It is so nice to get up each day and eat breakfast with the roomies and our host dad, Americo, before we go to work. Breakfast usually consists of bread with butter or jam, bananas, cereal with milk or yogurt, and tea.
When I arrived at school today, the kids were already outside playing. Then they were practicing marching for an upcoming parade in celebration of their Independence Day. After recess, Bhavika and I taught an English lesson on "emotions" to the 5th graders. Since she can draw, she drew the facial expressions on the board while I taught the Spanish/English words accordingly. The students copied the words and drawings in their book, and I asked them to show me each facial expression as I snapped photos of them. They loved it! These guys were definitely quick learners!
That afternoon, I found out that my grandma passed away in Taiwan. It was difficult, but I'm grateful to have had the support of my new friends in Peru and the the support from friends back home. I know she would've wanted me to stay in Peru. Thank you all for keeping her in your thoughts.
That night, we went to eat at Los Perros. The food was so good! While hanging out at the plaza, a boy about 9 or 10 years old came up to Jamie and asked her if she wanted to buy finger puppets in English.
She told him, "No, thank you".
Boy: "Why not?" in a pouty tone of voice.
Jamie: "Because I don't want them".
Boy: "Where are you from?"
Jamie: "Africa". Clearly, she's light-skinned and from Texas.
Boy: "Liar".
And we just started cracking up! We told him that he spoke English very well. It's sad to see how kids that are smart and talented here are working as street vendors and bus fare takers. It seems like school may not be a priority for some of them because they need to help their family make ends meet.
In the words of my roomie, "Blame it on the Al-Al-Al-Altitude!". Fortunately, I didn't get any altitude sickness, but I definitely feel the effects of being up this high above sea level. With the ridiculously amount of climbing stairs and walking that I do, I run out of oxygen fairly fast and can't talk and walk at the same time. And the smog/pollution here just stays and lingers so I get exhausted quite easily.
