Feliz cumple Sarah!

The past couple of days have been really fun.

Tuesday me and Lauren had our "end of semester party" with our amazing group of 6-9 year olds. Tuesday night was Ellie's last night, the volunteer from London. A big group of us all got together including Jason, Roberto and the Horacio boys,we had some beers and hung out. Gladys made Arroz con leche for dessert with Masomora (which is this purple sauce made from corn with assorted fruits). Together, they are absolutely heavenly. Random fact: There's more that 3000 types of potatos in Peru. Crazy. I eat a lot of potatos here.

Wednesday was Sarah's 24th birthday! Wednesday and Thursdays are our days off, so we went into Lima. Side-note: I am the youngest one in this house by far. The person closest to my age is Gladys, who is 23. The oldest volunteer is 28right now. For Sarah's birthday, me, Gladys and her woke up at 6 A.M. and went to Via el Salvador which is an old people home which is another non-profit organization in Lima. The people there are very poor and absolutely precios. We got there just in time to serve breakfast for them. There was this one lady named Delia who was deaf and mute. She was so happy though. She hugged me and showed me her photo album and all of her favorite beaded jewelery she had made. I hung out with her for a while. Her mother was with her too, nearing her nineties and did "translations" for Delia. After breakfast, there was bingo. I helped a table that didn't know the numbers in spanish. So the whenever any number was called out, I showed them where to put their bingo marker. After bingo, was prayer time. I listened but I mostly helped the older folk follow along in the book. We then served lunch and many of the "ancianas" put half of their food in a tupperware to save for dinner. All of the people in the dining hall then sang "Feliz cumpleanos" for Sarah and another women in the program that turned 91! Some of the people there only spoke Quechua so it was a little difficult to communicate. Delia gave me a beaded necklace that she made. It was so sweet of her, I will keep it forever!

For lunch, the three of us met the rest of the volunteers, Lara, and a new volunteer named Lindsey at the seafood restaurant "Punto Azul". I had fish and pesto pasta, which was delicious. Everyone else had ceviche but I didn't think my stomach could handle it. David discovered he doesn't like ceviche and ate half of my meal. (It was huge). They sung happy birthday to Sarah, again and gave us really cool hats and balloons! After lunch, we all went back to Lara's and had tres leches cake and beer. Tres Leches is a moist cake that is soaked in evaporated milk. Absolutely delicious and creamy. We all went back to Huaycan and said goodbye to Ellie unfortunately. She will be missed lots!

We've all been loving on each other lately because our entire group leaves at the end of July/beginning of august besides the three new volunteers.
Last night, me, Lauren and Gladys had a sleepover and we took the mattresses off our bed and all cuddled for the past 4 nights. It's sad that we'll all have to be in different cities come August.

Thursday Kat and I went to central Lima and met up with the new volunteer, Lindsey. We went to Plaza de las armas and el museo de oro and el museo de literatura peruana...which I must admit was the most boring museum I have been to. Kat and Lindsey tried their first Alfajor (YUM). We went souvenier shopping and saw llamas in the park. It was a great afternoon. That night, we all came back and met up with Miguel and Jason. We played foosball at the carnival and see-sawed in the park like kids. Then we got sports equipment and played a few games of volleyball and a game of soccer. It was really fun and we played until after midnight! Time flies.

Friday was my last day with Los Alamos kids. I bought them some pencils and pencil sharpeners and I played bingo with them and gave out jump ropes i bought. They love jump roping, but they dont have a jump rope, so they were really happy when they got one! It was really sad saying goodbye to them all! Friday night we went to Kenko, as per usual...except I got really sick...thanks stomach ulcer.

Saturday was the "jovenes field trip". The age range for this field trip goes from about 15 to about 27. I loved it because my two tutoring students, Moises and Juan who I tutor 3-4 hours each a week got to go! We went to Circus Shengdu, which was a Chinese Acrobatic show. Everyone enjoyed it! It was really cool! Afterwards, we ate at Pizza Hut. So American. Only thing is, that Pizza Hut in Peru is a billion times nicer than Pizza Hut in the United States. It was seriously a gormet family restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised.

Tomorrow, Monday, I leave for Cusco with David, another volunteer here. We are going to be gone until Saturday so I am so excited for the adventures we are going to have! I can't wait to see Machu Picchu! I'll post pictures as soon as possible!

Aniversario de Huaycan y the women's program!

Friday was the 28th (correction) anniversary of the town I live in, Huaycan. The party literally went on ALL DAY and night. We were woken up at 7 A.M. by really loud music and people causing havoc in the street. All of the schools competed in a marching band competition and they were all dressed in the cutest outfits! There were llamas and horses in the streets all dressed up for the festivities too! It was a lot of fun and there were fireworks!



The next day, Saturday, was the women's program field trip. We went to the National Museum which is in Lima. Because Huaycan is a largely 'machismo', a cultural chauvanism, it is not often that women leave their homes or Huaycan in general. Light and Leadership allowed them to have an entire day off from their normal household duties; and they all learned a lot. I wanted the illiterate women from the Spanish Literacy class to fully experience the museum as well so Ellie and I walked through the exhibit with them and read aloud. The pictures spoke to the women more than the words I believe. The sixth floor of the museum is entirely dedicated to the history of the political terrorist group, Shining Path, which started back in the 1980s. Huaycan began its reputation then for housing Peruvian gangs. 69,000 people were slain due to this terrible organisation, many of them being family members of the women on the field trip. One woman, Marina, turned to me and said "Mi padre fue matado por Shining Path". Her father was murdered amongst thousands of other Peruvians and she was not the only one in the group. So many of the women were extremely emotional during the museum tour. It was everyones first time at the exhibit and it affected everyone deeply.

To lighten the mood, we ventured to the first floor for the Machu Picchu exhibit. There were tons of photos and stories of how Machu Picchu was discovered. After leaving the museum, we went to a restaurant called "rustica" where we ate piqueos which included all sords of different foods and meats. It was absolutely delicious and we got home pretty late. Everyone had a great time as did I!

The next day, I helped out Gladys, my roommate with an art class. We made rice shakers and decorated them! It was so fun! Today, Monday, was such a great day. I tutored Moises-we watched youtube videos, read funny articles, and listened to music. Next, I tutored Marleini, we talked about the criminal justice system and learned all the different vocabulary. Lunch was Locro de zapallo-sooo good. It's a potato creamy cheesey chocloey type of stew that goes with rice. In the afternoon, I went to the Alamos and gave out their final exam. They all did really well! We then played an hour or so of volleyball and it was really fun, yet really intense! hahah After that, I went down zone Z to the spanish literacy class where to my surprise, the entire women's group organized a party for us! They made Aji de Gallina (a shredded chicken custard-like dish that goes with rice, boiled egg, and potato. Lots of the women made speeches and thanked us for how much we have positively affected their community and their families. It was really great to hear! It really meant a lot how much work the women put in to making us the food and it was absoluetely delicious. It was Marina's birthday so we all sang happy birthday. Then, one of the women cracked raw eggs on Marina's head! I was in shock! Apparently this is a Peruvian tradition for good luck! Glad my birthday is in September!

Tonight, Gladys, being the art teacher she is, taught all of the volunteers how to woodburn. We all got little squares and picked out a design, traced it, and then burned it on! We all signed the backs of our wood as a little momento from Huaycan. Thanks Gladys, for your artistic two sense!

Huacachina

So this past week was really great!

Monday we went about classes as per usual, my friend Lauren found out that she got an awesome job in D.C. as a teacher so we had a few beers to celebrate that night

Tuesday, I went into Lima to get my biopsy results for my ulcer, and everything is looking A Okay. I am really learning my way around Lima. I got there all on my own! Tuesday afternoon, I taught class and then three of us (Me, Ellie, and David) headed for Lima to catch a bus to Huacachina (which is in the Region of Ica) it's about 5 hours away. Huacachina is a small touristy city made up huge sand dunes surrounding an water hole oasis. We went on the bus line Cruz del Sur and I must say it was a pretty smooth ride besides one obvious issue. They showed a horror movie on the bus. Me and Ellie were absolutely freaking out, we both hate horror movies but these damn Peruvians love them some gory movies. I was absolutely dying during the entire film...if any of you all have seen the movie "Frozen"...I don't suggest you watch it. People get stuck on a chairlift in a ski resort and get eaten alive by wolves. Not something you want to watch in your free time. Anyhow, we managed to get to Huacachina safely, without being eaten alive by wolves and we found a shit hostel. Our bathroom stenched of weed, and was flooded. Me and Ellie stayed in one hostel and David had to stay in the nicer one because there weren't enough rooms. The next morning, we went to the nice hostel where we all met up with Chris, Gladys, and Valentin.

Wednesday we all ate breakfast at a place called "Bananas" which made a mean omelette. We then went to the sand dunes and relaxed, got some sun, and took in the view. For lunch, we ate at the restaurant in our hostel. At four o'clock it was time for our sunset sand dune buggy tour which was freaking awesome. We got on a crazy dune buggy and went up and down the steepest hills. There were two guys our age from Holland in our buggy as well, they were really fun! We stopped at some really big cliffs and got out our "sand boards" which are basically like a snow board, just used on sand dunes. The first one we slid down on our stomachs-so flippin' fast-more adreniline rushing than a roller coaster. The second and so on we stood up on the boards...which I wasn't so talented at. I did however, make it successfully down one dune, that's something to be proud of. The afternoon was great and there was a phenomenal sunset. The views were spectacular and the dune buggy, sensational.

That night, we went out for drinks at a place that offered happy hour. After that, we went to a pizza place for dinner which was a very "romantic" place, however, our group of six hooligans basically cleared the place out. We're a loud and inappropriate bunch. After that, we smoked some shisha at a hookah place nearby and played jenga. Everyone got the La turista which wasn't so good, so we all went to bed pretty early.
*Just so you know, I did not consume beverages or smoke shisha due to my condition

The next morning, we ate at bananas again, took a walk around the oasis and bought some souveniers. We caught the bus at 2pm and finally got home after all of the traffic at 8:45pm. It was a long travel day but totally worth it. Plus, there were no horror movies this bus ride, so thats a positive. We all had a great time. Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Huaycan so I'm really excited to see the festivities! Will write soon!

Paparazzi

This next paragraph took place this past miercoles: Despite my stomach ulcer, I decided it was a smart idea to go on the volunteer excursion to Matucana; a beautiful mountain range just north of the town Chosica (which is a nicer version of Huaycan). The views were amazing but the hike was pretty rigorous! It was a two hour hike up the mountain to the waterfall but we had to stop a few times. A dog we befriended in the city of Matucana came on the hike as well, he stayed with us the whole way, whom we referred to as Mr. McGriddes. Sarah, being the climber she is even attempted to "boulder" on a rock. On the road up, a little old man was trekking all the way up to the waterfall just to sell popsicles. The fresa chupete hit the spot after a long two hour hike, so i was very thankful. At the waterfall, we all took our clothes off (some more than others..Ellie and Chris) and jumped into the freezing cold water. It was so refreshingly brisk I almost caught hypothermia (if that is even possible). Our hike down was surprisingly only thirty minutes down...running. We got to see Aopaca's which is always thrilling. We got home pretty late, but it was a great day...needless to say, my butt was quite sore the next day. We got a new volunteer that night too, his name is David, he's Australian and he's grandmaster chess champion of the world. The best part is that he's coming to Cusco with me! So I don't have to go alone! YAY!

The next day, we all went into Lima and ate at Chili's. We were missing some good ol' American tex-mex. After a delicious meal, we headed over to a tattoo parlor in Miraflores where Ellie got two tattoo's (one is on her ankle that's the LLI symbol)! I got my nose pierced. Unfortunately, the nose piercing was ephemeral...It fell out and closed up two days later. Greak luck I have. That night we all went to Karaoke and we got another new volunteer named Valentin, he's from France!

Friday we all went back to work as per usual. I tutored Moises, taught my Alamos class, and that night we went to Kenko's (the regeatton club) at night. It was really fun, and we got to sit on the VIP couches...not really, but they were white and prestigious looking. Whenever we go out in Huaycan or Santa Clara, a million people want to take pictures with us...it's flattering at first..but it gets old fast. I danced with Roberto a lot, even though he's probably 2 inches shorter than me, not to mention-I was wearing heels. He tried to teach me some new Salsa dancing moves, but I have difficulty following...I always instincively lead when dancing.

Saturday is always my long day- I tutor Moises, play sports with 6-9 year olds and then teach them english. They were so misbehaved! After lunch, I tutor Juan for three hours (see below). I decided to do something different for this tutoring session. Since he really just needs to practice his english, I printed out recipes for him in english and we went to Santa Clara and ran around the grocery store to find all the ingredients. Afterwards, we sat outside in the shopping center, went over his homework, and ate ice cream. It was a really fun, he's a cool kid. That night, I taught my adult class, we just reviewed for their exam next week.



Today, Sunday, there was a cultural festival going on in Huaycan. There were tons of dancers parading in the streets and a band and the whole shabang. It was really awesome to watch. Tonight, we went to a student's birthday party,Areselli- keep in mind she's eight years old... and it was so awesome. Literally, there was this crazy clown that hosted the party and they played Regeatton and all the kids GOT LOW. They all had crazy dance moves. It was super cute and we all had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went to a diskoteka that plays "JumpStyle" music. It is like electronica underground techno-ish and you do this really weird dance move...I would describe it as somewhat of a half-jumping, breakdancing movements to a step dance. It was really fun, and we all got super sweaty. Again, we posed in various pictures for the locals. PAPARAZZI.

That's all folks!

Ulceras de estomago

Sunday was my first experience in a Peruvian hospital, San Miguel. The night before I vomited blood in the middle of the night, so I figured it was a good idea I see the medico...and everything I ate, came back up. So, Lara (the founder of LLI)met me at the Clinico de San Miguel. They told me that I had to go to another clinic of theirs 45 minutes away because of the blood vomiting (greattt), so I was transferred over. The minute we got there I was hooked up to an IV and given medicine that made me knock out for a while. After that, me and the IV became best friends, I had the IV in me for the rest of the day. After being re-hydrated and so on, I got a sonogram...good news, I'm NOT pregnant! Wooo! After that I peed in a cup, had blood drawn from me and passed out for a few hours in the hospital. Apparently a doctor came to talk to me but I was in and out of sleep. They wanted to keep me for the night! No way was that happening! Then the nurse wheeled me to the endoscopy room..ut she couldn't find the right floor, and she proceeded to take me up and down the elevator 3-4 times...the entire time I was saying "comida" (I was so hungry it was 3pm already and I hadn't eaten the whole day...not to mention my stomach was completely empty). I had my first endoscopy..they sprayed something in the back of my throat, gave me some general anestesia and I was out. Next thing I remember is them rolling my back on to my hospital bed. Apparently, I tried talking..which is always amusing under anestesia. The doctor was so kind and even gave me a souvenier (the video of my endoscopy)...so thrilling! They took a biopsy of a piece of my stomach. From all of this craziness, the doctor finally told me I have a stomach ulcer.
Stomach ulcer means:
-I'm on four different kinds of meds
-I'm not allowed to eat any kind of greasy food
-Can't eat lactose
-Can't drink gaseous anything...including alcohol
-No acids

This is very sad because I love eating...but I will have to put my tastes on hold for a while to heal my stomach.

I got a new roommate the day before the hospitalization, her name is Kat...she probably thought I was a crazy person the first day she met me jajaja. Oh, and I showed her the DVD of my insides.

Good news is that i'm feeling a lot better and I won't die. besos!

Simplicity

Today I decided to try a different approach to tutoring Moises. I pulled up two different articles from the internet, one about Moammad Ghadafii and one about New York legalizing gay marriage (woo!). We read each article and discussed the issues which was really good practice for him. Then, I showed him my blog and read him an example entry. Then, I had him write a blog post of his own. Here it is (i'm so proud)!

My life in Huaycan
By Moises
Hello, my name is Moises. I am sixteen years old and I live in Huaycan Zone “D”. I like living here because my family and friends are here and I think this city isn’t dangerous. Now I live with my mom, my brothers and sister. I work in Lima in my brother’s store. I like playing with my cousins in my free time.
Last Sunday I went out with my friends to the movies on Giron de la Union and we were walking and telling jokes. We watched "The Mute House" which is a horror film. I didn’t like it very much because it wasn’t scary.

He really enjoyed writing and expressing himself so I think I am going to start challenging him more! He's really progressing and it's great to see!

Tuesday was Glady's birthday like I mentioned before. We all went to Lima along with Jason, Miguel, and Roberto (our friends from Huaycan). We met Lara and her boyfriend, Glady's cousins, and my friend Alessandra there. First, we went to a bar in Miraflores called "Media naranja" which made a great Caiprinha. (Yes I went to a Brazilian bar while I was in Peru). I got to practice my portuguese, so I was happy. It was really fun but I have to admit, we all drank a little too much.

The next day, Alessandra's mom took us out to a really nice restaurant called Punto sal I believe. I tried Arroz con mariscos which is Rice with seafood and fried seafood. It was really good for someone who isn't the biggest seafood fan! I ate octopus, calamari, fish, shrimp, and oysters.

Thursday (yesterday) we all went to Las Molinas, a more upscale suburb of Lima in which we tried out an organic fruit salad place (which was delicious). Then we went to a coffee shop that was absolutely adorable. Afterwards, we went to a nearby shanty-town called "Horacio" and met up with some boys that live there that Ellie and Mimo are good friends with. I had met them before, we refer to them as the "Horacio boys". Catchy eh? We drank some beers and then came home. My stomach wasn't feeling so great. Woke up this morning at 8, tutored Moises...then ate lunch. We had Tacu Tacu for lunch. Which made my stomach really start to hurt...which resulted in me puking again. I puked a few more times then had to take the rest of the day off.

Right now, the volunteers are out at Kenko's...the discoteka we usually go to..but I had to stay back because of my damn stomach. I hope to get back into the swing of things tomorrow, but as of now i'm straight posting up in my bed.

Saturday is my biggest teaching day so I really hope I can teach as I had to cancel one of mine today.