My house consists of my abuela Angelica who has three of her six children living in this house: my host mama, Yudith and two 18 year old twins (one has Down's syndrome). Then my aunt, Margot, and her daughter Marbeli (11), live here too. There's also an older man who is always around and yelling things at me (especially after I come home from a jog) but I can never understand him! I think he likes me though because he asked me to sit with him today for dinner:) It is a big house with two stories. My room is on the 2nd floor along with Yudith, Margot and Maribel's rooms. The boys live downstairs. It is a nice house! Solid walls and floors, tiled bathroom with flushing toilets. There is running water for the shower but the water is cold. They also have Wifi here most days so I am able to post on this blog!
Spanish is definitely a challenge... I can get by but I just want to have a meaningful conversation when Yudi asks me how my Spanish class was! It is clear that she has hosted many volunteers in the past because she is very patient with my Spanish, she doesn't over-serve me, she cooks lots of vegetables, etc. She loves to ask questions and chit chat. I'm excited for the day when I can answer in more than a few words! My prima, Maribel is 11 years old and we like to hang out. She loves the games on my Kindle, and has obviously played them before because she's so good! She is good at helping me understand things and has so much patience with me, it's really awesome.
The other 11 volunteer's live within ten minutes walking distance with the closest ones right across from me and right behind me. On our first day, we walked around the community (it was not very big) picking up all the voluntarios. On the top of the hill there is a concrete soccer field; I hope we can go up and play there one of these days.
That night a handful of volunteers and some mamas took a combi (bus) to Chosica, a big central town. Our first combi experience went well! There are no bus stops, you just have to stand by the road and wave the driver down. It's hectic when you get on and there's a man (el cobrador) who collects your money. You tell him where you want to go and he'll tell you how much money you owe. Usually rides cost 0.50 Peruvian Soles which is about $0.17. Then he shouts when your stop comes up and you push your way out. The bus driver hardly stops much less pulls his parking break while loading and unloading!
Chosica was fun! It was full of people, street food, music, and vendors. We bought a few churros (not quite like Disneyland's ;)) and walked around. We saw a river and the famous Christo Blanko! TJ's and my mom had to do some grocery shopping so we hung out and everyone else left. Getting back was difficult as the combis were packed and we had grocery bags. But we made it home safe! I fell right to sleep and slept like a log :)
No comments:
Post a Comment