I am having the most interesting experience every day at the school. I am sort of confused about when they actually have class or learn anything other than how to dance and have fiestas. Last week we partied all week for "el dia del colegio"- the "day of the school". Wednesday was chess tournaments all day, Thursday, students from each class recited poetry and sang songs in front of the whole school (800 students), and Friday, the whole school walked together to the Cathedral in town for mass, then came back and the students performed traditional dances in brightly colored costumes. It is quite impressive how well they can dance- but I guess they do all start in kindergarten dancing in front of the school!
The days we do have class (or at least I am stubborn and try to get my class to have classes in the middle of all the partying), it goes like this: I arrive to school and all the students from the 3 different fourth grade classes croud around me grabbing my hands and trying to drag me to their class saying (in Spanish of course)"come to our class today teacher Heidi." I have one class that I spend most days in, and also happens to be the worst behaved class ever!!! Normally the professora shows up for about 20 minuts to give a lesson or start them on some busy work and tell me to keep them working. As soon as she leaves, they go crazy, literally hitting, punching, and yelling every two minutes. I always thought I was a patient person, but I am not so sure anymore! The problem is also that disciplining kids in Spanish is pretty difficult- especially when they laugh at me if I say anything wrong. One day they knocked me over because I was sitting on a stool that happened to be in the middle of a fight.
There are about 50 kids in the school that are assigned to be the "policia escolar", or school police. I think it is the most ridiculous idea in the world. Basically, the best dressed (uniforms of course) students walk around with a special rope tied around their arm and big white sticks and have the authority to use the sticks when kids come to school with messy hair, ripped uniforms, etc. or simply to get kids to behave. Unfortunately one of the biggest bullies in my class is a "policia escolar" and I constantly catch him beating the other kids with his fists or his stick.
Although school can obviously be stressful some days, I always love my afternoons at Azul Wasi. I have been helping the boys with math homework almost every day, and I know my Algebra skills are improving daily =) I love the boys so much, and am so happy when they run in and give us all huge hugs saying "Amiga Heidi!" Today I found out the whole history of Azul Wasi, which I found absolutely fascinating!
Alcedes, the director of the project, is a police man working with boys off the streets in Cuzco. About 10 years ago, he worked with the police to find a home for about 15 street boys in Lucre (an hour from oropesa). There was a huge abandoned estate house (Hacienda) that was actually built in the 16th century for one of Pizarro's generals, that Alcedes pushed the police to open up for these boys. It was a brilliant placement, with wonderful facilities, showers,etc. They even raised guinea pigs and sold them and I think had support from the government. The biggest problem with the house though, was that the police were very involved and sometimes rough with the boys, or things like the chief of police would come over and take all the guinea pigs that they were going to sell (for example 1 guinea pig could buy 12 chickens) and just eat them for him and his friends.
A mormon volunteer from a huge U.S. morman volunteer organization (even with funding from Bill Gates) came and saw the orphanage, liked the idea, and wanted it for their own program (I don't know all the details about how that happened). Anyhow, he payed off some officers in the police force to get Alcedes (a very well respected police man!) deported from the orphanage to work instead with traffic somewhere. Then, they took all the boys from the home to another placement where they basically started shoving Morman religion down their throughts and not feeding some of the boys. A bunch of the boys ran away from the new placement to Alcedes' house and moved in with him and his family for awhile.
Eventually, Alcedes started looking around again for a new place for the boys. That was 3 years ago when he found this land in Oropesa and started getting connections with other volunteer organizations. Two backpackers from Scotland ran into the program and took interest in it. One happened to teach Salsa dancing lessons in Scotland so she decided to have a huge salsa dancing party and raised 5,000 pounds to donate the money needed to buy the land and start building. Now Alcedes completely runs Azul Wasi and it depends completely on international volunteer funds.
-I didn't get all the details down here, but I absolutely love this story because of all the small pieces that fit together that God has so obviously worked out for this project to survive.
That's all I have time to write now, but I would love to get some comments and feed back from ppl reading this =) Also, the school has vacation for my last 2 weeks (starting monday) and I will be spending my whole day at the orphanage. I would be very grateful for any good game or craft ideas that can be done with boys 6-17 years old.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
School in Oropesa
I now work at the school in Oropesa every day from 9-1, teaching 4rth graders and absolutely love it! This is the most disorganized school I have ever seen, with kids constantly running, fighitng, playing, screaming. . . today was a pretty typical crazy day at the school. I arrived at 9:00, which is actually already half an hour late. No surprise that the teacher was not in the room and the kids were just cleaning from last weeks crazy activities- which included spending a day making an oven out of stones to cook potatoes in. Then, my teacher called me to come with her to a large meeting room with all the other teachers where a few students served us bread and mate. Seriously every day the teachers have random meetings or activities like this that make them just leave their class to fend for themselves. I found out next that I was switching to another fourth grade classroom. I never know what I am teaching until I am actually starting- like today I asked, "Ok but what do you want me to teach today?" And the teacher asked her class what they wanted to do. Of course they wanted art- one thing I am no good at! Since I knew I had practically the whole day to teach what I wanted, we started with music and then did art. I'm teaching the scale and notes with Do, Re, Mi. . . in Spanish with motions and all. Then we did art which consisted of drawing a guitar, copying the scale, and drawing pictures from the song- I love planning on the spot and stumbling through my rough Spanish explanations :P After I finished with this class, I moved and taught the same lesson with the fourth grade class next door. Then we ate MORE potatoes from those stone ovens that they made. As we ate our potatoes, I looked out and in the center basketball court area, there was music blaring and all the students watching people dancing. Apparently tomorrow is the day of the teacher, so we were celebrating- another reason to not have school. . .
The funniest part about the school is that the teachers all just leave randomly throughout the day, sometimes for an hour or more at a time. When that happens, I just get up and make up a lesson about something. Sometimes I have major problems with the students hitting, fighting, yelling, and running around when I'm trying to teach something ( any great discipline advice?). But often they are excited enough about learning something like music or english that they are relatively well behaved.
At the end of the day, or during recess, a bunch of the girls all crowd around me and ask questions about my family, the U.S., English words, etc. One student ask me what year it is in the U.S. right now =)
Often after school I try to find one of the boys from the orphanage and we walk the 15 minute walk jumping over ditches, through fields, and passing all the motor cars, bulls and donkeys to get to Azul Wasi where I spend hte afternoon helping with homework, playing Uno, or playing soccer.
I need random song ideas to do with my class. the best are simple ones that teach english- like Head and shoulders, knees and toes is perfect! The school is Catholic, so they can be Christian- like Open the Eyes of my heart is good.
The funniest part about the school is that the teachers all just leave randomly throughout the day, sometimes for an hour or more at a time. When that happens, I just get up and make up a lesson about something. Sometimes I have major problems with the students hitting, fighting, yelling, and running around when I'm trying to teach something ( any great discipline advice?). But often they are excited enough about learning something like music or english that they are relatively well behaved.
At the end of the day, or during recess, a bunch of the girls all crowd around me and ask questions about my family, the U.S., English words, etc. One student ask me what year it is in the U.S. right now =)
Often after school I try to find one of the boys from the orphanage and we walk the 15 minute walk jumping over ditches, through fields, and passing all the motor cars, bulls and donkeys to get to Azul Wasi where I spend hte afternoon helping with homework, playing Uno, or playing soccer.
I need random song ideas to do with my class. the best are simple ones that teach english- like Head and shoulders, knees and toes is perfect! The school is Catholic, so they can be Christian- like Open the Eyes of my heart is good.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Azul Wasi
Hola,
Lots has happened since I last posted! I have started at Azul Wasi, or Blue House (Azul= blue in spanish, wasi= house in Quechua) and am enjoying it a lot. I've talked to my director some and gotten a basic idea about the formation and idea of this house. My director, Alcedes Jordan is a police man as well as devoting the rest of his life to this project. About three years ago when he was working with the police in Cuzco and dealing with a project that worked with boys living on the streets, he got a picture in his head of a giant blue house where these boys could come and live. The house is completely volunteer run and sponsored by an organization (maybe church?) in England and America. It has been slowly built up by volunteers and will hopefully continue to grow. There are two buildings where hte boys live- one with a cafeteria/place to do homework and 2 bedrooms, and another with more bedrooms, a kitchen, and behind it a pen for the guinea pigs that they eat or sell or something. There are 2 bulls, lots of chickens and roosters, geese, and several dogs and a cat that live on the property. There is also a field for the boys to play soccer and other sports in. 12 boys 6-16, and one 20 year old who has a mental disability and can't go anywhere else, live there. Most of the boys have lost there parents or were just living on the street and had nowhere else to go. One little boy's home was destroyed in the floods in November. My director, Senor Jordan, has devoted his entire life to this project, and told me that the two things he wants to do in his life are keep this project going and serve the Lord in any ways he can.
When the boys have school, we come in the afternoons to help out with homework and then plan whatever we want to. It is a very fun, chill atmosphere since this is just the boy's home and they have already had a full day of school. A lot of days we play soccer, frisbee, or random games. I have brought my violin two days, and hope to bring my host brother's guitar next week. The first day I took the boys that wanted to come out near the soccer field and just played some violin and sang some songs with them. Last week we went early a few days to repaint parts of the house (blue of course). The other project they are working on right now is building a wooden structure to hang those camp shower bags from so the boys can have warm showers (black bags with a shower faucet thing, you let sit out in the sun during the day). It is kind of a strange project and I hope the showers last and work.
Every day when the boys get home from school they eat a giant lunch of soup and then rice and some strange sort of meat. Every day during lunch we have been watching World Cup! The boys are absolutely obsessed with soccer. Today, I was with Valerio (8 or 9 years old?) and we were about to go play some frisbee. He went into his bedroom with his bowl and leftover potatoe from lunch, opened his top dresser drawer, and put the bowl with his leftover lunch in the top drawer, closed it and seriously said to me "Voy a comer despues" (I'll eat it later). While dying from laughter, I made him finish it or give the rest to the hungry dogs waiting outside.
Starting tomorrow, I am going to help out at the school where the boys attend. I'm not sure exactly what it will involve, but I will be there every morning from 9-1, then come home with the boys from school and stay till about 5. After all day in Oropesa with the boys, I have an hour cram packed bus ride home. I reallized today how odd it is that I'm getting used to having people smashed up against me, or leaning against me the whole bus ride home- no sense of personal space here!!
Here is a link to my facebook album- it has some from the orphanage, and some other random pictures from the past few weeks.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=184469&id=501570024&saved#!/album.php?id=501570024&aid=184469&s=0&hash=271eeb848a977dcecea1bd799a9ef307
Lots has happened since I last posted! I have started at Azul Wasi, or Blue House (Azul= blue in spanish, wasi= house in Quechua) and am enjoying it a lot. I've talked to my director some and gotten a basic idea about the formation and idea of this house. My director, Alcedes Jordan is a police man as well as devoting the rest of his life to this project. About three years ago when he was working with the police in Cuzco and dealing with a project that worked with boys living on the streets, he got a picture in his head of a giant blue house where these boys could come and live. The house is completely volunteer run and sponsored by an organization (maybe church?) in England and America. It has been slowly built up by volunteers and will hopefully continue to grow. There are two buildings where hte boys live- one with a cafeteria/place to do homework and 2 bedrooms, and another with more bedrooms, a kitchen, and behind it a pen for the guinea pigs that they eat or sell or something. There are 2 bulls, lots of chickens and roosters, geese, and several dogs and a cat that live on the property. There is also a field for the boys to play soccer and other sports in. 12 boys 6-16, and one 20 year old who has a mental disability and can't go anywhere else, live there. Most of the boys have lost there parents or were just living on the street and had nowhere else to go. One little boy's home was destroyed in the floods in November. My director, Senor Jordan, has devoted his entire life to this project, and told me that the two things he wants to do in his life are keep this project going and serve the Lord in any ways he can.
When the boys have school, we come in the afternoons to help out with homework and then plan whatever we want to. It is a very fun, chill atmosphere since this is just the boy's home and they have already had a full day of school. A lot of days we play soccer, frisbee, or random games. I have brought my violin two days, and hope to bring my host brother's guitar next week. The first day I took the boys that wanted to come out near the soccer field and just played some violin and sang some songs with them. Last week we went early a few days to repaint parts of the house (blue of course). The other project they are working on right now is building a wooden structure to hang those camp shower bags from so the boys can have warm showers (black bags with a shower faucet thing, you let sit out in the sun during the day). It is kind of a strange project and I hope the showers last and work.
Every day when the boys get home from school they eat a giant lunch of soup and then rice and some strange sort of meat. Every day during lunch we have been watching World Cup! The boys are absolutely obsessed with soccer. Today, I was with Valerio (8 or 9 years old?) and we were about to go play some frisbee. He went into his bedroom with his bowl and leftover potatoe from lunch, opened his top dresser drawer, and put the bowl with his leftover lunch in the top drawer, closed it and seriously said to me "Voy a comer despues" (I'll eat it later). While dying from laughter, I made him finish it or give the rest to the hungry dogs waiting outside.
Starting tomorrow, I am going to help out at the school where the boys attend. I'm not sure exactly what it will involve, but I will be there every morning from 9-1, then come home with the boys from school and stay till about 5. After all day in Oropesa with the boys, I have an hour cram packed bus ride home. I reallized today how odd it is that I'm getting used to having people smashed up against me, or leaning against me the whole bus ride home- no sense of personal space here!!
Here is a link to my facebook album- it has some from the orphanage, and some other random pictures from the past few weeks.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=184469&id=501570024&saved#!/album.php?id=501570024&aid=184469&s=0&hash=271eeb848a977dcecea1bd799a9ef307
Friday, June 11, 2010
No puedo creerlo!!!
"No puedo creerlo!!" "Que una experiencia!" I say that about 10 times every day while laughing about all the ridiculous things that happen to me just when I walk out my door or get on a bus somewhere. This has definitely been quite the week! I will try to make sense of it, but I apologize if I ramble or anything.
Tuesday, I went to school alone since Alex was sick. On the way walking up to the school, I saw about 20 men walking towards the main road where they started putting rocks in the road to block cars. Then 3 dogs almost attacked me and I yelled at them and my four year old companion picked up a rock and threw it, so they ran away. (If you are ever about to be attacked by dogs, just pick up a rock- I now walk with a handful of rocks each day). When I got to school, my director told me that there was a protest/ strike that day and all the transportation was down and that I would have to find my way walking home (probably a 2 hour walk and I don't know the way). God was gracious though, because two new volunteers arrived and by the time I left with them, the transportation was up and running again.
Rachel, the other volunteer I live with, commutes two hours every day to volunteer in a really poor area outside of Cuzco. One day last week, she met her 18 year old motor car driver who offered to pick her up every day and take her back at the time she needs. Then he asked if she would give him English lessons. This week, he came to our house with his cousin for English lessons (no worries, our host brother and sister are normally there too). Rachel and I are both teaching them 3 days a week for about 2 hours each day! They don't speak any English but are really eager to learn. Each lesson they come with a front and back paper full of words they want to know, apart from the actual lesson we give them. We also found out last time that they are both Christians. This was such a huge blessing for me since I have been wanting more volunteer work, practice with Spanish, and to get to know more Peruvians my age!
Yesterday morning, as Alex and I were riding the bus to school, the gigantic window right in front of us suddenly shattered into a million pieces from a car that ran into the back of the bus. Again, God was so gracious to us! A minute before, we had almost moved up to the open seats in front of us, right next to that window, to get off the bus quicker, but decided not to for some reason. Neither of us were hurt, although I was covered in tiny pieces of glass and Alex had a little piece in her eye. She had to go to the clinic, but was fine, and I just went home and showered to get all the glass off of me. This is our second crazy experience on the buses, since one other time there was a huge fight over a soccer ball our bus had run over. Transportation is insane here! I have been in a car at least 3 times going the opposite way of the traffic heading towards us!
Today was definitely my craziest day yet. Alex and I went to school this morning and were greeted by our director with a list of things we need to do differently, as well as things to buy for the kids to do sports outside and more pressure to give money to the school. We both have a really hard time with her since she is very demanding and materialistic. Then she actually told us that our money that we give the school is way more important then our time. This week I had already been thinking about looking into different work since the school keeps getting more volunteers and I feel unappreciated and not needed.
After talking to our ISA director, we decided to go with her to check out a new site that needs volunteers. A half hour car ride turned into an hour and a half. For some reason, parts of Corpus Christi are still going on since they are SLOWLY taking the saints back to their original churches. It is so funny to me how life stops daily because of these constant parades! I see at least 3 each day, blocking off main streets and making traffic go even more insane then it always is. So, unfortunately, a parade with a giant saint was blocking our path, and we had to turn off onto a random dirt road. That road turned into the bumpiest, dustiest, and craziest road I have ever been on, driving through really poor countryside, cows, ducks, horses, people. . . After the long ride, we arrived at "Casa Hogar" an orphanage or home for boys ages 6-17. The director, a very sweet, older man who is also a very strong and open Christian, showed us around the place. It is a gated in large grassy area, with three different rooms for the twelve boys to sleep in. There is also a kitchen with a giant oldfashioned stove, a greenhouse where the boys are learning to plant, a soccer field (with ducks, and bulls!) and a large cafeteria/ room for the boys to do homework in. I never ever would have chosen this site as a possibility, but now that I have been there, met some of the boys and volunteers (who are leaving this weekend) and know I will work with Alex, I think I am going to start there on Monday. We will help the boys in the afternoons with homework, then teach basically whatever we want to teach- music, english, cooking. . . I know this sounds crazy, and I'm still trying to take it all in, but I'm super excited to see what the Lord has in store!
Tonight after I got back, I went to the church to practice with the worship band- full of electric guitar, drums, keyboard, singers. Another thing that kind of cracks me up because it is super loud and crazy and I don't even know why I'm trying to be heard above them all.
Thanks for all your prayers. God has truly been gracious to me, daily protecting me and surrounding me by so much encouragement! I'm super excited for what the next 8 weeks may hold!
Tuesday, I went to school alone since Alex was sick. On the way walking up to the school, I saw about 20 men walking towards the main road where they started putting rocks in the road to block cars. Then 3 dogs almost attacked me and I yelled at them and my four year old companion picked up a rock and threw it, so they ran away. (If you are ever about to be attacked by dogs, just pick up a rock- I now walk with a handful of rocks each day). When I got to school, my director told me that there was a protest/ strike that day and all the transportation was down and that I would have to find my way walking home (probably a 2 hour walk and I don't know the way). God was gracious though, because two new volunteers arrived and by the time I left with them, the transportation was up and running again.
Rachel, the other volunteer I live with, commutes two hours every day to volunteer in a really poor area outside of Cuzco. One day last week, she met her 18 year old motor car driver who offered to pick her up every day and take her back at the time she needs. Then he asked if she would give him English lessons. This week, he came to our house with his cousin for English lessons (no worries, our host brother and sister are normally there too). Rachel and I are both teaching them 3 days a week for about 2 hours each day! They don't speak any English but are really eager to learn. Each lesson they come with a front and back paper full of words they want to know, apart from the actual lesson we give them. We also found out last time that they are both Christians. This was such a huge blessing for me since I have been wanting more volunteer work, practice with Spanish, and to get to know more Peruvians my age!
Yesterday morning, as Alex and I were riding the bus to school, the gigantic window right in front of us suddenly shattered into a million pieces from a car that ran into the back of the bus. Again, God was so gracious to us! A minute before, we had almost moved up to the open seats in front of us, right next to that window, to get off the bus quicker, but decided not to for some reason. Neither of us were hurt, although I was covered in tiny pieces of glass and Alex had a little piece in her eye. She had to go to the clinic, but was fine, and I just went home and showered to get all the glass off of me. This is our second crazy experience on the buses, since one other time there was a huge fight over a soccer ball our bus had run over. Transportation is insane here! I have been in a car at least 3 times going the opposite way of the traffic heading towards us!
Today was definitely my craziest day yet. Alex and I went to school this morning and were greeted by our director with a list of things we need to do differently, as well as things to buy for the kids to do sports outside and more pressure to give money to the school. We both have a really hard time with her since she is very demanding and materialistic. Then she actually told us that our money that we give the school is way more important then our time. This week I had already been thinking about looking into different work since the school keeps getting more volunteers and I feel unappreciated and not needed.
After talking to our ISA director, we decided to go with her to check out a new site that needs volunteers. A half hour car ride turned into an hour and a half. For some reason, parts of Corpus Christi are still going on since they are SLOWLY taking the saints back to their original churches. It is so funny to me how life stops daily because of these constant parades! I see at least 3 each day, blocking off main streets and making traffic go even more insane then it always is. So, unfortunately, a parade with a giant saint was blocking our path, and we had to turn off onto a random dirt road. That road turned into the bumpiest, dustiest, and craziest road I have ever been on, driving through really poor countryside, cows, ducks, horses, people. . . After the long ride, we arrived at "Casa Hogar" an orphanage or home for boys ages 6-17. The director, a very sweet, older man who is also a very strong and open Christian, showed us around the place. It is a gated in large grassy area, with three different rooms for the twelve boys to sleep in. There is also a kitchen with a giant oldfashioned stove, a greenhouse where the boys are learning to plant, a soccer field (with ducks, and bulls!) and a large cafeteria/ room for the boys to do homework in. I never ever would have chosen this site as a possibility, but now that I have been there, met some of the boys and volunteers (who are leaving this weekend) and know I will work with Alex, I think I am going to start there on Monday. We will help the boys in the afternoons with homework, then teach basically whatever we want to teach- music, english, cooking. . . I know this sounds crazy, and I'm still trying to take it all in, but I'm super excited to see what the Lord has in store!
Tonight after I got back, I went to the church to practice with the worship band- full of electric guitar, drums, keyboard, singers. Another thing that kind of cracks me up because it is super loud and crazy and I don't even know why I'm trying to be heard above them all.
Thanks for all your prayers. God has truly been gracious to me, daily protecting me and surrounding me by so much encouragement! I'm super excited for what the next 8 weeks may hold!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Caballos, Desfiles, Musica- mi vida en Peru
Hola!
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful messages, encouragement, and prayers I have been receiving! I have a three day break from working at the school because of the huge Corpus Christi festival that was Thursday in downtown Cusco. We went to the main square and watched from the balcony of some super rich relative's house, which felt more like a museum to me with the huge chandaliers, hot pink cushioned high back couches, and inner courtyard :) The parade lasted all day, with 14 gigantic statues of different saints of the Catholic church SLOWLY moving around the square carried by at least 30 or 40 men. Even though it was interesting to see and something I have learned a lot about in Spanish classes, I thought it was kind of boring since I've been seeing so many parades and each figure took so long to pass. The famous dish that everyone sells for the day of Corpus Christi is guinea pig, hen, fish eggs, sea weed, and corn bread- served cold on a plate! I tried some of my Grandma's guinea pig and it was absolutely disgusting and CHEWY. She still doesn't quite believe me or understand that we have them as pets in the U.S. (sorry I know every post so far I have talked about guinea pig, but they really do eat or talk about it all the time, served whole on a plate so you can see the face, hands, claws and all)
Thursday night after the parade, Rachel and I spent the night with our host siblings, playing games (Uno is the current favorite), and getting history lessons from our very fun, intelligent, and wonderful 14 year old brother, Alejandro. I really love my host mother who is constantly seeking to show love to others. She comes home every day from a hard day at the airport and immediately starts making and serving lunch (which we eat at 3:00), and doesn't stop and rest till night. All the women work nonstop through the meal only eating when most people are almost finished.
I had a very full, fun, and interesting day yesterday. In the afternoon, 8 of the ISA students rode horses in the mountains for a few hours. It was absolutely amazing! I love getting away from the city sometimes to feel the fresh air and really experience the breathtaking beauty of these mountains! In the evening, our host Grandma begged us to come with her to her friend's house where they sing and play music late into the night every Saturday night (she is kind of obsessed with the fact that I play violin, and wanted me to come and play for her friends). The house we went to was in a really fancy neighborhood and huge compared to anything else I've seen here. About 25 people came- all rich, prestigious, doctors and such. They played keyboards, marracas, guitars, and sang all types of Latin American music, especially sappy romantic music. No one is every allowed to say I'm too romantic or emotional-- I am surrounded by sappy romantic people and definitely can't relate! All the while, the host walked around with fancy plates of orderves (sorry I have no clue how to spell that), wine, beer. . . The room was also filled with cigarrette smoke. It was my Grandma's birthday so lots of people dedicated her songs or said special things for her. Grandma really wanted me to dedicate a song to her for her birthday, but unfortunately my violin was locked in the church, and I only had her friend Juan Carlos' violin to play on. Although it was super out of place, I played a bit of Saint Saens, because it's what she asked for- on a pretty bad, small violin. I also always play some random fiddle or folk songs and am learning to improvise a lot more. We stayed till 2 in the morning and I know most people stayed till 4 or 5! It was truly a funny experience, and I am getting my wish to learn more about the music here (although I can't really always take it in such large quantities like last night). My Grandma tells us almost every day that music is her life- and I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth.
Today I had church in the morning and evening since I am now playing violin with the pretty much rock band (don't be too shocked). I like the preaching here, at least what I can understand, and the Bible Study during the week is pretty good too. I'm trying to get involved in the church here,both to keep my focus on Christ and since I really want to get to know more Peruvians my age. If people could pray for me in that respect it would be great. I really would love to make more friends my age and speak Spanish all the time!
I would also appreciate prayers for my work at the school. It is a lot less time every morning then I expected, and I'm struggling getting along with my director who seems to be more interested in havng us buy things for the school, decorate her classroom, or just give money rather than spend time loving and teaching the kids. She doesn't interfere with my lessons, but it is difficult to explain to her why we don't need to buy and make the expensive crafts for the kids who would rather just paint or make awesome marracas out of paper plates and noodles :) (more craft ideas are always appreciated since we plan to do a cheap craft each week) By the way, the Hokey Pokie idea was a huge hit. We sang and danced the Hokey Pokey in Spanish and then played duck duck goose (Pato, Pato, Ganso), and I have probably never had so much fun or been so crazy with kids in my life. Tooth brushing is still always an adventure and I end up going home with kid spit all over me.
The other day, walking home from school, my friend Alex and I almost got attacked by too ferocious wild dogs who came out barking and snarling within inches of us. I think our regular route must be by their house, so she now carries an alarm with her every day in case they attack again, and we found a new route to take. What is the best thing to do when being attacked by wild dogs? No worries though, we normally try to walk near locals and stay away from any houses where the dogs look threatening.
Spanish skills are coming slowly but surely. I understand a lot more then I can say, but I can pretty much get my point across no matter what I need to say. It does make for some strange conversations and misunderstandings though. And if anyone was wondering, I do feel like a foreigner all the time. I can't help but stand out by my light skin, American accent, and everything else. The worst part is all the poor people that come up constantly trying to sell things in the main square just because they know I am a "tourist."
Time for bed! I'll probably visit some ruins tomorrow on my day off, then Rachel and I are giving English lessons to her taxi (actually motor car- look it up) driver who drives her to work every day.
Again thanks for the thoughts, prayers and encouragement- although I can't always respond to all of them, I love email updates too!
Hasta luego amigos.
- Jaidi (my host sister's spelling, and the way it is pronounced in Spanish HAYDI)
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful messages, encouragement, and prayers I have been receiving! I have a three day break from working at the school because of the huge Corpus Christi festival that was Thursday in downtown Cusco. We went to the main square and watched from the balcony of some super rich relative's house, which felt more like a museum to me with the huge chandaliers, hot pink cushioned high back couches, and inner courtyard :) The parade lasted all day, with 14 gigantic statues of different saints of the Catholic church SLOWLY moving around the square carried by at least 30 or 40 men. Even though it was interesting to see and something I have learned a lot about in Spanish classes, I thought it was kind of boring since I've been seeing so many parades and each figure took so long to pass. The famous dish that everyone sells for the day of Corpus Christi is guinea pig, hen, fish eggs, sea weed, and corn bread- served cold on a plate! I tried some of my Grandma's guinea pig and it was absolutely disgusting and CHEWY. She still doesn't quite believe me or understand that we have them as pets in the U.S. (sorry I know every post so far I have talked about guinea pig, but they really do eat or talk about it all the time, served whole on a plate so you can see the face, hands, claws and all)
Thursday night after the parade, Rachel and I spent the night with our host siblings, playing games (Uno is the current favorite), and getting history lessons from our very fun, intelligent, and wonderful 14 year old brother, Alejandro. I really love my host mother who is constantly seeking to show love to others. She comes home every day from a hard day at the airport and immediately starts making and serving lunch (which we eat at 3:00), and doesn't stop and rest till night. All the women work nonstop through the meal only eating when most people are almost finished.
I had a very full, fun, and interesting day yesterday. In the afternoon, 8 of the ISA students rode horses in the mountains for a few hours. It was absolutely amazing! I love getting away from the city sometimes to feel the fresh air and really experience the breathtaking beauty of these mountains! In the evening, our host Grandma begged us to come with her to her friend's house where they sing and play music late into the night every Saturday night (she is kind of obsessed with the fact that I play violin, and wanted me to come and play for her friends). The house we went to was in a really fancy neighborhood and huge compared to anything else I've seen here. About 25 people came- all rich, prestigious, doctors and such. They played keyboards, marracas, guitars, and sang all types of Latin American music, especially sappy romantic music. No one is every allowed to say I'm too romantic or emotional-- I am surrounded by sappy romantic people and definitely can't relate! All the while, the host walked around with fancy plates of orderves (sorry I have no clue how to spell that), wine, beer. . . The room was also filled with cigarrette smoke. It was my Grandma's birthday so lots of people dedicated her songs or said special things for her. Grandma really wanted me to dedicate a song to her for her birthday, but unfortunately my violin was locked in the church, and I only had her friend Juan Carlos' violin to play on. Although it was super out of place, I played a bit of Saint Saens, because it's what she asked for- on a pretty bad, small violin. I also always play some random fiddle or folk songs and am learning to improvise a lot more. We stayed till 2 in the morning and I know most people stayed till 4 or 5! It was truly a funny experience, and I am getting my wish to learn more about the music here (although I can't really always take it in such large quantities like last night). My Grandma tells us almost every day that music is her life- and I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth.
Today I had church in the morning and evening since I am now playing violin with the pretty much rock band (don't be too shocked). I like the preaching here, at least what I can understand, and the Bible Study during the week is pretty good too. I'm trying to get involved in the church here,both to keep my focus on Christ and since I really want to get to know more Peruvians my age. If people could pray for me in that respect it would be great. I really would love to make more friends my age and speak Spanish all the time!
I would also appreciate prayers for my work at the school. It is a lot less time every morning then I expected, and I'm struggling getting along with my director who seems to be more interested in havng us buy things for the school, decorate her classroom, or just give money rather than spend time loving and teaching the kids. She doesn't interfere with my lessons, but it is difficult to explain to her why we don't need to buy and make the expensive crafts for the kids who would rather just paint or make awesome marracas out of paper plates and noodles :) (more craft ideas are always appreciated since we plan to do a cheap craft each week) By the way, the Hokey Pokie idea was a huge hit. We sang and danced the Hokey Pokey in Spanish and then played duck duck goose (Pato, Pato, Ganso), and I have probably never had so much fun or been so crazy with kids in my life. Tooth brushing is still always an adventure and I end up going home with kid spit all over me.
The other day, walking home from school, my friend Alex and I almost got attacked by too ferocious wild dogs who came out barking and snarling within inches of us. I think our regular route must be by their house, so she now carries an alarm with her every day in case they attack again, and we found a new route to take. What is the best thing to do when being attacked by wild dogs? No worries though, we normally try to walk near locals and stay away from any houses where the dogs look threatening.
Spanish skills are coming slowly but surely. I understand a lot more then I can say, but I can pretty much get my point across no matter what I need to say. It does make for some strange conversations and misunderstandings though. And if anyone was wondering, I do feel like a foreigner all the time. I can't help but stand out by my light skin, American accent, and everything else. The worst part is all the poor people that come up constantly trying to sell things in the main square just because they know I am a "tourist."
Time for bed! I'll probably visit some ruins tomorrow on my day off, then Rachel and I are giving English lessons to her taxi (actually motor car- look it up) driver who drives her to work every day.
Again thanks for the thoughts, prayers and encouragement- although I can't always respond to all of them, I love email updates too!
Hasta luego amigos.
- Jaidi (my host sister's spelling, and the way it is pronounced in Spanish HAYDI)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
El Valle Sagrado
Thanks for all the great ideas of things to do with the kids! I will definitely be using some of those. Music class went very well this past week. I'm trying to mostly do songs in Spanish and occasionally throw in a simple English song or some English words here and there. I never thought I would like working with this age group, but it really is fun because you have to be constantly moving and enthusiastic. We start every day singing "Buenos Dias" or "Good Morning" in English and Spanish. The best song so far was Open the Eyes of my Heart in Spanish (Abre mis Ojos). We did motions together and some of the boys just yell the words when I asked them to sing louder. Since in Spanish they use Do, Re, Mi. . . rather than the note names, I am slowly teaching them the scale with different games and activities. The director is also letting me use her guitar every day, something which really catches the kids attention. We are also going to start teaching some English lessons and active games outside this week.
I am slowly learning more about my students and their backgrounds. One girl arrives first every day with her Grandmother who said they have to walk an hour each day to get to school. I also found out that another girl sleeps outside every night. A lot of our students come with older siblings or walk a long way all by themselves. My favorite part of the day is when the students wash their hands and brush their teeth. It is incredibly chaotic since they are all fighting for the soap and the tiny bit of water I can give them from the big water jug. (There is no running water, and we cannot drink the water here) Then when we pass out their toothbrushes, they brush furiously and check with me several times until I say their teeth are white enough =) Then everyone rushes for the bucket at the same time, spitting all over their clothes and each other's hair.
Yesterday, we travelled to the Sacred Valley, or the ruins of Ollantaytambo. I'll try to put pictures up soon since it was absolutely gorgeous! We drove for about an hour through the mountains, and arrived in the Sacred Valley where we had a tour up the gigantic Incan ruins. The architecture is absolutely breathtaking, built in the side of the mountain with gigantic rocks and no mortor. All of the Incan ruins in Cusco are built with such smoothly cut stones and fitted together in such a way that they never had to put anything in between them. The stones are gigantic, often the size of a man or bigger. It is a mystery how the Incans actually moved these stones. Since the Incans worshipped gods of the earth, mountains, and sun, these ruins are facing the direction that the sun rises each day.
On the way back, we stopped in a weaving community called Chinchero where the women dressed in the traditional colorful dresses demonstrated how they dye thread and weave the cloth of Alpaccas, LLamas, and sheep. All of the cloth, sweaters, scarfs, etc. was hand dyed and hand woven. Then they brought out a roasted guinea pig, still whole so you could see its face, on a plate with an apple in its mouth! I tried just a tiny little piece (sorry Liz and Justin). It tasted like chicken except for the thought that it was actually guinea pig- which makes me a little sick.
Thanks for the wonderful comments! I'll try to post again soon when I have time :)
I am slowly learning more about my students and their backgrounds. One girl arrives first every day with her Grandmother who said they have to walk an hour each day to get to school. I also found out that another girl sleeps outside every night. A lot of our students come with older siblings or walk a long way all by themselves. My favorite part of the day is when the students wash their hands and brush their teeth. It is incredibly chaotic since they are all fighting for the soap and the tiny bit of water I can give them from the big water jug. (There is no running water, and we cannot drink the water here) Then when we pass out their toothbrushes, they brush furiously and check with me several times until I say their teeth are white enough =) Then everyone rushes for the bucket at the same time, spitting all over their clothes and each other's hair.
Yesterday, we travelled to the Sacred Valley, or the ruins of Ollantaytambo. I'll try to put pictures up soon since it was absolutely gorgeous! We drove for about an hour through the mountains, and arrived in the Sacred Valley where we had a tour up the gigantic Incan ruins. The architecture is absolutely breathtaking, built in the side of the mountain with gigantic rocks and no mortor. All of the Incan ruins in Cusco are built with such smoothly cut stones and fitted together in such a way that they never had to put anything in between them. The stones are gigantic, often the size of a man or bigger. It is a mystery how the Incans actually moved these stones. Since the Incans worshipped gods of the earth, mountains, and sun, these ruins are facing the direction that the sun rises each day.
On the way back, we stopped in a weaving community called Chinchero where the women dressed in the traditional colorful dresses demonstrated how they dye thread and weave the cloth of Alpaccas, LLamas, and sheep. All of the cloth, sweaters, scarfs, etc. was hand dyed and hand woven. Then they brought out a roasted guinea pig, still whole so you could see its face, on a plate with an apple in its mouth! I tried just a tiny little piece (sorry Liz and Justin). It tasted like chicken except for the thought that it was actually guinea pig- which makes me a little sick.
Thanks for the wonderful comments! I'll try to post again soon when I have time :)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Teaching at Helping Hands
Hola!
Yesterday morning I finally found out what I'll be doing here for the rest of the summer. My friend Alexandra and I met with our director for Helping Hands yesterday morning, having no idea what we would be teaching, what age kids we were going to work with or when we would begin. I'm getting used to communication problems as well as going into every day having no idea what will happen or where I will end up.
Talking to the director, who like everyone else speaks only Spanish,we found out that I will be teaching music, and she will be doing sports or physical activity every day with 4 and 5 year olds at the school. I have now been to the school for 2 days, and everything about it is quite an experience!!
Every day we have to ride a bus for half an hour to las Joyas, or (slums?)/ poorest area. Sometimes the buses are more like vans that speed and weave through traffic coming in the opposite direction, even when you think there is no possible way it can get through, or slamming to a stop within an inch of the car in front of it.
We get off the bus and have a 10 minute hike and climb to the school, which is near the top of one of the mountains. First we walk through a narrow street with dirty houses and people in the streets. Today as we were walking there, cows, chickens, pigs, and a lot of sheep crossed our path. The worst part about this walk is that there are dozens of stray dogs in the streets and near the houses. We were terrified the first day when they started growling and fighting each other. To get to the school we have to climb up a really steep and narrow dirt path in the side of the mountain. By the time we get to the top I'm always exhausted, but since we are near the top of one of the mountains, the view is absolutely gorgeous! Here. like so many other places in Peru, I am just amazed by the beauty of God's creation in the breathtaking mountains and sky that I am surrounded by daily. There are also small houses build on the side fo the mountain or right up against the edges of cliffs.
I was really surprised at how small the school is. It is two very small rooms, built of cement bricks. Outside of the school, adobe bricks are laying out to dry for some other project they are going to build (I think a green house?) There are no bathrooms at the school, or anywhere close, although they are beginning to build them now. I really hope they are finished before I leave this summer! About 20 adorable four and five year old chidlren attend the school right now from 9-12 in the morning. I don't know a lot yet about their families, except that they are all very poor, with dirty clothes, hands, and often dry peeling skin from the sun. Today I began my first music lesson with some help from Alex. I taught all in Spanish, and although my grammar was probably terrible, they could at least understand me. We sang some simple songs in Spanish and a little in English and practiced saying everyone's names with rhythm (clapping and hitting the desk). I taught the 4 and 5 year olds separately for an hour each, which was way too long to keep their attention! My voice is soar from singing and talking so loudly and I am exhausted from trying to keep them from running around the room or fighting while we sing :). I have never worked with this age before, so I would appreciate any ideas of simple games for music or English, or anything to keep them active and participating. Although the teaching is exhausting, I love the children and am looking forward to just learning form them, hopefully teaching them something, and loving them each day.
After lessons, another volunteer from England that will be leaving tomorrow, showed us how she has been teaching the children to brush their teeth every day and wash their hands- things they definitely never do at home. Alex and I are going to continue this, as well as take over teaching some of the English lessons. We are going to alternate days of teaching music and sports. For sports, we have a tiny little dirt square to use and need to come up with easy, active games for the chidlren.
Even though some parts of my time here so far, like my first day teaching, have been incredibly overwhelming and discouraging, God has been showing His grace over and over. Rachel and I went out for coffee last night and had a wonderful time talking about life, God, and all we are learning here. It really is amazing how much Christ-like love we are receiving from our host family. Especially our host mother and father who have spent hours showing us the city, teaching us Spanish, and just sharing their lives with us, as well as watching them interact so well with their children. I have really seen through them, that loving others is the way to true joy. I reallize that I am so incredibly blessed to be here, especially when I look at the sad lives that these chidlren at the school live. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as I continue to learn so much every day!
Thanks for the comments the other day, I do like hearing feedback if you are reading this :)
Adios!
1 John 4:12
Yesterday morning I finally found out what I'll be doing here for the rest of the summer. My friend Alexandra and I met with our director for Helping Hands yesterday morning, having no idea what we would be teaching, what age kids we were going to work with or when we would begin. I'm getting used to communication problems as well as going into every day having no idea what will happen or where I will end up.
Talking to the director, who like everyone else speaks only Spanish,we found out that I will be teaching music, and she will be doing sports or physical activity every day with 4 and 5 year olds at the school. I have now been to the school for 2 days, and everything about it is quite an experience!!
Every day we have to ride a bus for half an hour to las Joyas, or (slums?)/ poorest area. Sometimes the buses are more like vans that speed and weave through traffic coming in the opposite direction, even when you think there is no possible way it can get through, or slamming to a stop within an inch of the car in front of it.
We get off the bus and have a 10 minute hike and climb to the school, which is near the top of one of the mountains. First we walk through a narrow street with dirty houses and people in the streets. Today as we were walking there, cows, chickens, pigs, and a lot of sheep crossed our path. The worst part about this walk is that there are dozens of stray dogs in the streets and near the houses. We were terrified the first day when they started growling and fighting each other. To get to the school we have to climb up a really steep and narrow dirt path in the side of the mountain. By the time we get to the top I'm always exhausted, but since we are near the top of one of the mountains, the view is absolutely gorgeous! Here. like so many other places in Peru, I am just amazed by the beauty of God's creation in the breathtaking mountains and sky that I am surrounded by daily. There are also small houses build on the side fo the mountain or right up against the edges of cliffs.
I was really surprised at how small the school is. It is two very small rooms, built of cement bricks. Outside of the school, adobe bricks are laying out to dry for some other project they are going to build (I think a green house?) There are no bathrooms at the school, or anywhere close, although they are beginning to build them now. I really hope they are finished before I leave this summer! About 20 adorable four and five year old chidlren attend the school right now from 9-12 in the morning. I don't know a lot yet about their families, except that they are all very poor, with dirty clothes, hands, and often dry peeling skin from the sun. Today I began my first music lesson with some help from Alex. I taught all in Spanish, and although my grammar was probably terrible, they could at least understand me. We sang some simple songs in Spanish and a little in English and practiced saying everyone's names with rhythm (clapping and hitting the desk). I taught the 4 and 5 year olds separately for an hour each, which was way too long to keep their attention! My voice is soar from singing and talking so loudly and I am exhausted from trying to keep them from running around the room or fighting while we sing :). I have never worked with this age before, so I would appreciate any ideas of simple games for music or English, or anything to keep them active and participating. Although the teaching is exhausting, I love the children and am looking forward to just learning form them, hopefully teaching them something, and loving them each day.
After lessons, another volunteer from England that will be leaving tomorrow, showed us how she has been teaching the children to brush their teeth every day and wash their hands- things they definitely never do at home. Alex and I are going to continue this, as well as take over teaching some of the English lessons. We are going to alternate days of teaching music and sports. For sports, we have a tiny little dirt square to use and need to come up with easy, active games for the chidlren.
Even though some parts of my time here so far, like my first day teaching, have been incredibly overwhelming and discouraging, God has been showing His grace over and over. Rachel and I went out for coffee last night and had a wonderful time talking about life, God, and all we are learning here. It really is amazing how much Christ-like love we are receiving from our host family. Especially our host mother and father who have spent hours showing us the city, teaching us Spanish, and just sharing their lives with us, as well as watching them interact so well with their children. I have really seen through them, that loving others is the way to true joy. I reallize that I am so incredibly blessed to be here, especially when I look at the sad lives that these chidlren at the school live. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as I continue to learn so much every day!
Thanks for the comments the other day, I do like hearing feedback if you are reading this :)
Adios!
1 John 4:12
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