Time is really flying as I'm in the midst my fourth week here! I have lots to share from this past week, including my first travels in Peru. The weekend of March 23rd and 24th was a relaxing, yet productive break. On Saturday, I did laundry (I know, exciting) and worked on some school tasks. Laundry is pretty much the same here, besides the fact no one uses driers here. With the climate, everyone washes the clothes and then hangs them on the roof to dry. On Sunday, I attended a conference with my host father. He is the head of the education group EIGER, so he goes to different schools and talks to the families and students. I am glad I was able to attend. I understood most of what he said and even got up to talk a little bit (in English) when he talked about the importance of learning another language. We then went out to lunch with my host father and a few other administrative people. There are conferences almost every weekend, so I’m hoping to attend a few more while I am here. I like getting involved with education outside of the normal school day. I had another, similar opportunity to interact with families on Thursday when my host father was talking at the first parent meeting of the year. It was a long day, but very beneficial for my development as an educator. At school last week, we moved to yet another classroom. It was a little annoying, but definitely needed. We now have more space to move around and the better desks. We also got into the more structured schedule now that all classes were in their permanent spot and teachers knew when they were available to teach specials. Included in this weekly schedule is a meeting every Monday morning with the whole school. We all get together to talk about the week ahead, make announcements, discuss any civic duty days, pray, and sing the national anthem of Peru. While in my experience we had assemblies every now and then, it was not on a weekly basis. I think these Monday mornings really make the school feel more unified and on the same page. We finished out the week doing some team building activities to develop a greater sense of community and comfort in the classroom. The school psychologist helped us out with activities. The students (and I) had fun staying outside for a little longer and playing a few games. We started a group science project last week (one of the reasons why we wanted to do the team building activities) and I am excited to see what the students have to present this week.
After school on Friday, I went to bed early to prepare for an early start the next day. The person who is in charge of my placements here put me in contact with her friend who takes groups on different tours each month. I was able to tag along to Lunahuana on Saturday. I will preface this story by sharing the only thing I knew about the trip before Saturday was that I had to be ready to leave at 4:30am, how much it cost, and that I needed to bring an extra set of clothes. My day started by waking up at 4am. I grabbed my backpack I had packed the night before and got on the bus which picked me up at my house. We made a few more stops to pick up others, totaling 12 or 13 people I think. We drove for almost three hours, making a few stops along the way. It honestly did not feel like that long due to how early it was and the beautiful scenery.
We stopped at this little look out point that was made of rocks and had what I think is supposed to be Jesus’ face. It was nice to stretch our legs and watch the sun come up.
Upon arrival in Lunahuana, we ate a light breakfast and then hiked up to a lookout point. It was a short, steep climb and the view was pretty amazing!
We descended from the lookout point and made our way to the shop for canotaje, which is rafting in English. There is a river running through Lunahuana and watersports are a very popular activity for tourists. We put our belongings into lockers at the shop and piled into a van with the rafts on top to make the short trip to the river entrance. We were then given lifejackets, helmets, and paddles. The instructions were to sit on the edge of the raft with one foot anchored under a strap in the raft and follow the paddling instructions of the guide. I had a great time and they definitely make sure no one leaves dry.
After changing out of our wet clothes, we sat down for a lunch that was included in the price of the tour. It was pretty typical Peruvian food, which I am getting very used to: soup to start and then chicken with rice. We said goodbye to the little town, but our adventures were far from over. Our next stop was a small place that keeps bees and makes honey. We toured the small outdoor area and then tasted four different kinds of honey they make and sell. The place was very cute and the honey was delicious! Next, we stopped at two different places that make and sell wine and pisco (which is the national drink in Peru). We toured and had multiple samples at both locations. The tours were very informative and interesting, and the samples were pretty good too I guess (;
{These pictures include a giant pile of uvas (grapes), the containers the wine is fermented in, how pisco is made, and a few other pictures from around the vinyards}
Our plan was to go to a beach called Cerro Azul on the way home. We did stop, but it was getting late so it was a short visit. There were still plenty of people and surfers as the sun was going down. Our bus trip back was pretty quiet as everyone was exhausted from the early morning and full day of activities. I was being dropped off back at the house around 8pm, but no one was home because there were two more birthdays in the family. So I took an Uber over to the party. As tired as I was, there was lots of food, cake, and dancing so I’m not complaining.
On Sunday, we all took a much needed rest and gathered around 11 am for brunch. I did more laundry (not that I needed to after last weekend, but the clothes that were in the river needed to be washed sooner rather than later) and worked on some lesson plans. Around 3, we went out for a late lunch/early dinner, grocery shopping, and then to church. Overall, it was an amazing, exhausting weekend. I can’t wait for more travels to come!
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