So...I finally updated my blog...

Yes I realize it has been a week since I last posted. I have been so busy! By about 6pm I am tired and I am usually asleep by about 9:30. I am turning into an old person.


Tomorrow is our last day of service learning. I am really going to miss the little ninos and ninas. Our classroom is a tiny little shack in a rougher or at least less wealthy part of town. The program the schools are in is called Pronoei. Our teacher speaks no English which means we do a lot of charades and use the little bit of Spanish we know to figure out what needs done. We are in a Kindergarten classroom with kids from 3-5 years old.The schools here are so different than in the US. I knew they would be, but is is still surprising. There is very little discipline and structure. It feels like more of a daycare than a school to me. They have been doing body parts for the past 2 days.

There are a few little girls I want to take home with me, especially Ruth Karen who hardly ever speaks. She is so quiet and adorable with her little pigtails and was so upset yesterday when she had an accisdent in the bathroom. The other little girl I will miss is Alejandra who is a.little packrat and has so much stuff in her backpack. Yesterday she had a little toy chick that she was opplaying with. She "cut" the head off with her knife and made soup. The boy next to her did the same with his toy dog... There are 12 boys and 6 girls in the class plus the teacher's 2 year old.

It really has made me think about what education is and the purpose of education. What is the purpose of school was a question Dr. Findley asked us the first day of class, and I have really thought about it a lot this semester and since then. The y do a lot of drawing and playing with modeling clay which for me as an art teacher is great. The first day, I spent most of my time making animals and people and objects out of modeling clay for them to play with. They do a lot of puzzles too. I have spent a lot of time doing puzzles with kids. I am saddenned that they don't have space to run and burn off energy. There is a small courtyrad with the bathrooms and front gate that is smaller thna a dorm room.

The kids are so adorable. When we leave, we can hear them from 3 blocks away. Ther eis a language barrier to some extennt, but they are really good about it and seem to slow down and use words we can understand.

It is about a 20 minute bus ride plus  4 minute walk to get to the school. The busses here are crazy; and traffic is insane. Traffic rules are more of a guideline than law. I didn't notie my first stoplight until Monday...
I feel pretty good about getting around and crossing the street safely, but at least once a day you still have to run so you don't get hit. Chelsea on the other hand has not quite figured this out. At least once a day I have to grab her and pull her back or pull her along. I swear I need a leash for her. You know-those backpack leashthings that parents use...yeah, I need one for her.

we have Spanish lessons in the afternoon. I am tired by then and our new teacher isn't as fun. We spent a lot of time on grammar. I hte grammar in English and don't know what is what, so trying to do it in only Spanish is very difficult. I an definitely the worst in out class of five. At least I can stck Jenga blocks well even if I can't conjuhgate verbs correctly-that was a fun game.

we have gone out to eat a few times at a pizzeria, where I had one of the best pizzas I have ever had. It was 4 cheese and didn't have tomatoe sauce.

Tomorrow, I want to actually call home, since I haven't done that yet. It is hard since we are an hour behind.

Last night, out host dad Rafael took a group of us to a local workshop where they make jewelry from Peruvian silver. It is .950 so it has more silver than sterling silver. I splurged and bought myself a necklace and a pair of earrings for Mrs. Nowotny-I hope she has pierced ears! It was really neat.

We went to a few neat places this weekend too. Sunday we went to Pisac and I got a lot of my shoping done for people, but I am almost out of money and I still have things I want to get for people. I got more things for myslef than I originally thought I would. also we have been eating out and buying more food than I thought, but I want to try as many different things as I can while I am here.

 I still haven't had cuy, but we have seen guinea pigs at several places we have stopped at. They are so cute, and I want one!

I am mostly adjusted to the altitude, but I still get out of breath if I go too fast.Victor, our tour guide, told us that when we climb the mountains and we are out of breath it is not because we are experiencing altitude sickness. It is because our hearts are jumping for joy because we are getting closer and closer to our Creator. Maybe he's right.We have been to a lot of historical places and I have taken about 600 pictures so far. we went to Ollantaytambo which was really neat and even though I didn't think I could, I made it all the way to the top. I have climbed so many step since coming here. Not normal steps either. A lot of them are at knee level. I have a new appreciation for civil engineers and the ADA and how easy it is to get around in America.

We joke at how toned everyone's legs are, but it is true. I have lost weight, my pants are really baggy and I need to wear a belt (down a notch) just to not feel so frumpy. Some of my pants have about 6 inches of gic=ve in the waist or legs. I am kind of happy I lost weight.

I ahve been eating so many vegetables here too. A lot of rice which my family will tell you isn't really my favorite. It is kind of rude to not eat everything on your plate. There has only been one meal that I didn't really like, and it was mainly because of the cheese. Here dairy products aren't always pastuerized and cheeses can be kind of sketchy. One in particular smeels slightly spoiled and makes me nauseaous. 

Wednesday I had my first real craving. Kraft Mac and Cheese. Yup-the blue blox blues. I don't even really like box mac and cheese, but I have kind of been wanting it for the past week. Chinese food from the Dragon Palace too. And Mountain Dew. I found some but it was about $1.50 for a can.

Another thing I really want is a long, hot shower. Hot water is more of a theory here than a fact. I have been showering every other or every 3 days since we have been having problems with the water. Even after a shower, I still don't feel super clean.  A lot of the girls on the trip have said they feel the same. So I want to sleep in my own bed in clean pajamas after a hot shower and have a more steady body temperature.

Chelsea and I have been fortunate in the fact that we haven't gotten sick. Most people have, but our host family is great and we have been careful when we went out. I am pretty sure I am the only one who hasn't had alcohol on this trip. People have been taking advantage of the drinking age being 18 her and one night when we went out, some people were pretty gone. It was kind of uncomfortable for me to be honest. 

Today there was a futbol game. I didn't go. I was the only one. I spent some time online, then went exploring Cusco on my own. It was fun. Then I came back to the apartment and took a 3 hour nap. Tonight we watched The Tourist. Now, I need to go get into my pajamas and snuggle up under the 4 blankets on my bed and get some sleep. 7am comes early. 

Thanks for reading this, I am sorry it is so long!