Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Caraz, Ancash- 9 hours from Lima
Well i made it to my service assignment! i met my host mom and she doesn`t talk much but Emily and I can pretty much come and goes as we please. I hang out at Ben`s house a lot because his mom makes every meal for all of us. My 1st day at school was interesting... it was terible but the 2nd day was soooo much better!!! the 1st day i taught english with no warning and no time to prepare a lesson. i had no idea how to go about teaching english as a second language let alone to 3-5 year olds who don`t even know how to write their own language. it was very interesting, but i got things cleared up since the teachers all thought i was an english teacher back in the States. i had to tell them i wasn`t and that i am actually studying business. Whoops! the 2nd day i helped around the classroom and pronounced the english words for the teachers and they formed a strcuture that would work for the little kids. all is well and Caraz is a beautiful place! :)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Cusco- Machu Picchu
This week has been a ¨mini vacation¨ as my group liked to call it. We traveled by 2 planes, 2 train, and 3 busses all within 4 days! it has been a amazing week, but now i´m starting to feel the affects from lack of sleep. This week I got to travel to Cusco and tour some of the ruins from the incan time. It was exciting to see a place in real life that i had just seen a movie about in Spanish class last semester. it was Saqsayhuman! thats just say the people how built this were pretty brillent at the time...
The high light of the entire trip and being in Peru thus far was MACHU PUCCHI!!!
i woke up at 4:45 so that our group could walk to the train station, ride it for an hour, and hop on a bus all to make it to up to Machu Picchu by 8 or 9 am. But let me tell you it was sooooo worth it! We had a brief background about the place and then began hiking up sun gate mountain to get a view from above the ruins. It was a hard hike and 3 breaks later a group of us made it to the top! What a veiw from the top of a mountain. From there we hiked down and got to explore the city ourselves. it was AMAZING to see and actually be there. i have seen signs and billboards all over but the picture itself can not replace the memories and sights i saw that day! it was incredible and i am so happy i had the chance to go with my SST group.
Today, we woke up and said goodbye to 5 memebers of our group who are staying in Cusco for service. It was sad boarding the plane with them but i know only 6 weeks and we will all be back together again!
side note: the hostels we stayed in had hot water for showers!!! that just made my day! i looked forward to taking a shower these past 4 days since being on SST. it was great!!
Sunday i leave for service in Caraz, Ancash. Next to the 2nd largest mountain in South America. Looks like i will get to go hiking some more while on service if i get time on the weekends. i´m excitied and nervous since i have gotten to know the large city of Lima pretty well these past 6 weeks and now a new change is coming.
until then, i hope everyone is haivng a great summer!
The high light of the entire trip and being in Peru thus far was MACHU PUCCHI!!!
i woke up at 4:45 so that our group could walk to the train station, ride it for an hour, and hop on a bus all to make it to up to Machu Picchu by 8 or 9 am. But let me tell you it was sooooo worth it! We had a brief background about the place and then began hiking up sun gate mountain to get a view from above the ruins. It was a hard hike and 3 breaks later a group of us made it to the top! What a veiw from the top of a mountain. From there we hiked down and got to explore the city ourselves. it was AMAZING to see and actually be there. i have seen signs and billboards all over but the picture itself can not replace the memories and sights i saw that day! it was incredible and i am so happy i had the chance to go with my SST group.
Today, we woke up and said goodbye to 5 memebers of our group who are staying in Cusco for service. It was sad boarding the plane with them but i know only 6 weeks and we will all be back together again!
side note: the hostels we stayed in had hot water for showers!!! that just made my day! i looked forward to taking a shower these past 4 days since being on SST. it was great!!
Sunday i leave for service in Caraz, Ancash. Next to the 2nd largest mountain in South America. Looks like i will get to go hiking some more while on service if i get time on the weekends. i´m excitied and nervous since i have gotten to know the large city of Lima pretty well these past 6 weeks and now a new change is coming.
until then, i hope everyone is haivng a great summer!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Down, Up, Down, Up
This week started off with a lectur eon natural medicine used here in Peru and the rituals preformed to make a person health. I learned that if someone is extremely sick ¨the medicine man¨ will put a ginnea pig over your body for a period of time, cut it open and whatever is not working properly in the animals body is the organ or system that is not functioning correctly in your body. from there they can figure out how to better treat a pacient. Very interesting!
When i came home i made dinner for my family. i made them pancakes and poached eggs with crackers, the kind my mom always makes at home. I had my sister here help me since the pancake box was in spanish but i´m pretty sure i could have done it on my own since there was pictures however the use the metric system and i wasn´t sure how much water and oil to add. They turned out pretty good and every ate their meal... not sure if they were being nice or if they really did like it. My mom was impressed by the fact that i cracked an egg and put it in boiling water and it made the poached eggs, broke up some crackers, put a little butter and your good to go! i was loving the food!!!
Tues. came and the group got to make jewerly, which I was all for! i got to make a necklace which i wore the following day! It was pretty sweet and i know many of the guys made things for their mother´s which was nice of them.
Wed. we met as a group at Jerrell and Janes house and talked with a lady about her abusive life and the 7 kids she currently has as well as how gracious she is to be working for us cleaning our plates and cups every week for money. it gave a different perspective on things and how grateful i am for the things I have.
Thurs. we took our Spanish final and spent the rest of the day singing, worshiping, eating, and playing soccer and volleyball with the students who study at the seminary (same place where we have our spanish classes everyday) it was a great time to meet the people we see everyday and get to talk with them. It was my 1st time playing vball down here and although the ball felt like nothing i have ever played with it was still a blast. Let me just say for the record this was the first time i played vball and didn´t sweat!!! what an accomplishment, i know! Later that night julia, Rachel and I went to this place where they have massive fountians and light shows. It was amazing and funny that we were all amused by water and lights. It was a beautiful, tranquil place to go and take your mind off the busy, crazy loud city of Lima. From there we met a large group and went to a discoteca where out dance instructor was professionally dancing in 10 songs throughout the night. it didn´t start until 9 and I left before it ended in the morning. It was a blast and a great opportunity to see many different cultural dances and customes. Jane even came to watch the show!
Friday morning was interesting since i didn´t get much sleep but we drove to el salvador which is a shanty town about an hour away. we ate lunch as a place where locals typically eat for a sol a day = 30 cents and the government finds the rest of the meal. We were served a soup with cow stomach and then a main dish of chicken wing and rice. not to bad and it was a lot of food for one meal. However we learned that people there live off of less tan a dollar a day and there is garbage all over. definately not a place where you want to live becuase many kids get sick and die. we spend about 2-4 hours walking around and trying to take things in. then Liz, Chelsea and I got to meet a women who lives there and talk with her for about 2 hours. it was nice to spend that time together getting to know a little more about the area and her life.
Sat came and it was time for the despedida... PARTY!!! It was a thanks to all of our host families for everything they have done for us these passed 5 weeks! It was crazy trying to oganize everything, but it worked out and it went very well. i think the parents really enjoyed it and got a kick out of some of the acts we had for them! we danced and had native customes that was the finalle to the show and the night! We made scocheroos, puppy chow, brownies, and popcorn (by pan) for our families to try a little of what we make in the US. My mom was loving on the puppy chow and asked if we could make it on sunday! :)
Later that night an entire district lost power (meaning the entire city of goshen lost power) and a group of 15 of us got locked in a building for about an hour. they told us it was unsafe to go out in the city when there is no electricty so we waited and talked.
Once the lights came bakk on i headed home safely! it was a new experience here in Lima!
Looking back this week was odd in the fact it went from learning about the people living in poverty to making jewerly, to hearing about a true story to having fun play volleyball and going to a show to actually seeing where this lady lives and how she survives, to having a party and saying thanks to our families. up, down, up, down but i enjoyed it all!
Next week: Cusco... Machu Picchu!!!!
When i came home i made dinner for my family. i made them pancakes and poached eggs with crackers, the kind my mom always makes at home. I had my sister here help me since the pancake box was in spanish but i´m pretty sure i could have done it on my own since there was pictures however the use the metric system and i wasn´t sure how much water and oil to add. They turned out pretty good and every ate their meal... not sure if they were being nice or if they really did like it. My mom was impressed by the fact that i cracked an egg and put it in boiling water and it made the poached eggs, broke up some crackers, put a little butter and your good to go! i was loving the food!!!
Tues. came and the group got to make jewerly, which I was all for! i got to make a necklace which i wore the following day! It was pretty sweet and i know many of the guys made things for their mother´s which was nice of them.
Wed. we met as a group at Jerrell and Janes house and talked with a lady about her abusive life and the 7 kids she currently has as well as how gracious she is to be working for us cleaning our plates and cups every week for money. it gave a different perspective on things and how grateful i am for the things I have.
Thurs. we took our Spanish final and spent the rest of the day singing, worshiping, eating, and playing soccer and volleyball with the students who study at the seminary (same place where we have our spanish classes everyday) it was a great time to meet the people we see everyday and get to talk with them. It was my 1st time playing vball down here and although the ball felt like nothing i have ever played with it was still a blast. Let me just say for the record this was the first time i played vball and didn´t sweat!!! what an accomplishment, i know! Later that night julia, Rachel and I went to this place where they have massive fountians and light shows. It was amazing and funny that we were all amused by water and lights. It was a beautiful, tranquil place to go and take your mind off the busy, crazy loud city of Lima. From there we met a large group and went to a discoteca where out dance instructor was professionally dancing in 10 songs throughout the night. it didn´t start until 9 and I left before it ended in the morning. It was a blast and a great opportunity to see many different cultural dances and customes. Jane even came to watch the show!
Friday morning was interesting since i didn´t get much sleep but we drove to el salvador which is a shanty town about an hour away. we ate lunch as a place where locals typically eat for a sol a day = 30 cents and the government finds the rest of the meal. We were served a soup with cow stomach and then a main dish of chicken wing and rice. not to bad and it was a lot of food for one meal. However we learned that people there live off of less tan a dollar a day and there is garbage all over. definately not a place where you want to live becuase many kids get sick and die. we spend about 2-4 hours walking around and trying to take things in. then Liz, Chelsea and I got to meet a women who lives there and talk with her for about 2 hours. it was nice to spend that time together getting to know a little more about the area and her life.
Sat came and it was time for the despedida... PARTY!!! It was a thanks to all of our host families for everything they have done for us these passed 5 weeks! It was crazy trying to oganize everything, but it worked out and it went very well. i think the parents really enjoyed it and got a kick out of some of the acts we had for them! we danced and had native customes that was the finalle to the show and the night! We made scocheroos, puppy chow, brownies, and popcorn (by pan) for our families to try a little of what we make in the US. My mom was loving on the puppy chow and asked if we could make it on sunday! :)
Later that night an entire district lost power (meaning the entire city of goshen lost power) and a group of 15 of us got locked in a building for about an hour. they told us it was unsafe to go out in the city when there is no electricty so we waited and talked.
Once the lights came bakk on i headed home safely! it was a new experience here in Lima!
Looking back this week was odd in the fact it went from learning about the people living in poverty to making jewerly, to hearing about a true story to having fun play volleyball and going to a show to actually seeing where this lady lives and how she survives, to having a party and saying thanks to our families. up, down, up, down but i enjoyed it all!
Next week: Cusco... Machu Picchu!!!!
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