Tarapoto= Fatality

Our hammocks on the boat up the Amazon River

People waiting to see their goods.

On our way to Yurimaguas.. traffic jam.. Zoe and I playing cards in the middle of the road in the jungle with 20 peruvians watching!

at least thats what the I Phone thinks Tarapoto is when i typed it in.... yikes! Tarapoto was our first destination in our travels to "la selva" (aka the jungle)
   On December 3rd Zoe, amy and I set off for the jungle. We left Trujillo at 3:30 pm and arrived in Tarapoto the next day at 11 am. Officially the longest bus ride i have ever done.. EVER. it actually wasn't even that part.. maybe because i took some drugs to fal asleep and paid more to ride in "first class" aka full cama.. that basically means the seat reclines 30 degrees more than the other seats in the bus. When we arrived in Tarapoto Sunday morning.. we took a mototaxi to the taxi station. once we got there they were like sorry the roads are closed to Yurimaguas.  Ugh..... Yurimaguas is the town where the boats leave to go  to Iquitos/ Jungle on the amazon river....
     so we stayed in tarapoto for the night... there is actually a hostel there named " El Paso Texas" so weird!!! Zoe was on a bit of a budget to we looked of "budget hotels" so each of us paid approximately 7 dollars to stay in this dumpy hostel..i actually called it the miami prison... there were holes in the ceiling and in the walls.. but it did have the be achy jungle feel.. hahaha... and believe it or not.. there was cable television and we were able to watch Project Runway!!!
     The next morning we got uo and left the miami prison at 7 am to head for yurimaguas.. so when we get ti the taxi place.. they are like we have to wait.. we couldn't really understand why but we were getting anxious because it takes 2 hours or more to get to yurimaguas  and we were told our boat was leaving noon... it seems to me though that americans seem to be the only ones in hurry in the entire country of peru.. just seems to me... any who we finally left around 9:30 am...whipping around those mountainous roads through the jungle.. and then BAM .. traffic.. oh gripes.. the roads were still closed from the massive landslides..so we sat.. and sat.. and waited.. and sat.. and finally i was like my stomach is killing me.. maybe fom the malaria pills.. any who. in case you were wondering there are no bathrooms in the middle of the jungle!! so zoe and i decide maybe the charter bus will let us onto use the bathroom.. the one  time i thought  it was good to be a gringa ( they seem to be so fascinated by us they will let us do things that other people can't.. i know bad of me to take advantage of this.. but my stomach was hurting...  NOOOOOPE..
 they wouldn't let us on... so with everyone watching our ever move , at this point there are a ton of cars just sitting.. we had to use the potty in the woods.. not normally an issue for me... i really didn't want so mysterious rash on my bottom!... all went well and no rash appeared.. when we returned to the taxi i was like " i cannot sit in this car any longer.. so we decide to play double speed  .. and where better to play double speed  than on the road in the middle of the jungle... and as i said before people are very fascinated by us.. so at one point while we were playing there at least 20 people surrounding us.. SOO AWKWARD! i have never had such an audience while playing cards! LOL
    After waiting for 3 hours they finally open up the roads.. it was so crazy.. massive red boulders and these trucks of 15 people in the back.. trying to trek up these steep bumpy roads.. we finally arrive in yurpimaguas around 1:30 and rush to the dock to catch the boat... our mototaxi driver had told us it wasn't leaving that day.. but we wanted to see it with our own eyes.. we get there and he says.." see i told you .. we aren't liars in yurimaguas like they are in iquitos" ok..  so i felt bad for not trusting him.. but still... so now we had to find a hotel... now yurimaguas is a MAJOR DUMP..... but we did end up finding a nice clean hotel...
     so now three days into our travels and we still haven't made it onto the boat... so tuesday morning we get up and get groceries for the boat and anything we might need for three days of isolation on the amazon river!  we bought our hammocks in yurimaguas, needed water, sandwich stuff, fruits, etc... and there isn't even a grocery store in this town either...we took our mototaxi to the dock around 11:30 am to catch the "12:00 PM" boat....as soon as we get to the area these two men jump onto out mototaxi.. i am thinking what the hell are they doing... so when the mototaxi stops they grab our stuff to array it onto the boat.. i didn't want to pay them so i grabbed my two bags, hammock, 3 massive bottles of water, and went on my way....but i was actually glad they came on with us.. because they ended up hanging our hammocks for us.. which i don't think i could have done  on my own...amy wanted mosquito net since she wasn't taking the malaria pills.. so these same men went into town and bought her one! what a deal..  oh and as we were setting our stuff up this man is standing in front of us.. i am thinking.. he looks so familiar.. OOOH he is the hotel owner from where we stayed... he wanted his towels back.. hahaha.. i don't want your towels.. in fact there weren't any towels in the room.... he jut stood there and i kept saying "yo prometo, no quiero tu toallas" (i promise, i don't want your towels).. i mean he tracked us down and searched the boat for us  for his stupid towels that we didn't even have!! poor guy.. i am sure all of the grungy travelers do that though!
   So we wait and wait and wait... and finally set off for iquitos at 6 pm.. 6 hours later than what we had been told.. Peru is all about patience.. wasn't really a big deal either because we hadn't planned any of our trip out before hand which was good considering we had two delays....
   THE BOAT,.. there were two levels on the boat.. the first floor was PACKED.. and mostly all peruvians who look like they have to do this at least once a month.. oh did i mention the only way in and out of iquitos is via boat or plane.... the second floor had more backpackers but also a lot of peruvians as well... the bathrooms weren't near as bad as i thought they would be either... it was interesting though because the water in the toilets come from the river meaning the water in the toilet is diarrhea brown.. yes. i had top paint that picture because it grossed me out to look at it... also, there were shower heads in the bathrooms with the toilets.. and guess where that water comes from.. yep you guessed it.. the Amazon... no ma'am i am not showering in that water.. no maam...it seemed to me that all of the peruvians showered ever day and NONE of the tourist showered.. i know they think we are soo gross.. but i don't care.. i dint shower for three days.
    being on the boat was interesting because there is literally nothing to do.. obviously..so it was like, well i can lay in my hammock or i can sit on a bench, or i can walk the 3o meters around the boat or i can sit in my hammock or i can sit on the bench! i did try to study my spanish a bit too... the first night was kinda long for me because every noise i heard i  was convinced people were stealing our water, clothes, what nots.. i had my valuables with me on the hammock. so i was being a little ridiculous too... at FIVE IN THE MORNING.. i am woken up by a lady with the most irritating voice saying "HAY PINAS.. HAY PINAS.. HAY PINAS" (i have pineapple, i have pineapples, i have pineapples).. i dont know about you. but i don't want a friggin pineapple at 5 in the morning.. i didn't realize it at the time but we had stopped in a town called lagunas to pick up people and drop off others and pick up goods... HAY PINAS.. HAY PINAS.. lol...
    Breakfast was served at 6:30 am.. and in order to get food you had to bring your own container and utensils.. way better for the environment too if you think about it! the food actually wasn't that bad, we ate a lot of rice, beans, and chicken.. kinda felt like all we did was eat out of boredom..
     it was so interesting stopping at these villages because it literally looked like the entire town of 30 people we standing there waiting for the boat to load their goods or to get on the boat and sell their goods to everyone on the boat.. we bought a massive bag of bananas for 30 cents.. and i bought some yuca .. like a potato, empanada.. it was zoo good.. we bought popcorn, guava.. a fruit that looks like a stick then you open it up and it looks like clouds.. mangoes, it was fun trying all sorts of fruits and such.. and surprisingly i didn't get a stomach bug!!!
   SIX days later we finally arrived at our final destination of Iquitos! I was sooo ready to take a shower at the point it wast even funny!  Iquitos is a very interesting city.. very different than trujillo.. and although i know there is a lot of poverty in trujillo it doesnt even compare to the amout of poverty and desperation we saw in iquitos... kids begging for food on the streets.. homeless people waiting  near your table with a bag to take the food you don't want,. i couldn't get over the stark difference.
   Friday morning we went to an area called Belen which is right on a tributary of the amazon.. in the summer months when it rains so much the water rises to the second level of the houses.. of course they plan on that as well.. houses are built on stilts. the mark in belen was phenomenal as well.. they were selling things like piranhas, turtles, herbal medicines and exotic fruits.. by far my favorite market i have even been too. after the market we got in a canoe and went up the canals and wow. these houses look like they could blow over.. ad the toilets were basically outhouses  on a dock in the water... same water they bathe in and drink.. CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE!!...

i am so thankful for clean running water... for  food. even though i  complain about it, for the ability to go to a doctor when i need, and clean clothes..

Thanksgiving Peru Style!

Ghetto Thanksgiving Spread!!

Yumm! A fried turkey head.. kiss it Dona Lita!

well our thanksgiving preparations began  a month or so before thanksgiving ....i started looking in the grocery stores to see if there was stuff we couldn't buy here... so my father carried a massive can of pumpkin all throughout peru to give it to me at the end of his trip..... it was so worth it though.. thanks dad!!!

      so we had our thanksgiving this past sunday.... had to move the date because two of the americans were planning on seeing britney spears in lima..either way... it worked out better having it on a sunday where we could cook all day...

   and cook all day is exactly what we did!! i was actually loving it even though our kitchen is gross and we don't necessarily have all of the cooking supplies we needed but we did our best... for instance.. we were using old t-shirts as pot holder, a blender as vase for the flowers (bought them in the market for only 6 soles.. approximately 2 dollars )..  our oven is so small that we had to ask a bakery to cook our turkey  for us!

    it was so funny.. nico bought the turkey a few days prior... and everyone was so mortified at how much he paid for it.. but really  the price was no different in the states.. its just that they don't really do turkeys here.... anyways on sunday when he went to pick it up.. he took three spanish girls with him.. they were soo cute when they carried it in the house... the turkey was carried in these plastic bins.. you know the ones you put clothes in.. when they opened the bin.. we all screamed!!!! the turkey still had its head..  OMG!!! how can you eat it when you can look at its head.. UGH!!

     i have never seen people more excited about thanksgiving than those three spanish girls!! carmen, nerea and laura.. they were ever taking pictures with the "thanksgiving spread"  it was sooo cute!!

     oh let m e just tell you... fruits and vegetables are soooo cheap here.. i bought enough potatoes for twenty people and it only cost me $3.. awesome!!

     anyways.. i know this blog is a little all over the place.. trying to watch a movie at the same time!

  anyways tomorrow s the real thanksgiving and it is so weird to think that while everyone at home is getting ready for thanksgiving i am here in peru where no one really understands how important it is to us... 

   i have to work in the morning, go get  a vaccination for my trip to the amazon and then grocery shop for our picnic on the beach for the kids in the nursery on friday .. so like i said.. just a normal day tomorrow.... hope everyone has a great holiday!!

my new normal!

Zoe and I at our favorite juice lady next to IndoAmericano

Huanchaco, Huanchaco, Huanchaco

it has been brought to my attention that i haven't written on my blog for a while.. thanks dad.... things have become so normal for me i don't see any reason for writing about it my blog.. but i know once i leave it will be like.. oh that was so not normal for me in the united states... so i think i will create of things that have become normal here in peru
men wearing
1. not flushing toilet paper in the toilet.. i never realized that it was a luxury to do such a thing
2. gringita is not a person but rather a color... the kids told me my hair color was gringito... too funny.. for those that don't know.. gringa is a white girl and gringita is a little white person...i prefer to think of it as a term of affection
3. men peeing on the streets.. the smell of urine is so offensive...but i suppose i shouldn't be critical because most of the people in el porvenir don't have running water... the other week one of my  kids in the PE class ran ahead of me and peed in the patio.. i was like NOOO  you can't pe pit side.. when i asked him he understood why he was in trouble he gave me these big brown eyes and was like /nooo... that is probably his norm.. i felt so bad afterwards for making him feel bad.. but he does need to learn that at SKIP we di have toilets!! LOL
4.seeing dirty dogs in the public school and no one doing anything about it
5.  RAT POO... that is unfortunately part of my norm...damn mice are everywhere in the house
6.  riding in the very far back of a taxi and ducking when we drive by police.. yesterday caitlin and i were in the far back and people kept yelling at us "down down , police.. duck" we went down as though someone was shooting at us.. LOL
7.  buying pirated dvd's on the street for an american dollar... its awesome!! i am eagerly awaiting the day "the help" makes the streets of Trujillo.
8.  Fresh orange juice!!  they sell it everywhere here .. people will push carts around with oranges.. and when you order they make it right in front of you.. the serve it to you in a glass so you must drink it right there with the cart person.. Zoe and i order an orange juice every tuesday thursday when we go to Indo.. its awesome.. it is only one sol which is equivalent to $0.35.... the lady even fills our glass up again..
9.  the buses are always an experience.... men hang out of the bus yelling the buses final destination.. for instance "huanchaco huanchaco huanchaco huanchaco huanchaco" over and over and over... and when you get on and off the bus prepared to run to jump on and to get off whilst the bus is still moving!

One man's trash is another man's treasure

wow.. that statement couldn't be ore true here in peru.. where do i even start,..
 On wednesday in my group 3 class, i let a little girl go get water outside our classroom. the water is actually water bottles we fill up at our house from the water bottles we use...there is no running water at the SKIP office..and i would  actually venture to say there isn't running water in most of the houses where our kids live.. so anyways.. i let this girl go get water outside and she is taking a while.. so i peek my head outside to check on her... so what did i catch her doing?  stealing the tops from the water bottles...i am thinking what in the heck is she going to do with those things... of course i make her give them to me.. even though it didn't really matter if she took them.. but of course she has to learn she can't take whatever it is that she wants... so i ask her why she needs them.. i didn't really understand why but i heard the colegio which is her school.. i told her i would collect some from the house. and give them to her tomorrow.. gotta get someone to translate for me.. because i am dying to know why she is hoarding bottle tops...
     at the end of the same day while my kids were playing a bit i was going through some of the games and junk in the classroom.  there is a spider man puzzle but the box is so  old and ruined that it isn't even holding on the pieces. so what do i do? i toss the box... to which one of my kids runs to the trash and picks it up and is like.. i am taking this home with me!!! he was so excited to take an old wrinkled puzzle box home... he even put in the window to see if he could see it on the other side of the window..
    there are two ways i can interpret these situations .. one to feel sorry for the kids i work with because they get excited over what we would consider trash or two.. to feel sorry for americans because we are so wasteful and not thankful for the things we have in our life...think about how much stuff we throw away on a daily basis that could be used for something...my trash plus your trash plus the millions of people in the states..its sickening to think of what we are doing to our environment.. just sickening.. i am not suggesting we hoard bottle tops and hang trash on our walls.. but just think about all of the little things in our lives that we throw away without even thinking about it....

Where am I???

Playing Soccer in the street outside of SKIP

Oh wow, so yesterday, Tuesday, was the first day i have actually been scared. Zoe and I went to IndoAmericano school yesterday as normal to teach our English classes. WE left school at 12:30 and hopped  into a taxi.  I wasn't really paying any attention until i looked up and our cabbie was reversing super quickly. it was then that i realized that their was a man running after us and threw a rock at the cab. fortunately it didn't hit us.. but i was freaked. Apparently these drunk men had put rocks in the middle of the road to get the cars to stop.. i can only think they did this to rob the cars... fortunately our cab driver saw this and quickly put it into reverse and slammed the accelerator... i let out the most guttural (sp)  gasp come straight from my stomach...  there was a bus there too and it obviously had to stop and we saw the "drunk" men get on the bus for a second. i am guessing they robbed the guy that works the door.. the one that collects the money from everyone on the bus and stands in the door to hurry people on and off the bus. All i can say is thank God that our cab driver thought quickly enough to avoid a really bad situation.  It makes me sad for our kids that they have to see this kinda thing so often. I can't even imagine.
 
    On a lighter note..when we went up to SKIP yesterday afternoon i ound Liz holding a tiny skinny little kitten.. i hate cats but this one was pretty cute! she decided that kitty she named manzana (apple in spanish) needed some milk.. so we walked a block down and bought some condensed milk in a can and had the store owner open it for us! When we got back to SKIP Liz tells Dona Vikki (a woman who works there from El Porvenir) that she wants to keep the kitten at SKIP! Dona Vikki laughs and was like oh no the kids would kill it! Then liz decides she wants to keep it.. next thing you know.. this woman walks up.. pretty much grabs the cat out of liz's hands and stuffs it into a box and puts the box into a big bag. the look on liz's face cracked me up because she really did want that cat.. not sure what she would have done with it.. but oh well! i mean she stuffed the kitten in a box and then into a bag.. the animals are thought of so differently than in the states.. i don't think we would ever stuff a cat into a box!
      Ok.. so now the gross part of my day. Liz and I did Deportes with the kids. Deportes is basically PE class. At one point we took a break and got some water.. while on break we saw a dog come over and he was chewing on something rather long.. we thought it was a snake si i had to go check it out..i walked over there and was immediately  GROSSED out.. the dog was chewing on a super long hairy dog tail.. are you kidding me!!! this dog was eating another dog's dismembered tail... i had the most horrified look on my face when i caught the eyes of some men playing soccer and they just burst into laughter.. OMG!!! i guess dogs need to ea too. huh!
   so my day in a nutshell... a man throwing a rock at our taxi, tiny kitten getting stuffed into a box, and a dog eating a long furry dog's tail.  Doesnt get any more interesting than that!
 

whoa!

It has been an interesting couple of days for sure!I will just start from last Thursday....Thursdays are the nights that we have family dinner at the house.. it is usually cooked by the newest volunteers to come into the house.. so this time.. it was prepared by two girls from argentina, Julieta and Noellia.  They prepared empanadas.. YUMMY! while they were preparing it they realized the only glitch ewas the fact that we only have one very small oven.. so they walked to the empanadas to bakeries in the area to see if they would cook them for us.. everyone said no but one place a few blocks over.. i can't imagine walking into a bakery in the states and asking them to cook something for me! We finally ate around 10 PM and the empanadas were delicious.. both julieta and and Noellia have vowed to never make empanadas again in Peru!
    Friday night Danny, a girl who has been here almost a year, volunteered to teach us how to make pizza for dinner!! A lot of people were out of the house so it was nice that only a few people hung around for the pizza making! it was a great night.. good music. dancing around the kitchen and lots of laughs! my kind of night!!!
      Friday night was an early night because all of the girls had decided to get up early and go to the Sol Market. Sol Market is the nme us gringas gave it because the currency in Peru is Soles (Sol) and everything at this market is basically a Sol... unless your name is Liz and then they always charge you FIVE SOLES!!! So the Sol Market is a bout a ten minute walk from  our house.... it is basically a street where people lay out all sorts of clothes on a giant blanket .. and i do mean all sorts of clothes!! there were people sleeping on piles of used clothes too.. not just children.. but adults too.. laugh out loud.. kinda funny seeing grown adults sleeping on piles of clothes they are trying to sell!  it was fun seeing the american shirts that were being sold there.. i even saw one from Dallas with the Ernst N Young symbol on it! Small world huh! i found a great shirt that on the back said "Goodbye Michael.. from Baltimore to Beijung"  i loved that stupid shirt because it was such a personal shirt and i had no clue who michael was..i know i am a weirdo! the woman tried to sell it to me for 5 soles which is roughly a $1.15.... i felt like she was trying to scam because i was a gringo and i declined their offer... i realize as i m writing this how ridiculous i sound though! I ended up only buying a really cute dress that was actually brand new! i think i have even it sold in the states..
     One of my housemates, Zoe, suggested we do a ten sol challenge where we can only spend 10 sols and buy the most ridiculous outfits and have a modeling session! that would be hysterical!!!!
    Saturday night we celebrated our volunteer coordinator's birthday, Karolina, at a fancy house in the country.  Liz, an English volunteer, is dating a guy named Javier.. we had the party at Javier's uncle's house ... it was a great little house.. you would never know it was there because it was on this street that looked like rubbish.. but when you got inside the gate it was a bit of paradise.. lush green grass, an area for dancing, a small little chapel, horses, it backed to the mountains.  it it such a stark contrast from what we see everyday in El Porvenir. This is the same Uncle that owns the fancy nightclub that we went to a few weeks back.
   Sunday we bussed it to Huanchaco and laid on the beach all day! it was awesome because the sun was finally out... i feel so sun deprived here.. so it was great!

It was great chill weekend and just what i needed!!

Semana de los Ninos

Why shouldn't dogs be allowed in your class?!?!

IndoAmericano: where games and dancing occurs

This week is the week of the children.... what does that.. not quite sure! Last Thursday, Zoe and I arrived to i'ndoAmericana to teach our usual English classes. When we arrived to our fist class there was a meeting in the classroom with the parents. At this school when there are meetings they don't wait until after school is over.. they just take up the children's learning time.. it is so ridiculous.. so anyways, we wait for the meeting to end and learn that they were discussing a field trip for the kids to go to Chimbote, a town two hours south of Trujillo. The field trip  is part of "semana de los Ninos"... the wek of the children... there are activities all this week and then on Friday they head off to Chimbote... So we ask the Professor, Santos, if we had classes this week and he tells us no.....so we proceed to ask the next teachers we work with if we had english classes this week.. 2 teachers said yes we had classes and two said no....
   What to do!!! Yesterday was Tuesday.. one of the days we teach there.. so Zoe and I decided to check it out since we were getting the "run around". We go to our first class and they are ready for us.. so we were like great! We do an activity with them  outside in the courtyard... then when we were ready to go back to the classroom for more of the lesson... the door is locked and the teacher is nowhere to be found... oh well,,, so we let them run around the courtyard with the rest of th student body.. we go to the next two teachers and they had no clue of what the schedule was for the rest of the week.. it is beyond me that you can run a school without a schedule.. BEYOND ME.. makes me so sad for these kids.. they already only get 4 hours of school a day and then their lack of scheduling causes them to lose out on even more educational time...
   Even though we didn't have any more classes, Zoe and I decided to stick it out to see what festivities were going to take place.. I was hoping to see some dances  and songs... but instead all we got to see were potato sack races and spoon/egg races! At one point they asked the teachers to be involved in the potato sack races... one of the teachers we worked with told her students NOO so they started asking Zoe and I if we would do it for their class... OF COURSE!!! sadly... not many teachers wanted to participate so they canned that race.. SAD FACE!! i am sure those kids would have gone crazy watching one of the only gringas make a fool of herself!!

The Peruvian Government....

The Peruvian government decided last Tuesday to give everyone Friday and Saturday to encourage intra-national travel.. soooo as soon as we heard that we had friday and saturday off we started to plan our weekend getaway!!!  this holiday break was much needed... although i love everyone in the house and love that there is always something going.. the fact that i can't have some alone time or some peace and quiet when i want it can be frustrating.. especially since i was sick last weekend..i digress.... anyways.. Amy, Lauren and Joy decide we want to relax in sun.. so we decide on Mancora..
    Mancora is a nine hour bus ride north of Trujillo and is supposed o have sun year round unlike Trujillo..... so we back our bags on Thursday and catch the overnight bus, Emtrafresa, close to our house...Some buses have a cama option which means the seats fully extend into a "bed" (cama is bed in spanish)... because we planned our trip so late we only got semi cama.... not ideal but it was fine!
    we arrived in mancora around 5:30 am... all discombobulated i stumble out of the bus barely holding all of my junk!  From there we catch a mototaxi to our hotel... mototaxis are motorcycles that have seats attached to the back.. don't think i am painting a good picture but not sure how else to describe it! Anyways.. we get to our hotel and it is sooo cute!! ( an English girl told me that one stereotype of Americans is that we use the word cute a lot and now i am acutely aware of the fact that i overuse the word!) Since we got there so early we were able to watch the sunrise and it was soo gorgeous! I was SOOO happy! Peace and quiet and SUN!! everything i needed for the weekend.. didn't think i would be asking for sun after the terrible summer we had in texas this year..
  The weekend was perfect.. it was filled with sleeping in , bathing in the sun, beers at noon, and watching the sunset! I was totally able to recharge my battery!
    Our return trip was Sunday night at 10:00PM... that got us back into Trujillo around 7:45 am... so i had about 1o minutes to get ready for work before i had to leave the house.. yikes..i am normally way more practical that that... but this is Peru after all, right?!?!
   

kisses and snotty noses

i just love all of the kisses from the kids...when you get to school a lot of the kids give you a kiss on the cheek and when you leave the will run after you to give you a kiss on the cheek.. it is such a sweet thing!  i can't even begin to imagine my ex students running after me to give me a kiss on the cheek! not only that.. it would kinda seem creepy!well not just kinda. but a lot creepy!

this past friday night we went out to this really swanky club called Ama.. Ama happens to be in the same shopping center as  starbucks.. mmm..one of my housemates is dating a guy whose uncle owns it...so i piut on one of my favorite blue maxi dresses and heels and was ready to hit the town... when we got there everyone was wearing a variation of BLACK...so here comes this white blond girl marching in with a long bright blue dress... kinda stuck out like a sore thumb!! it was fun though... it is probably one of the most expensive clubs in Trujillo... yes.. i know people!!! LOL
   lWe had to work all day on Saturday (yesterday) so needless to say i was exhausted... all i wanted to do last night was lay on the couch and watch a movie.. i am starting to get sick so going out two nights in a row was not in the cards for me! with that said... there are so many damn people in this house that there is no way to go to sleep early on a saturday night until they leave the house... in the true latin way.. no one goes pout on the town until at least midnight.. so that  also meant i was not going to be getting any sleep until after midnight.. the downside of living with so many people.. NO PEACE and QUIET when you want it! yes, i am the old lady of the house!!
  there is actually a guy moving in from the states who is older than me.. good! don't like being the oldest! HHA..

oh this is funny.. you know how we don't ever take a taxi to el porvenir without less than six people? well, yesterday we were in a taxi heading home from work when the cabbie pulled over and told the two girls riding in the back of the station wagon to get out... apparently it is illegal to have pople in the far back and there were cops ahead of us checking taxis... so the poor girls had to get out and walk in a not so safe, clean part of el porvenir.. we are all there OMG.. where are they going to have to walk to?  so they get out.. we drive past the cops and literally stop 100 meters in front of the police.. we wait and the girls walk up to the car and get right back into the back of the car.. i didn't understand because of course the cops could see us.... they had to walk down a road next to the cemetery where there is so much trash it could fill a landfill (slight sarcasm..only slight).. when they got in the car they were like.. oh we were just counting the number of dead animals on the side of the road! soooo GROSS.... sad.. how parts of trujillo can be so nice and then there is el porvenir where people are too afraid to actually go in and clean the area up...i know what you are thinking right now.. if people from trujillo re afraid t o go into el porvenir then why do i feel safe? the answer to that is.. i don't know!  we exert a lot of caution.. never carry money and no one at the SKIP location has a computer there... the ladrons (robbers) know that there is nothing of use for them there or from us.. we have NO money on us except for the money to get to and from the school..

it also makes me wonder if people are so afraid to enter into el porvenir to provide services and maintenance then what happens to the kids growing up there.. they have no opportunities to better themselves.. hopefully what we do at SKIP is  provide them with a sense of optimism and ambition that they might not have had otherwise.. i hope.........

Ceviche

so i am at starbucks right now and someone just came up to amy and i asked if they could take pictures of us from their university.. so as i write this blog .. people are taking pictures of me and amy... not exactly sure where these pictures are going... LOL....
  ok back to my blog....

CEVICHE!!! its amazing here!  in case you don't know what it is ...it is basically fish and shellfish that is cooked in lime juice... in texas at least it looks like fish and pico de gallo mixed together..

in peru... they serve it in a giant dish.. with corn, onions, beans, potatoes, and yuca... all of it is in lime juice.. the interesting part of it all is that they don't give you plates.. everyone eats out of the same dish.. kinda don't mind that either.. then again i have never been bothered by double dippers.. as me myself am one!!

another dish i really enjoy at these ceviches restaurants is called chicharron... in mexico chirraon is fried pork skins.. her it is fried fish.. it is SOOO yummy..

i have gone to a ceviche restaurant every weekend since i got here.. kinda a fun tradition (all four weeks.. LOL).. hopefully i will be able to uphold this tradition!!

The American Invasion

I am now finishing up my third week in Trujillo at SKIP... things are going well.. i have actually laughed more in the last three weeks than i have in a LONG time... taking a year off to volunteer has been really good on my soul...i love working with the kids(obviously) and i love all of my housemates/coworkers... and so far no one has really gotten on my nerves... thats good considering i am with them  like 24-7... hopefully soon though i will be able to meet some people outside the house .. and that way i can practice my spanish too! so far i have spoken way more english than spanish..
    A girl named Noelia from Argentina just moved into the house and she is determined to make me speak more spanish.. this is great! we are etching the primary group 3  (ages 6-7) together.. its hard because i have the teaching experience and she knows the language ... anyone ever tried teaching a class when you need a translator... ugh... gotta be patient though!  the kids for some reason do seem to understand my bad spanish.. its really funny.. i use a mix of sign language and verbs that have not been changed into their correct tense.. YIKES!
    in addition to group 3 i am also helping in the nursery, helping teach English at IndoAmericana Public School, and will be helping with sports next week!  The nursery is great because i am learning the language at the same time as the kids and the coordinator, sylvia, is AWESOME... she has just the warmest  disposition even though we don't speak the same language.. she has asked me to help tutor her son in english.. so we shall see.  Another volunteer, Danni, says she is like her peruvian mother! I hope she becomes my peruvian mother too! LOL
     Teaching at IndoAmericano requires its own paragraph!  It is the public school in El Porvenir and only a few blocks away from SKIP... so my first day there was on Tuesday and WOW..  not even sure where to start! when we walked in there were kids running EVERYWHERE... i mean like hundreds of kids running EVERYWHERE!  loud music was being  played in the courtyard right in the middle of all of the classes.. and of course of all of the classes have their windows open.. it was sooo loud...on top of that kids walk in and out of class without so much of a word from their teacher.. i mean some even run in 20 minutes late.. it is really hard to discipline them when their own teachers haven't set structure or rules....oh and all of the classes have approximately 35-47 kids.needless to say they are CRAZY!
      dogs run in and out of the school and also men come in selling ice cream.. i mean not unusual to see kids eating ice cream and soda at 9:30 in the morning.. so crazy!

       the other day at SKIP my friend Amy worked with a girl in the biblioteca (library) for two hours and at the end of class she totally pulls out a baby bird out of her hoodie! OMG! that made me laugh!  that poor thing looked like it was two steps away from its own death.. when i walked in the library another girl was holding this poor little raggedy bird and then she jumps on my back.. piggy back style.. so guess where her hands with this awful bird is... right by my mouth!! omg get this thing away from my face!!!!! soo gross!!!!
   
     The American Invasion..... as i sit writing this blog on the couch in the living room... i overheard a conversation between two brits about how americans are loud and are glad they moved out  of the house before the "American Invasion"... hahaha.. that makes me laugh! 4 of us americans moved in on the same day... kinda nice having troops with me!
   

Trujillo

i have been told that there are three things i need to know about trujillo!
1. "The Pina Man"  - he is a man that sells pineapples a block from the house out of his truck!.. i haven't actually tried it yet but one girl who bought some last week said hers had maggots on them... YUCK!!

2. " Burger Lady"  she sets up a stand outside her house at 8 every night... i haven't actually had a burger from her yet.. but she makes the most amazing egg sandwiches too.... YUMMY.. wishing i would have discovered her!

Plaza de Armas

3. "Chicken Street"-  three blocks away from the house there is a street that literally has 30 fried chicken restaurants.. like massive two story restaurants... went to  try a place yesterday but none of them were open at 12:15 in the afternoon.. not sure what thats about.. but probably for the best!

i am adding to the list of must see places!
1."Casona Deza"  it is the cutest coffee shop ever! it looks very 1800's inside.. old timey cash register, velvet couches.. they serve pizza there too but i hsvent tried it yet
2. " Chaufa"  it is a mix of chinese food and peruvian food... very yummy!!
Ok MORE to come!!

Peruvian Mathematics!

I cannot do peruvian mathematics! ok maybe i can some parts of it.. but man, they do their math in a very different way..its hard to retrain an old mind to think in a different way.. and then try not speaking the native language! its a lot of fun... somehow me and the three 10 yr old girls in the library managed to get the right answers! it gives me hope that i will be able to help these kids regardless of the language barrier... it would however make things easier though!!
    yesterday a dentist came to the school to talk about dental health and even gave them fluoride treatments... so picture this.. el porvenir , a town where cops won't go when it gets dark.. a town where there are nasty dogs everywhere , trash, broken glass, dust .. the works... well, we are waiting for the dentist yesterday when all of sudden they open these large gates (which i didn't realize actually opened) into at the school and this massive shiny blaxk fancy SUV pulls up...... seeing this fancy car  at SKIP was so weird because fit as just out of place and there was NOO way it was going to park on the street outside the school.. NO WAY... then 7 people wearing all WHITE roll out of the car!  the kids were so excited and listened to every word he said! it was awesome and they were so cute!!
    So, my schedule i think has solidified.. i will be assisting with grupo 3( the kids are about 6 yrs olds), the nursery, working in the library, nd doing homework club.... i have already learned quite a bit of spanish words.. but it is frustrating when they try to tell you something and you have no clue... they are mostly tattle telling when they want to tell me something.. that translates into every language!!
     one thing i have noticed about the culture here is when they ask for something.. like to go to the bathroom or get water.. they say it in the most grating whiny voice you have ever heard.. the other volunteers say the adults here do it to... its almost like they are singing when they ask for something... it is so interesting.. i have heard that when you need a taxi that if you put on that whiny voice you are more apt to get what you want! think i ll give that a try!!
    one other thing i have noticed  is that when you see the mothers they automatically kiss you on the cheek whether they know you are not...  i love it... they are just such warm people... the kids do it to.. too cute!

"Proper" English

Since being here I have learned more "proper" English than spanish. since this is an English organization most of the volunteers seem to be from England... obviously!!! I would like to take this time write out some of the translations!!

"Proper" English =  American English
    knickers                          panties
     trousers                          pants
     pants                              underwear
     jumper                            light jacket
     chips                              french fries
     crisps                              chips
     Uni                                college
     garage                          gas station
      car park                      parking lor
     jelly                            jello
     marmalade                   jam
     rubber                         eraser

My job

So , i have been here for a week and everyone is trying to figure out where i best fit into this program... at first i was going to be teaching two different grades in reading, math and english... i would LOVE to teach.. but i just can't communicate in Spanish that well... it is really frustrating because i am dying to learn the language..im just not there yet.. so i think it now i will be teaching 3 courses of English, doing a PE class, and probably going to the public school in El Porvenir to help with English classes.  i am really excited to see what a public school looks like in Peru. FRom what I hear.. its a bit crazy.. the smallest class size is 35 and if a teacher is absent.. the kids just roam the halls. THey also don't have many resources to use for the kids.. It makes me thankful to have had access to all of the resources i did in Irving.  Never know what you got until you don't have it...

   the kids are super cute and super wild!!!!  because their regular school is so rigid when they get to SKIP they are running around like crazy animals!!!!! yesterday i helped in a class where all of the boys were sneaking around putting on lee press on nails.. bright red!! it was so creepy to see  8 yr olds walking around with red nails!
    Today i will be coaching sports.. it is about 10 minutes walking distance from the SKIP school.  Nico referred to it as the "giant kitty littler box"....its not quite that bad.. but there is tons of trash aounr it and does  seem to smell bad.... oh well gotta deal with what you are given....

El Porvenir and SKIP

I spent most of Monday at the SKIP school/ office in El Porvenir.  El Porvenir is a village on the outskirts of Trujillo and is one of the poorest areas i have ever seen.  It is really dry and dusty and you arehardpressed to see grass or trees.  All of the houses are made of a mud clay miux.. so needless to say it is a very drab looking area..... in order to get there all of the volunteers shove themselves into taxis. i haven't ridden in a taxi with less that 7 people..  it is quite a clown car.
    The village of el porvenir is obviously high in crime as well.  Apparently the cops refuse to go there at night and barely go there during the day.  A few months ago there were some men with knives waiting for the volunteers to come out to rob them of there money and computers. Because of this incidence we are no longer aloud to carry bags/ mopey/ cameras./ laptops to the school. THey don't want people to think we are carrying anything of value.  With this said... it is mostly safe for us there because we are getting in and out of a taxi and into the school which was very tall gates etc..... also, most people don't want t mess with us because we are there to help their people..
    inside SKIP you can tell good things are going on! the families are very happy and the kids seem very happy and resilient.  its so cute even if you don't know the person walking in they will come and give you a kiss on the cheek.  yesterday.. one of the peruvian helpers told us in spanish that she like americans the best!!! too funny especially since this is a british run program!

Sisters Esther and Abigail outside of SKIP

    I learned that i will be teaching reading, math, and english to kids who about 7-10 years old.  Both reading and math will be taught in math.... so i am VERY worried about that.. how  can i be effective when i don't even teach the language.. they keep reassuring me.. so i guess i just need to relax...  Trust the Process!!!

ciao ciao

Starbucks and Mice

Today is Tuesday and i have now been here for 5 days!  It kinda feels like a i have been here a while and then again not!  Right now i am actually at the one starbucks in trujillo!  its funny because my friend Nico and I feel like we have to sneak around when we go to starbucks... all of the other housemates, mostly from europe, all look down on us when we come here ... they think.. ugh americans!! so when people ask us where we are going i feel like i have to lie!! oh well, no shame.. they have free wifi and i had stuff to read for my program... GET OVER IT HOUSEMATES!!! ( nico just said living with all the british people is like living in a harry potter movie... we just laughed so hard in starbucks that everyone was looking at us)

    so living in the house is totally like living in a dorm... even at the wise old age of 33 i am enjoying my visit back to my youth hood!  so the house is fun but also NASTY! its hard to keep a place clean when there are 20 people going in and out of a house all day. THe kitchen especially.. each person has their own shelf in a cabinet, a shelf on a wire rack, and a shelf in a fridge to put all of their food. so needless to say there is a lot of food in the house... guess what lots of food and dirty people bring in ..... MICE!!!!!! ugh it is zoo gross.. we are finding mouse poo everywhere ... last night while watching a movie we heard rumbling in the kitchen.. i went to check it out and lo and behold the mouse trap caught the mouse and it was totally wiggling trying to get out... it is about 11 pm at this time and i am shrieking so loud that i am sues i woke the whole house up.  one guy was sky ping with his mother and we made him immediately come dispose of this thing!!!  he was really distraught about leaving the mouse in a bag on the streets.... he felt like he should have stepped on it to put it out of its misery  but  he didn't have the balls to do so... either way it is out of the house... i am going to buy mouse traps today...

    

Getting comfortable

I know the amount of blogs will wane the longer i am here so i will continue to write them when i feel like it.....
    last night when i finally decide to leave my room to meet everyone...i am pleasantly happy with how nice all of the volunteers are.  they definitely tried to make the four of us newcomers comfortable.  Since most people work at SKIP on Saturdays Friday nights are usually pretty calm here...
    so of the four of us that came yesterday all of us were teachers last year in the states. two of them, nico and amy, taught in ohio and are quite the duo. they are going to volunteer through december and then travel afterwards.. from what it seems they may kill each other before the end of the week. nico by the way is very funny and makes me augh a lot. amy seems very mature and has her stuff together!  th other girl lauren is from NY and taught in DC.
     most of the other volunteers come from england and are a little overwhelmed by all the new americans in the house! they think we are taking over.. LOL...
   one of the volunteers who has been here for 6  months is leaving tomorrow so we are going out in huanchaco, the beach town, to celebrate. they said they usually stay out until 5 am... this is where my age will come through.. just can't quite hang that long...
    this morning we went to "the office" in El Porvenir. Basically we stuffed 6 of us in a small taxi and went to SKIP. we introduced ourselves to the parents of the kids involved in the program. it was interesting because eif you looked around every other woman was knitting while she was listening.  I can't wait to buy some of their goods! Apparently SKIP helps them sell it as well ... on-line , at the volunteer house, and in huanchaco where most of the tourists are.
   on the way back to the house we actually stuffed 8 people into the cabbie. it is fairly phenomenal how this is done! it did make me giggle though.

ok well, off to take a nap

Wait... What???

did i really choose to volunteer in a place that takes me almost 24 hours to get to?? really, i mean i could have chosen freaking guatemala or honduras or costa rica... but then i have never done things the easy way.. NEVER... and i would like to think that God really has a reason for why this place opened their doors to me.. so i guess i need to rest in the fact that this is where i need to be at this very moment....
    so my traveling begin in dallas on september 1st... i left for miami at 5:30 pm (sat next to a very handsome guy whom we exchanged contact info!) arrived in miama at 9:30 pm.. picked up the laptop in baggage claim.. checked back in .. left for lima at 11:50 pm .. arrived in lima at 4:15 am... took a cab to the hotel where i was supposed to stay the night before.. long story... slept for a few hours and headed back to the lima airport. the frustrating part began when i tried to check in at Star Peru for my flight to trujillo. Apparently when you buy the ticket online it only charges you a portion of the flight...for all i know they could have charged the whole thing and i would have never noticed. i am bad at looking at my statements.. so they send me to another desk to pay for the rest of the ticket... i go back to the check in desk and they tell me my baggage weighs too much.. they don't speak good english and i don't speak good spanish.. so that added to my frustration... i go back to the other  desk and pay for the extra 6 kilos i am carrying...ugh!!!
    finally i board my flight to trujillo and arrive in trujillo at approximately 3:00pm.  The first thing i noticed as i walked down the steps from the airplane was how dry everything looked.  it was flat and dry for miles and at the edge of the horizon re really big dry mountains.  The weather is amazing .. bright blue skies...about 65 degrees.. AMAZING! did i also mention it is on the ocean?!?!
   So i cab it to the volunteer house and am amazed at how modest it looks on the outside... i guess that is good because when you have a bunch of tourists there is probably a bunch of expensive stuff inside (i.e. computers, cameras, etc)...
  THE HOUSE
   wow...i think i will be pretty much reliving my college days... it is a wreck.. fairly messy etc... not that i can't hold my own in the messy department but it is weird going from having your own place with nice things in it to a dirty place where pictures are taped on the wall...i am sure i won't think anything of it in a week but right now.. i am like WAIT.... WHAT? did i really choose to revisit my college daysLOL.. i did actually always  love the comradery(sp?) of living with a bunch of people.  we shall see.. this is all about shaking things up in my life after all right?
   i will definitely get some photos up once i get a little more adjusted.

Am i the only american volunteer??

I received an email today from the volunteer coordinator and she asked me to transport a recently purchased laptop from the states ... since i was the only american traveling to Peru.. i was the natural choice... well i am sure there might be an american or two  already there.. but of the new ones i must be the only one... that actually seems rather exciting to me.. i just can't wait to meet everyone!! are they from spain, australia, germany, england... norway...what is their story... IDK!!!  to be continued......

Getting Geared Up!

    Well, i just heard from the volunteer coordinator of SKIP and she said that there are 20 volunteers right now and three more coming in the same day as me.  It is good to know i am not all alone in this adventure. In addition to the 20 international volunteers there are also 12 Peruvian volunteers. I am so excited to meet these new people and hopefully make some connections.  I know i shouldn't care about their age... but i sure hope i am not the only person older than 30.  That will make me super sad!  I don't want to be the "house mom" GAG!!!!!!
       It is ten days until i uproot my life in Dallas and move to Peru.  If you saw my apartment... you would never know that i am moving out of the country. Although I have gotten rid of so much stuff... i still have a crap ton left here. I am working hard to become a minimalist but it is so hard to change our frame of thinking when we have grown up in such consumer world.
     My last thought... it is so weird to not be gearing up for this school year in Irving... oh well!  Peru here I come!!!
   

The Decision!

 I have contemplated working/volunteering abroad for a really long time.  I never seemed to have the guts to actually take the plunge into the unknown.  Also, it began to feel like my time at Irving High School had run its course. In my typical way, I wafted on my decision and got most everyone's opinion on what to do!  I am going to attach an email from my friend Allison Maze Sullivan's mother, Sherry Maze.  This email really sparked emotion in me and really made me step out and follow my dreams.  I hope it will inspire you as well!

"Decisions are very hard, especially when they are challenging and the unknown seems iffy. First thing right off the bat, do not be concerned about what your family thinks. Their job is to support you, right? Too too too many lives are wasted under the guise of loyalty and predictability. When I was your age I had a dear friend - a wise old woman who lived in a nursing home. Every other Tuesday for many years I baked her favorite tea cake recipe and served her little bridge circle in her room there at the nursing home. One day we were in her room alone and she was rocking in her chair by the window and I was flipping through a magazine in her recliner and she said to me," What do you see when you look across the road over there?" I hadn't noticed before, but in the distance there was a cemetery. She said,"Don't be like me. Don't live your life as a good girl. Don't go into the church every time the doors open and always do what everyone thinks a good girl should do. Have FUN, she said, have so much fun that you will always remember it. Have adventures! Go out of your way to take a risk! Be braver than me! Write your name in the sand! Make a difference. God knows that you are a good girl and you know that He is God. Trust yourself! God is the one that made you special-He wouldn't have it any other way than if you were pushing your limits.Learn more and never stop learning!!Make a difference in the world for God's sake Sherry, make a difference in the world!"..."Or one day you will sit rocking, looking at a cemetery like me, with nothing whatsoever to think back upon that mattered worth a shit." Ida wasn't referring to her job as she was a secretary for a bank president. She was referring to her heart and her responsibility to herself internally. You are very noble to consider all of the things you have mentioned. But God has placed it on your heart by making you restless. The kids will be fine. We will all pray for them. And we will all pray for your path to God's purpose for you. I feel that you would be a success at whatever you choose to do. I know that your very presence is a blessing and a gift. And if you think about it a minute, you do too. You are The Select. You are Annointed. And to be these things you have responsibilities that involve a keen ear to God's perfect plan for you. Give it all up and pray for direction. Lay face down on the floor, spread your arms open wide, and tell God you are ready to hear His voice. He will love you so much that He will bless you with a million kisses.  Just taking the leap of faith itself will be satisfying. You are young and you are beautiful and you are worth it. I just said my first prayer for you and I see your image afar. I encourage you to try it and to not look back. When I graduated from college my Daddy gave me a key chain that said, "God please be with me, for my ship is so small and the sea is so wide." Before he died he gave me a present. In it were his dogtags and a new keychain. This one says, "A ship is safe in the harbor. But that is not what a ship was made for." And so perfect angel Kelley, I hand off those words to you. You, Kelley, are an inspiration to those around you, to anyone fortunate enough to get to be around you, and for those who need to hear your voice, experiences and wisdoms. It is not selfish to look for more."