Peru, Spring 2008 SST unit

Departure

3 Dec 2008 18:01 EST

And they are off! Off to recuperate from stretching and character building, off to find new adventures and share what they've learned through their actions. The students prepared for departure, packing and repacking, leaving the old, buying new. They crammed, sat on, crushed, shoved, squeezed their bounty into their bags and made their way to the...

Final Projects and Re-entry Retreat

3 Dec 2008 16:11 EST

We were delighted to arrive to warm ocean breeze and bright sunshine after months of rain, mist and sometimes cold temperatures. We ended our time in Peru at a Church Camp sound of Lima. We enjoyed wading in the ocean, swimming in the pool and exploring the critters on the shore. Come evening we had a bonfire with s'mores! We couldn't believe our...

Peruvian Thanksgiving

3 Dec 2008 15:21 EST

Although a truly Peruvian thanksgiving would have been with a guinea pig (cuy), rice and potatoes; we were really looking forward to some traditional Thanksgiving cuisine. Students started arriving from service on Thursday and the last ones straggled in Saturday evening just in time for Thanksgiving dinner that took about three days to prepare. Thanksgiving...

Visiting Micah, Cal and Tim in Almeria with Zac

26 Nov 2008 17:07 EST

We arrived during physical education class. Tim, serving as a teacher at the school was with Micah and Cal, typically in the greenhouse, playing all kinds of unusual children's games. Coca-cola is the favorite, which is freeze tag in the US. Imagine thirty 3rd graders, 5 malos (those who are "it") and the rest are buenos (the good guys). After ...

Visiting Zac in Cusco

26 Nov 2008 12:14 EST

Zac works with World Vision in Cusco. When World Vision sponsors send packages to their sponsor child he reviews the package, logs what it contains, logs the questions in the letter and repackages it and puts it in a bag for the community where the child lives. The community receives the bag of packages infrequently. World Vision has appreciated...

Visiting Jordan in Chincha

19 Nov 2008 16:15 EST

Jordan lives in Chincha, located 2 hours south of Lima. This town had been hit hard by a previous earthquake more than a year ago. Chinchaâ€™s climate is warm and dry. It never rains in Chincha; just like in Lima it only drizzles from time to time. Jordan lives with Edwin and Cecil, both medical doctors, and has 2 siblings. Jordanâ€™...

Visiting Tom and Lauren in Chulucanas

19 Nov 2008 15:27 EST

Visiting Jennifer in Tarica

19 Nov 2008 13:46 EST

Jennifer is living in Tarica, Huaraz of the mountainous Ancash province. Tarica is known for its mines and has amazing views of the Andes mountain range. Jennifer lives about 1 hour away from classmates Hannah and Jessica. Jennifer lives with a Quechua family; her host parents are Magaly and Victor, have 2 children. Jennifer enjoys spending time...

Visiting Jessica and Hannah in Mancos

19 Nov 2008 13:20 EST

Jessica and Hannah live in Mancos, Huaraz. This small village is located at around 8,500 feet. Mancos is located in the Callejon de Huaylas, a valley surrounded by the majestic mountains of the Andes. Both are staying with Noemi and Walter, owners of a quaint hostel. From the hostel you can see Huascaran. (22,000 ft.) and enjoy the fresh air. ...

Visiting Adam at his service location in La Victoria

17 Nov 2008 10:23 EST

Adam is living in Barranco, a southern district of Lima. He volunteers at a childrenâ€™s home in La Victoria district. The home is run by a couple that manage the home. This home serves as refuge for 14 children ages 7-14. These children come from broken homes. A few of the children have lived in this home for 4 or more years. Adam...

Visiting Zach and Francisco in Chancay

17 Nov 2008 10:15 EST

Visiting with Betsy in Huaral

17 Nov 2008 10:07 EST

Betsy lives in Huaral, located two hours north of Lima. The landscape of Huaral is filled with sand dunes, fruit orchards and other vegetable crops. The weathers is similar to Limaâ€™s with a temperature of approximately 60 F. Betsy lives with a family that is very involved in a local church. In fact, the host father is the lead ...

Marita and Emily in Huancayo

17 Nov 2008 03:05 EST

Marita and Emily have been serving with two soup kitchens that provide lunches for school aged children and a few elderly. Children arrive between 11am and 2pm. They sometimes assist the women of the community in preparation for the meal as well or take roll of those who come to pick up lunch or eat at the facilities provided by a local...

Visiting with Tana in Oxapampa

8 Nov 2008 02:40 EST

Tana works with a program sponsored by Compassion International and run by a local evangelical church. She assists in the kitchen preparing the meals for the soup kitchen as well as helping out in a classroom. Oxapampa is recognized for its population of Germanic descent co-existing with tribes of the area. Although this wasn't overtly...

Visiting with Kathryn in Villa Rica

8 Nov 2008 02:33 EST

We met Kathryn at the bus terminal in the small town of Villa Rica. Her host-father brought us to their home where we had a delicious lunch. Her host father is a very kind and gentle man whose eyes smile. He is not only her host-father but also her service assignment supervisor as the Director for the local hospital also Dr. a clinic...

Visit with Nathan and Haven in San Shiriyo de Palomar-Pasco

2 Nov 2008 20:35 EST

We met Nathan and Haven at Jeremy's house. They had come to visit for the weekend. Nathan and Haven live with relatives of Jeremy's family on a coffee farm. Isidro and Carmen, Nathan and Haven's host parents actually farm more than just coffee, including but not limited to bananas and yuca. They also grow snails and chickens for personal...

Visit to La Merced-Junin to visit Jeremy

2 Nov 2008 20:03 EST

This past we've been visiting students in their assignments. First stop was Jeremy in La Merced. La Merced is a sunny and humid town where many coffee farms bring their produce to sell and be processed. Jeremy works at one such processing plant. Jeremy works with an organization called Chanchamayo Highland Coffee, which processes ...

Service

25 Oct 2008 14:38 EST

The students left on Sunday for Service. We leave to visit 7 students in Junin this week. We'll have more pictures to post from said events, next week.

Machu Picchu

25 Oct 2008 14:00 EST

We started our day at 4:30 in the morning with a light breakfast and walked to the train station by 5:30 and the train left promptly at 6. We arrived in Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu puelbo) around 8 in the mornin and from there took a bus up to Machu Pichu. By 10a we got past the well-intentioned but zealous guards and climbed a few...

Cusco, Cuzco or Q'osqo and the Sacred Valley

25 Oct 2008 12:39 EST

Because the Incans didn't have any documented written language there is some obscurity as to the exact spelling of Cusco. But we'll refer to is as Cusco from hereon. We left Lima, wednesday afternoon, all meeting at the airport. Some took a nap, others entertained themselves otherwise for the hour and a half flight. Upon arriving at the airprot...

Despedida

22 Oct 2008 22:47 EST

On the last day of class, the students took time to thank Oswaldo and Leo their teachers. Each of the two classes did something special for their professors as the students also did for their teachers. They really enjoyed their time of not just language learning but cultural learning also. That afternoon the students spent some time (some spent ...

Villa El Salvador

15 Oct 2008 11:08 EST

Villa El Salvador is a well-known and well- developed shanty town started only 40 years ago with over 500,000 inhabitants. This community is divided into subsections that support community development, each subsection ha a soup kitchen and a director of governance that collects funds for soccer fields, public play areas, pre-school or ...

Friday night Fiesta

15 Oct 2008 10:44 EST

The students wanted to gather on a Friday night at Tambo to make pizzas and watch movies. The students organized the event and we enjoyed not only pizzas and strawberry cheesecake but also hymns and eventually movies.

Artist Victor Delfin

7 Oct 2008 23:48 EST

Thursday afternoon we visited a resident artist of Lima, Victor Delfin. In his 80s he still has a love of play and a heart for justice. We listened to him reflect on his thoughts of his life and how he became a well known Peruvian artist.

Chincha and the Earthquake affected areas of Peru

3 Oct 2008 00:42 EST

Tuesday we spent 3 hours in the crowded but comfortable (with Zac's exception) bus to Chincha, south of Lima. Poor Zac sat on the only seat left, a hard bench. Otherwise the students passed the time playing twenty questions, sleeping, playing cards, laughing and talking. As we got nearer to Chincha we noticed large cracks in the walls of buildings...

Traditional Dance

1 Oct 2008 01:23 EST

The students gathered at the seminary after class for some physical activity as a break from the academic activities. They enjoyed learning some complicated steps to traditional folkloric dance. It is very rewarding to watch the students learn, grow and become confident in new atmospheres. They have shown flexibility and growth as they've been pushed...

Instituto de Libertad y Democracia (ILD)

30 Sep 2008 01:12 EST

[ild.org.pe...] -- The institute graciously hosted us, while sharing with us their vision for the empowerment of the poor by creating accessibilty of the extralegal livelihoods and settlements. This NGO works with the worlds leaders, creating change from the top.

Islas Palomino

26 Sep 2008 19:53 EST

[www.islaspalomino.com...] -- Friday we went to Islas Palomino. After class we waited on the bus to arrive and then headed straight to Callao's port and waited for our yacht to arrive to take us to Islas Palomino, islands an hour off the coast of Peru. We got on boats that took us in two groups out to the waiting yacht. After taking Dramamine, we...

Market Research at Tambo

22 Sep 2008 22:20 EST

On Tuesday everyone went in groups to their local market and bought something to share with everyone at Tambo the next day. We enjoyed salsa, guacamole, and of course fresh and dried fruits of all kinds. After Tambo we celebrated Katheryn and Zach's birthdays.

The Fort of Real Felipe

22 Sep 2008 01:50 EST

Callao is Lima's port, and is considered a separate city from Lima. At Callao's port we enjoyed sitting on the pebbled beach looking for beautiful rocks. When you look out over the beach it doesn't look like a place you could relax and enjoy. But once you sit on the rounded rocks you begin to spot all the individual pebbles and rocks and find beauty...

Swamp and Shanty Town

15 Sep 2008 01:00 EST

As a finale to our first and arduous week we visited a nature preserve, Pantanos de Villa, a spring fed swamp that borders the ocean. Dozens of species of birds reside there and immigrate there from as far as North American during the US winter (which is Peruvian summer). Shortly thereafter we visited the shantytown that is home to not only a ...

Huaca Pucllana

10 Sep 2008 13:04 EST

[news.yahoo.com...] -- Tuesday we went to Huaca Pucllana (pronounced wak-uh Pookey-ahn-nuh), where we learned about pre-colombian archeology. Our tour guide is an archaeologist. Huaca is a ritual place where the Lima people (earliest known inhabitants of Lima) offered sacrifices of women and ceramic vases to the shark gods. Later, the Wari people...

Downtown Lima

10 Sep 2008 12:17 EST

Monday was student language assessment and tour of downtown Lima. We started our tour of downtown lima, passing over the river Rimac to check out Lima from Cerro San Cristobal (Saint Christopher Hill) which is 409 meters high or relatively 1,342 ft. We rode a packed bus, whose driver, Juanito, managed to get us safely through the shanty town and...

Orientation Day

5 Sep 2008 20:13 EST

Orientation Day started with breakfast at Home Peru, the hostel where the students spent their first night in Peru. As everyone finished their breakfast we readied to walk to Tambo Goshen, about a ten block walk. Our first order of the day were introductions and first impressions. Later Celia, the local coordinator and her husband, Oswaldo joined...

Students have arrived

5 Sep 2008 08:57 EST

Students look alive after we arrived at "Home Peru" where they stayed the night. We got the bus driver to take the scenic view home. The ocean waves and the crash of the surf is even beautiful at night.

Meeting with Families

2 Sep 2008 15:43 EST

Last evening we had coffee and cake with families that will be hosting the students. We heard stories of the adventures they've had with past students. They analyzed the details of everything the students wrote in Spanish. They get excited and begin making plans of what they are going to do with their student based on the profile. Mothers are scheming...

Tambo Goshen

1 Sep 2008 10:23 EST

Our home is on the corner of Diez Canseco and Larco in Miraflores, Lima Peru. Students will spend most of their day here for their first day in Lima. We will also have meetings here every Wednesday. When the Incas ruled, "tambo" was a rest stop, along the way. We expect our times on Wednesday afternoons to be a rest-stop along the journey.

Arrival

27 Aug 2008 10:05 EST

Alex and Julia have arrived in Peru and are settling in to life in Miraflores, Lima. We have toured some of the locations we will be visiting with students. We already know our neighborhood quite well. Our home is about a mile from the Pacific Ocean. It is winter in Peru, but becoming spring as it becomes fall in the north. We are looking forward to the arrival of students.