Service visit: Katie in Caraybamba

Katie’s family: Mayli, Adolfo, Charmely, and Silvestra.

Tuesday-Wednesday, March 7-8.

Katie is the first student to have this village as her service assignment.  The connection was made through Katie’s host family in Lima: the host mother of Katie’s service family is the sister of Katie’s host mother in Lima.

Caraybamba is reached by a 14-hour overnight bus ride from Lima, followed by a 30-minute taxi ride off the main road to this quaint village of a few hundred residents.  When we arrived, we found Katie at the school where she will teach English; since Peru is at the tail end of their summer vacation period, classes would not begin until March 13.  The director and teachers were at the school, playing volleyball during a break between class preparations.  Later we went to the traditional adobe home where Katie lives with her host family and enjoyed a lunch with the Andean staple – potatoes – flavored with local herbs.

We returned the following day to pick up Katie for a visit to the town of Vito, a 3-hour taxi ride away, where students Isaac and Rowen have their service location.  A narrow, winding mountain road took us up through the tundra, past breathtaking scenery, to a high mountain pass where we gradually descended into a neighboring valley.  In the next blog entry we’ll share our visit with Isaac and Rowen in Vito.