Buscando Novia?

A lot of volunteers have left Arequipa, and as it stands right now, there are only 5 volunteers. So, obviously, we are working a lot. My hours every day, minus Saturdays, are from 9am-7pm or 8pm. My work has expanded from just teaching English and working in the homework project to taking children to the dentist office and waiting for them (3+ hours) and also to making and serving breakfast to 40 kids twice a week in San Isidro. We are all sharing the work, but we are exhausted. It's funny, because we were talking about how when we first got here, we went out to clubs nearly every weekend, and now we're like if we go out for dinner two times a month. But we're still loving the work!

Funny story: There's a girl in first grade at the school I teach English in in San Isidro. She talks and talks and talks. Anyway, one day, after everyone had left school one day... I was playing with this girl on the playground, and here is the conversation that pursued (while you're reading it, remember she is only 6 years old):

Katie: Do you have a wife?
Me: No. I'm pretty young to have a wife. I am only 18 years old.
Katie: Why does that matter? You should have a wife.
Me: Really?
Katie: Yes. I will help you find the prettiest girl in Peru and make her your wife. But you have to do some things too.
Me: Like what?
Katie: You have to always look handsome, be very sensitive, and - sometimes - make her jealous.

Four days later, and I'm still laughing about this conversation.

I have three pictures to share:

> CONGRATULATIONS TAR HEELS ON WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! Hate that I wasn't there.




> Miah McClinton (on the right) is one of my really good friends in the states. She is a model and works for agencies that sell her photos to various companies all over the world. Here, in Peru, there are two cellphone providers - Movistar and Claro. Most people have prepaid cellphones, so they have to constantly buy these cards that refill their credit. Well, one day, I looked in a store window, and saw my friend Miah on the Movistar card for 10 minutes. Small world...





> The view of Arequipa from my room.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

Yesterday was the 3 year birthday of INTIWAWA. So at 4pm we had a big party in San Isidro with a huge spread of food, lots of cake, and lots of dancing. It was all of the volunteers, all of the Peruvian volunteers, all of the children, and all of the mothers of San Isidro. There was a beautiful segment of speeches where every group was represented.

The mother who spoke for all of the moms said the following to the foreign volunteers (like myself):

"Y a los extranjeros: Muchas Gracias. Ustedes vienen con el amor, la voluntad, la carisma, y la seriedad. Muchas mujeres en este pueblo dicen: "Por que tiene que ir a INTIWAWA hoy a mi nino?" Es porque para los ninos es importante el amor que traen, los besos, los abrazos, los "Te Quieros". Que vivan los extranjeros de INTIWAWA.

Translation: To the foreign volunteers: Thank you so much. You all come with love, with the will to work, with charisma, and with seriousness. Many mothers in this village ask: "Why does my child have to go to INTIWAWA today?" It's because, to the children, it's important the love you bring with you, the kisses, the hugs, the "I love you's". May the volunteers of INTIWAWA live forever!



Then, I, by default (for being the only volunteer currently who speaks Spanish), was the representative for all the 'gringos'. Here's what I said:

"Bueno, hablo por todo los extranjeros cuando diga "Muchisimias Gracias por los Bienvenidos a sus familias y a su pueblo". Hemos venido por la experiencia de viajar y todo de eso, pero nos hemos quedado por los ninos."

TRANSLATION:"I speak for all of the volunteers when I say "Thank you so, so much for welcoming us in to your families and to your village. We came for the experience of traveling, but we have stayed for the children."



Some random photos of Arequipa (some of them are really old - from the end of February and Valentine's Day), enjoy!

Shake, Shake, Shake...

Earthquake on Wednesday night around 9:30pm. News reports say it was a good 4.7 on the Richter scale. All the volunteers were sitting around a table eating when everything started to violently shake. The other American ran fast and far, screaming... at that moment, I was pretty embarrassed to say I was from the same country as her. The rest of us just went outside and kind of anxiously waited for it to end. It was maybe 30 seconds. As I look back on it: super, super cool.

I wanted to post some pictures, but internet was not working at Internet cafe so I haven´t had access to my laptop. I´ll try to work on that during the week.

Take care!