Wow! I am sorry to say that it has been way too long since I last posted! The past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind and now this week we are already at the half way point and gearing up for mid-term evaluations with the volunteers.
Two weeks ago on route was pretty worry free :) other than a few volunteers dealing with minor fleas and a few community misunderstandings to work out, there was nothing out of the ordinary. My communities have all decided on their CBIP project and are now working on filling out the action plan to get the project rolling! In one of my communities, they were hosting a soccer tournament for a community holiday. I played with the two other volunteers on Friday evening and I won the game by scoring the game winning goal! Friday evening the prize was 50 soles, about the equivalent of 18 US dollars; however, the prize the next day was a BULL! A full on, horns and all, tons of meat BULL! Needless to say, the community really wanted to win the bull and when the host mom found out that I had to leave early the next morning she was furious. She attempted to tell me that I was going to make the Illuca team lose because I wouldn't be there to play. She even attempted to call Becky, my project director, to try and get permission for me to stay and play! ... I snuck out the next morning bright and early and I doubt she was very happy with me.
Hanging out at the soccer tournament with one of my volunteers and their host siblings!
Extracurricular camps in San Ignacio!
Extracurricular Camps in La Manzanilla!
The still breathtaking view from La Manzanilla/Illuca!
The weekend of the 28th and 29th we had our second Capacitación with the local youth and our volunteers. During this Capacitación (pretty much a fancy word for a training) we covered generalizations and the harm that they can cause. We also covered diversity and the generalizations that come as a result of diversity. It was really interesting and rewarding to see some of the Peruvian AMIGOS volunteers beginning to open up and express themselves. A common problem that we face in the Andes is that the people tend to be a little more reserved and it can take more work to get them to open up and come out of their shell. After the Capacitación we brought all of our volunteers back to Cajamarca for the night in order to get ready for their Enseña Perú shadow experience. That night all 55 of our volunteers stayed in the same hostel and were reunited for the first time in two weeks. It was amazing to see all of them proudly sharing aspects of their communities with their peers. After route dinners (which included a Menú and ice cream sundaes for my route!) the supervisors tucked the volunteers in and got cranking in order to have everything organized for the Enseña Perú shadow experience overnight the next morning! (I think we all got a restful two hours of sleep that night!)
The next morning we had our vols up and ready to roll by 4:30 am in order to get on our Combi's out to the Enseña Perú schools. Enseña Perú is the equivalent of Teach for America, they have college graduates live and teach in a new area for two years. We worked in groups of 3-9 with the PEP's (fancy term for teachers) from the organization. We specifically organized the groups so that no partnerships were together and so that the volunteers were with supervisors that were not their own. The community that I was placed in was absolutely freezing! I was very glad in that moment that I always carry extra clothes with me because I walked around most of the day with three jackets, two pairs of pants and a hat on... I felt like a bit of a marshmallow!
In the morning, the volunteers were in the classrooms with the PEP's (teachers) observing their lesson style and attempting to learn some new strategies for the extracurricular activities that they lead daily in community. In the afternoon, the volunteers were responsible for leading an extracurricular activity for the kids at the school. For my school that meant they were working with a group of 60 kids, between the ages of 5 and 14. I feel like they did an amazing job! I was really proud of the AMIGOS volunteers that day!
The whole school at San Pedro de Combayo!
My new vols for the weekend!
The volunteers addressing the formation in the morning!
We did a relay race with the students! They loved it :)
Drawing diversity flowers!
The volunteers observing one of the PEP's classes!
After some exciting rounds of spoons with the PEPS, we all went to bed early because it was practically too cold to not be in our sleeping bags. We got up early the next morning and brought all of our volunteers back to Cajamarca before getting them back out to community that same day!
The first week in July we only had an abbreviated route since we did the shadow experience during the first few days. This means that we only spent two nights in community and visited two communities. I went out to San Pablo and visited San Ignacio and Chorro Blanco. San Ignacio is doing well! The girls hosted their extracurricular activities then when we returned to the host families house we found out that they were harvesting honey, so the house was swarming with very angry bees! Needless to say we hung out on the hill above the house for an hour or so waiting for the bees to disperse. We got to eat the honey directly off the hive and it was so delicious... probably some of the best honey I have ever had! Chorro Blanco is also doing well. They have gotten into some of the Telenovelas so I always know where to find them when I get into community. They also got to ride a horse and I watched some of the community women dying the yarn that they had spun! All in all in a was a great short week on route!
We got back into Cajamarca for a long weekend and geared up for the Fourth of July party that we hosted at our house! We invited about 60 people over and I think throughout the night we had around 50 of those people filter through the house! We made hamburgers, BBQ pulled chicken, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit salad, a bunch of yummy appetizers and ice cream sundaes with brownies for dessert! It was a great way to celebrate the fourth, and we ended with a dance party and sparklers on the roof!
Amanda and I at the Fourth of July Party!
AMIGOS and PEP's!
Our staff plus our landlady :)
After our lovely, more relaxing than normal weekend, I am back out on route this morning! Hope everyone is doing well! I can hardly believe that in less than a month the volunteers will be back home in the states and we will be doing all of our project closeout work! Time really does fly when you are having fun! xoxo miss you all!
