What a difference a week can make! I have discovered so much this second week in site. I got to go to the Colegio (high school) for the first time and it was definitely an interesting experience. My site mate Nick teaches there almost every day- they just gave him his own classes (ha!)- so he introduced me to everyone there and I got to see a little bit of the way the schools run here. I may be teaching in the high school at some point, or at least teaching entrepreneurship to a mix of high school and Instituto students. Instituto is where the kids go if they want to get higher education but their parents can’t afford a university (or they didn’t pass the entrance exam). There is an Instituto here in town and I will also be working with them.

I also have met a ton more people this week, all of whom have been super welcoming. I’m excited to see the possibilities of work and relationships that will come.

It’s such a beautiful town and we have 2 great tourist sites (i.e. the ruins of Kuntur Wasi is where they found the oldest gold in the Americas and we have it in the museum) but no one knows about them. Also, there aren’t many established restaurants (most are in the front of peoples’ houses) or cute little artisan stores. This is going to be one of my goals I think- to help develop the tourism sector here- and I’ve already been working a bit with the tourism office in the municipality and they definitely want to work on this as well.

Funny anecdote…Last week I was at the monument with the ladies from the tourism office and there was a neighborhood meeting of all the people that live around the monument. One of the ladies was introducing me and before I knew it she promised the whole group I would teach their kids English. She hadn’t even asked me beforehand…ha! So I’m gonna roll with it, because everyone thinks we are here to teach English and it helps build rapport with the community.

It’s really fun when people are super excited to meet me and want to know all about the US- this happens pretty frequently, especially with kids…so cute!

I went with my host mom and her class to a field trip out to the campo (rural area) and it was very beautiful. They fed us and we hung out all day, and when we left they gave us a bunch of bananas and avocado from their trees…sooo good! Also the cheese and milk here are amazing, SO fresh. The farmers bring their milk to people’s houses every day and I love having my hot milk with coffee, mmmm! And the bread is super good, too.

Friday I went out to a different part of the campo to meet a group of rural women who make their own yarn to sell/make blankets, ponchos, etc. They are definitely more shy than the people who live in my “city.” But I hope to work with them and I admire the simplicity and peace I see in them. We walked an hour and a half each way to get there, phew!

Getting used to a slower pace here…this was really hard for me at first, but I am learning how to slow down and just enjoy my time instead of rushing. These first three months we are just supposed to be getting to know the community and doing a diagnostic with them that will show where the community stands now and its potential for growth. From there we can start to form our own projects with community members/groups depending on what they want to do.

I was going to add pics but they wont upload, so next time!

Blessings,

Jackie