers out there by elaborating now. March is here which means that summer is over, according to the school schedule. Kids went back to school on Monday, and our teaching schedule changed to Friday-Tuesday. We teach on the weekends so that we can do more than just weekday afternoons. The school day runs from about 8am-2pm, so we can't conduct classes during those hours during the week. Needless to say, it is a lot for kids to do, attend school and our programs on top of that. However, we are providing a service that is not generally offered for free: English lessons. Long story short, our weekends our now Wednesday's and Thursday's, so I'm taking time out of a lazy Thursday to catch up on my blog.

I'll start with my weekend in Huacachina, the second-to-last weekend in February. Huacachina is a lagoon in the middle of this desert south of Lima. It's a pretty touristy place, with activities like sandboarding, riding sandbuggies, and wine tours. Two other volunteers, Connie and Elizabeth and I went for a two day visit. We got in late on Friday night and went straight to the hostel to go to bed. Our two days were relaxing and cheap as we all agreed that it was going to be a weekend on a budget. We ate two meals a day, and splurged more on breakfast than dinner. The first morning we ate at this adorable outdoor café and the second morning we ate gigantic fruit-filled crepes at a restaurant alongside the lagoon. The first day we hung around the lagoon and checked out the small shops with all kinds of objects for sale. We toured two local bodegas (or winery's) and tasted wine and the Peruvian beverage, pisco. That evening we came across an Argentinean folk band playing by the lagoon, and stopped to listen and dance for a while. We ended up chatting with the members after they were done playing and then all decided to climb up one of the enormous sand dunes. It turned out to be one of the hardest climbs of my life! I know I'm not in the best shape, but scaling a huge hill of sand was much harder than it looked. The next day we enjoyed being lazy by the pool and having an entire day of no plans. It was a very chill weekend, but I was looking forward to getting back to Huaycan. 

Dunes that surround the lagoon in Huacachina

Lagoon with (super steep) dunes--where we climbed

Giant crepe filled with fruit and topped with caramel!

Coffee at the outdoor cafe

Contraption that squishes the grapes

Using bamboo to retrieve wine for tasting

The pool that looks like something from paradise in this photo

This last weekend (the last of the "Saturday-Sunday weekends") I got to meet up with Beth from the church in Lima, Agua Viva. The second weekend in Peru, I was able to meet her and attend the church thanks to my Aunt in Florida. The church that my Aunt Sharon attends in Orlando is connected to the church here in Lima and the grand-daughter of the church planters, Beth, is who I was connected with via facebook before coming to Peru. Meeting Beth and going to church was such a blessing. She introduced me to some of her friends and we went out for food after the service. So last weekend I got to meet up with her again, on Saturday and go to church a second time. This time she and a group from the church was going to a nearby park to invite people to church and to do the Lifehouse "Everything" skit. (This link is another very talented group who performed the skit in Louisiana). It was really great to be a part of their latest campaign "una oracion por ti" (a prayer for you) and get to know more of the women in Beth's discipleship group. The church service was really good, it was so cool to sing songs in Spanish that I know in English. I also enjoy translating the sermon in my head, realizing that I can understand quite a bit. It's really in conversation that I struggle with, speaking in past-tense gives me problems. But now I've met many more Peruvians to practice with. Since the weekends have changed, I won't be able to attend church with Beth, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make it to her Friday night cell group (what they call their discipleship groups), so I'm looking forward to that.