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.