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!