Arrival and Orientation

So I arrived in Lima last night around midnight with 3 other volunteers from the Houston connection flight. First of all the flights--movies cost $6 a piece on the US airplanes...however my long lost love of mass microwaved rubber meat was rekindled with a ´fully catered´dinner service. Also, everything IS bigger in texas, the fast food places give you like 4 choices of sides...all of which are carb-esque. The four of us met up with Lidia (our program planner) and proceeded to 2 homestays. Might I point out that we were in a mysterious van, and that it was midnight, and that the first girl was basically smuggled into the back iron gate of her homestay basically leading us all to believe we were in Peruvian slums about to be slaved for a month. The three of us proceeded to Lidias house for our homestay. She has a beautiful home and houses close to 20 people including over a dozen volunteers and her extended family.

Another fun fact, apparently I was supposed to be a boy? Either they messed up or I did... anyway it caused the need for a bit of a shift in rooms, and won some of the volunteers a bet on my gender. We were all pretty wired just getting off of 15 hours of travel so we didnt get to bed til late. My phone is an hour and a half ahead...not one not two, 1.5, (Peru is only one hour ahead of Alberta)and theres no way to change it, I dont think.

This morning we woke up at 8 for orientation, which we all thought would be tomorrow, but at least this way we have an extra day in the school! We took a bus...which was an experience in itself, it made the 2 hour long 35 degree haul to the resort in the domincan look like a cakewalk. Point being its an hour to the school...and home...every Tues and Thurs. We met kids in 2 classes, one grade 4 and one kindergarten, as well as a federal day care. The little kids are SO SO SO adorable and have all the love in the world to give. I, being the genius I am had verbal travellers diahrrea... we had to introduce our selves by name, age, and home country. Clearly at this point my lack of spanish practice was more than evident... confident that I know the word años means years old (emphasize Ñ) I disregard its importance and state that im 19 anos... note no ñ...not to worry, 40 10 year olds think I have 19 ASSHOLES. Awesome start.

We returned to our homestay at Lidias around 2 for lunch which was a lime breaded fish, mushroom soop, green beans and rice. We also signed up for spanish and chose our tues/thurs projects--i chose to teach phys ed to the grade 4-6 classes, reason 1 least necessary spanish reason 2 the copious amounts of rice and potatoes might result in more weight gain the first and second year combined. Also influencing my decision...gymnastics and dance are over, the opportunity for a repeat of prime embarassment is low.

Then we decided to go to Metro...which is EXACTLY T&T market (the asian superstore--yes more asian than the actual superstore)..but spanish. We got like 8L of water becasue were all scared shitless -no pun intended- of getting sick from the water. I also bought head and shoulders because it was the only shampoo i could read, and the possibility of me buying double condish or double shampoo was not in my favor. Now were back waiting for dinner...at 830 which seems like an eternity away but smells phenomenal.

I feel like this post is a mile long, so Ill stop writing in consideration that someone might actually be reading it in full. I will throw in more details as time goes on...and the homestay has internet so were golden. BUT before I leave, I must discuss the dogs. If you know me, you know I dont like the damn things to begin with, but the strays are EVERYWHERE, AND AND AND, they are randomly keeled over dead in teh middle of sidewalks AND like 9 of every 10 females is pregs.

hasta mañana amigos

Mañana

So I leave tomorrow, and the title is one of about 4 words I've managed to actually retain in Spanish. The last few days have been ridiculously stressful and busy. First of all, being the genius I am, I forgot the rain jacket I bought for Peru on the Red Arrow...who claims they don't have it...I know they're lying. Also, I'm setting up this world phone situation. It's through a company called 'roam mobility', the idea is good but almost too good. To the point where I assume even my mother of all people has missed the fine print. Apparently its unlimited incoming calls and texts from anywhere in the world? and the calls for my mom (we know she'll be the only person calling) are local? My outgoings are like 30c a minute which is substantially less than other ways of calling PLUS I get to rock a 2003 style Motorola flip--jealous? thought so. I'm also in a dilemma of how many bags to bring. Its actually only $30 for an extra bag but I'd really rather not go through the hassle of checking/waiting for/hoping they didn't lose two bags as opposed to one. In all fairness the second bag is for supplies for the orphanage, but still not keen.

I've also recently realized that I'm going to be without Starbucks for an entire month. The thought of which scares me more than getting lost in the wrong area of a 9million person city. Well just thought I'd touch base one last time before I indulge in 14 hours of airports and aircrafts (which better have TV's). Now back to downloading copious amounts of music and Spanish podcasts...who am I kidding, just music.

Hasta Luego!

(so says Google translator)

Less Than a Week!

After many years of wanting to volunteer abroad I finally started planning my trip to Peru about 8 months ago. I'm pretty sure it began as the beginning of a quarter life-esque crisis of me wanting to do things before I turn 20. Regardless I couldn't be happier that I finally got the guts to go ahead and book my flights! I'm going to be in Lima from June 29th to August 3rd volunteering with the Tarpuy Sonqo orphanage through the International Volunteer HQ placement agency. I'm also hoping my soccer connections follow through so that I can do some work with soccer camps for kids. I decided to venture off to Machu Picchu the second weekend I'm in the country--the adventure should be booked and paid, but it was all done en Espanol, so we shall see. On that note, no I don't know Spanish, and no I haven't started my audio book training yet. The only efficient planning I did was get my vaccines and precautionary antibiotics. (Note: typhoid is a bitch...and servers, keep in mind your tray hand isn't usually your good hand... that was a long night of 4 pint max trays).

I'm currently in Edmonton waiting for my 4th load of laundry to finish so I can decide what to pack to bring to Calgary to re-pack and bring to Peru. And in being bored by the result of my 3 week procrastination I've decided to come up with a list of things to do in Peru.

-drink purple corn beer

-photograph and not eat the skewered guinea pig

-make it to Machu Picchu without altitude sickness or the porter I was too cheap to hire

-play a pick up soccer game

-buy a wooly sweater

-learn how to make a 'home-made soccer ball'

-go clubbing...and safely return to my homestay

-swim in Andean hot springs

-go to church at the Lima Cathedral

-successfully barder in Spanish

-tan on the beach...during Peruvian winter...

-obviously: ride a llama =)

Anyway, this is just a glimpse at my pre-trip stress and excitement I'm going through as I attempt my final shifts at work and run a week of errands in a few days.