Otuzco and... deer jerky?

yesterday we packed up into a van and took about a 2 1/2 hour trip out of Trujillo to Otuzco. SALI classes ended on Wednesday for the June cycle, so we took a little trip out of the city. The ride there was beautiful... sometimes I forget how much I just love the mountains and seeing things that are green, smelling fresh air. These are the things you forget are vital when you live on the corner of one of the busiest intersections in a large city. 

I googled Otuzco before we started our trip.... and... well it may not have been the most thorough search possible but I could not find any information on the town except dates for festivals for saints. 

You know that I have been trying my way with chicken... and recently I tried some cecina (which is a bit like country ham) in a jungle restaurant here in trujillo. So... on our trip when I was greeted with the menu... I thought that my safest bet on the menu was cecina... and oh could i have been more wrong? The cecina was actually more like dried deer meat. And wow did not go over well with my bodiest tolerance for meat. But, well I can say I'm trying. 

One of the gorgeous views along the way

Inside the Catholic church in the Plaza (the main square)

the church from the outside

Cecina (not the normal cecina) 

a classy mountain woman

yellow.

Rocio found earrings and hair clips that match my yellow shoes and spontaneously bought them for me... my students are awesome no? yes, the correct answer is yes they are amazing. ad im not saying that because they give me gifts, im saying that because its just a fact. 

love my students.

love my friends.

love my students/friends.

love peru.

Hogar de Esperanza

This past Saturday took a little of a detour from my usual Saturday activities. A group from the church which I attend here in Trujillo, the Larco branch of Peru Mission, took a group out to the orphanage to help out for the day. It was definitely a wonderful day of work and play and exhaustion :) 

Let's get you a small vision of my day:

The plan... as had been announced at the church as well as been said through the many mouths of authority through the week... was to leave the church on a bus at 7 am. So naturally... friday night I had nightmares about being 3 minutes late to the church and them having left me with their bus full of excited helpers. This was a worry for me... only because I had never gone to this place before, on my own or with anyone, I had no idea where it was. But my nightmares were completely unrealistic... as I knew... I KNEW! that every other function it didnt matter how late I had been... there were always those that were later....by 30 minutes. I learned this lesson well, the past month that I started to attend a girls Bible study at the church on Monday mornings at 7 am... which later had been changed to 7 am for the peruvian girls and 7:30 am for me ... as I had been continuously surprising the Hermana (sister) which was leading the study... for a personal visit for 30 minutes each Monday while waiting on the other girls :D

So... this past Saturday morning... what convinced me to show up at the church at 7 am? Incredibly unrealistic yet guilt inflicting night mares. What did I meet when I got to the church? Well a closed door and no bus for starters... which I naturally first assumed that I just missed everything. What was the reality... I was again... la primera (the first) ... and I waited patiently for the others to arrive. :) I don't know if I will ever learn my lesson. I am inconsistent. I show up late to the things people show up on time for, and early for the things every ones else know somehow to show up 30 minutes to an hour late for. Why can't I grasp the culture!!!! haha

Well, eventually we left the church, and were at Albergue in time to start cleaning near to 8 AM.. we gathered in groups and spread across to all corners of the orphanage, soapy bowl in left hand, cloth to scrub in right hand. We spent the morning cleaning then gathered together midday to eat lunch with everyone. It was fun to have the kids help us... well... hmm.. well yeah help :) But even more fun to spend lunchtime with them then spend time with them after playing. The boys played baskettball and the us girls gathered around to watch, talk and cheer. I met a cute girl with the same name as me... what can I say? :) It was fun to spend time with both the group from the church, the kids, and the combination of the two. Some of the kids come to our church, so it was great to see their faces to be able to spot them and focus on them. One of the boys I recognized because one of the guys in our choir gives him drum lessons on Saturdays before choir. Well... he (a teenager, or preteen) had a sandboard and somehow i was the girl selected among the little group of guys he chose to go out with the board into the dunes nearby. ...What a treat! I went out with the guys, and a few little boys... including Franklin... precious kid with the goofiest classes... and... I can confidently and securely tell you... that even though there is no evidence.. I completely rocked out the sandboarding better than the the three other guys there my age.. thus winning over the privelage of conversation with this kid that had previously ignored me in church. So now I get to pick on the guys  and I get to talk to this kid because now he thinks I'm cool enough. 

Following the cleaning and playing... we headed back to the church in the same bus... where... well more cleaning was left to greet some of us. Our youth group has split up into groups that takes turns cleans the church on Saturdays.. and... of course it was my groups turn! And well it's not the lightest of cleaning. But doable. That day, followed by choir practice and a despedida ( a going away party) for one of the missionary families that is returning on furlough, was a hard core day ending with a serious visit by the sandman. But I enjoyed every minute of it. And I'm excited for some of the doors that I think were opened for me by going with that group. 

Some of the kids....

Some of our group...

Where we spent our day...

Fast Track Inspiration

My time here in Peru, as all of you know, has been spent with SALI, teaching English... which is where the majority of my time is consumed. With that kind of work I have spent a lot of time teaching, preparing, talking with students, building up relationships with them. Which is wonderful and I love every moment that I get to spend with them. Especially this month in particular has been an exciting and encouraging one for me as far as my students. Although a small class, I have found a great connection with them. It is a fast track class, which is a little different from our normal classes, its... well faster.. and prepares someone for English that has a little amount of time to learn before needing that skill. Many times our students finish our Fast Track program then enroll in our regular classes. 

Well, this a class of all girls, so I feel that we are all a bit more open with each other. And, since it's a smaller class, we are getting to know more about each other as well. Vivian has a baby and she lives with her family, she is a wonderful mother. Diana has medical studies that keep her very busy and she is a great student. And Lorena travels to Lima about as often as I go to the grocery store, to help her mother with their work. I think that also an advantage for me from having a smaller class, has been me feeling like I could experiment more, be more open with my students about my life, my beliefs, and more intentional with them as well. We have had great opportunities to look at Bible passages on topics we talk about in class, as well as our time of prayer has really changed this month. We always finish class with prayer, but this month has been so much more special. And I feel that they each know that they can come with requests each day to class that they will hear me pray for them for. I think that our time has been incredible this month, and I am really looking forward to spending the next month with them as well, to see how our relationship increases as well as how God works in our class. Please keep each of these girls in your prayers, as well as our classes at SALI in general. God is truly working in our classrooms, and in our lives here! 

corpus christi

dyed wood shavings...

flower petals...

designs...

the catholic church..

the plaza de armas...

...corpus christi

36 hours in Lima

last weekend i took a trip to Lima! my tourist visa is expiring soon, and since I am planning to stay in Peru longer, I took the next step past a tourist visa and went to Lima to start the process of getting a religious visa, which means I can stay in Peru for a year at a time. Lucky for me, that I have been in Trujillo long enough now to have friends in Lima! How does that work? Well, a student of mine a few months ago, now lives in Lima working as an Engineer. So when I told her that I was coming to Lima, Vanessa offered to show me around her new city.

While I was waiting on Vanessa to finish work, I visited the Museo de la Nacion. It was free! :) and I could wander around the museum looking at art and history for as long as I wanted. 

In the evening I met up with Vanessa, and also with her friend Claudia... both of whom... were so excited to see me because they wanted to practice their English!!!! haha. we had dinner and window shopped for the evening, then finished with a few games of air hockey. Which I can proudly say that I introduced them too! I can't believe that neither of them had played before, but we had so much fun, and I am pretty sure that they are now just as addicted as I am. 

The next day in the afternoon we went by the plaza... and saw the presidential palace! Sadly we missed by just a few minutes, the changing of the guard. We heard it was very interesting to watch but we didn't get to see it ourselves. It was fun to wander the city with these girls, because they are new to Lima also and they were just as much a tourist as I was :)
The zoo!!! There is a zoo in Lima... and of course we went! I was so excited! And although I don't have a picture... I think the turtles were my favorite... they were HUGE!!!
half child - half tiger
real tiger -not so happy... he paced and paced... and roared and roared. he was quite the attraction.
and they were just sleepy :)
it was a lot of fun spending time in Lima, thanks Vanessa and Claudia!!!!

i'm invited!

meet my friend Keren. miss keren is currently 14 years old and patiently waiting her 15 year birthday party in July. here in peru, turning 15 is celebrated like turning 16 in the states. theres a big party, a pink dress is involved. 

i met keren and her brother isaac in January i believe in one of my conversation classes. they are both awesome people and give me very good reason to believe that their entire family is just as awesome as the two of them. i haven't had the two of them in class since Januray, but they continued taking classes here, and one of the highlights of each of my day is getting to see them as they come into their classes. 

so keren's big 15 is coming up soon, in July. and i am EXCITED that i get to go! the invitation was very nice, and it says specifically "elegante" which then she gave me strict instructions about dressing nicely and wearing a dress but most importantly NOT a PINK dress. because thats what the birthday girl wears. and the birthday girls brother wears a pink tie. to which i will endlessly pick on him for of course. hehe. 

this is going to be fun. im excited. really excited. i will let you know soon (well after July 4th since thats her birthday) how it goes, with pictures of course!

SALI corner cafe

this month i am working in the coffee shop as well as teaching a Fast Track class. I start at three oclockish... selling coffee and cookies... sandwiches and sodas. 

Today Andrea was helping me out :) Andrea and I have spent several months working hard on me spoiling her with cookies and swinging circles of ring around the rosie to develop our friendship. I think we are finally at the point in our relationship where she remembers my name even when i don't have cookies in my hand. Today we shared coffee for me and hot chocolate for her over yummy cookies like they make in the mountains in peru.