Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Reasons I am Sick....


Since I have been sick for 3 ½ weeks now, I thought I would do a quick post on what being sick in Peru is…
Having a cold in Peru is a weird thing, though you may think you know how one gets a cold…going outside in 40 degree weather with a bathing suit on….putting your face right infront of someone as they sneeze…Purposely drinking out of the cup your really sick friend was using…and so on….
However getting a cold in Peru happens for much different reasons….the below are all reasons that I have been told of why I got sick and why I am still sick.
“Well, you know why you are sick, you mixed too many foods yesterday…you had eggs for breakfast, you had cereal for lunch, and yogurt, you can’t mix foods like that..”
“You eat cold milk with your cereal, no wonder you are sick.”
“You drink a bottle of water at room temperature, that is too cold, no wonder you are still sick.”
ANY COLD FOODS will cause sickness.
“Why aren’t you drinking hot water with lemon and sugar, that would have cured you days ago…”

Reasons I think I could possibly be sick besides the valid reasons I have stated above…
No one washes their hands…ever.
It is 40 degrees and I have to take an ice cold shower…
No one covers their mouth when they cough, especially the kids I work with.
All dishes are washed in super cold water, killing all sorts of germs with that J

Just to name a few….
Hoping the doctor will give me some insight tomorrow on what I can do to get better…hoping it is more than drink hot water and eat only rice and potatoes.

Cooking, Teaching, Site Mates, Staying busyyyyyy


Since the last time I blogged it has been a crazy time.
My schedule everyday is as follows.
Monday through Friday 8-12AM work at the CEBE then from 5-6:30 teach English at Casa Nova, a high school essentially. I work with the top two grades. Last week I went and observed classes and helped teach. The professor knows a lot of English, I mean for a Peruvian, and so it is interesting to listen to him speak. There will be a lot more about this later, when I actually get to teach solo.
I also held a meeting with my CEBE staff, about goals we want to accomplish and setting those, it was very interesting…I think my CEBE is a little divided when it comes on what to focus. However it is very nice to have a group of people who are passionate about making changes, so that is what keeps me motivated.
I am right now working with my brother Pedro on drawing lines, by the end of this year I want to have him writing his name, which he cannot do right now.
I made pancakes for my family and banana bread, both of which were a huge hit. I like to test out my cooking on them, so far they have liked everything I have made. I also cooked for the students in the CEBE, I cooked French toast for two hours last Friday. Using my hands to turn them because there was no spatula.
Something super exciting that has happened, is my site mate Chris is back from vacation, and his girlfriend Katie is here too! Now I have to “gringos” in my site, and will for the next year. Chris started a youth center in Cutervo in the year he has been here, which is a huge accomplishment. I am super excited because I get to help out with this center. We are already looking to have a party on October 22, the anniversary of Cutervo, and on the 31st of October for Halloween. This youth center is an amazing opportunity for these kids, and we got the keys to the space on Friday. I have my own set, and I am super super excited to start working on stuff to make this youth center super successful.
I am still sick, I actually have a doctors appointment tomorrow in the capital city. I am headed there anyways for a camp for girls around Cajamarca. Volunteers bring students to this camp and we (17er’s/newbies) get to help and observe the charlas, and next year we will be able to bring students from our sites.
So tomorrow I will not only be arriving in Cajamarca, I will also be getting my internet USB, which will really help me with updating my blog…which I apologize for the lack of posts.
I also apologize for the lack of pictures, I will be taking many more pictures, I have just been so busy I really haven’t even thought about pictures, but I will for sure be taking more and posting some.
For now, that is all, hope that helps clear up, where the heck I have been all of September!
Love!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sickness

September 7th :)

So it has been a week since I have blogged. It has been a crazy week, a mix of activities and emotions have kept me mighty busy. I went to the CEBE every morning last week, like I do everyday. The CEBE has class through the week days from 8-12. On Wednesday I went to an inclusion school which was really interesting. I went with the director of my CEBE and another teacher, and we visited a little girl who has trouble speaking. We did language therapy which consisted of 10 minutes of massaging her cheeks, which were really tense, and having her prenounce words like mama and papa. I realized that this only happens for approximately 10 minutes twice a week. Not because she doesn’t need it more often but because my teachers are spread thin and they don’t have any more time to spend with her. This is just the reality…however these exercises are easy enough that if taught parents would easily be able to do them with their children, but like I have found many a times, the parents lack interest in wanting to do these types of things, or really working with these kids at all. This was also something I found when my I gave surveys to the professors at my school, they all stated that most of the time kids don’t attend because their parents have no interest. Now I don’t know if this is because they believe that their kids aren’t able to do this, or will get anything out of it, or if they want to protect their kids by sheltering them, and not challenging them. I will hopefully find more out when I visit the parents of my students, which hopefully will start late next week. I need to prepare a broad questionnaire to guide my conversations, but it overall be really informative.
Last Thursday I went to the Alcalde with my Director another professor and a mother of one of the students at the CEBE. We waited for an hour to speak with him, only for him to leave. I will be doing the same thing tomorrow morning, so wish me luck.
Friday, a day like any other, because the weekends are actually something you don’t necessarily look forward to, because there is nothing to do.  Was the start of a tough weekend. For the first time ever in Peru I was homesick. I missed a big weekend back at home, the first Nebraska football game and my dad turned 50!! Both huge moments, and I was the one who had to miss out. However on Saturday I did have a wild game of Monopoly with my sister and her friends. I also made French toast for my family who loved it…TIP use chocolate milk for the batter, soooo good. Then on Sunday my older sister Bellie came to visit for the day. She is doctor who works in Cuba and here in Peru in Chiclayo. We had a great morning with fruit salad for breakfast, and Bellie and I talked for an hour together after. That afternoon the whole family went to the cemetery, where we visited the grave of Miguel, a child my family lost when he was two years old. It was a family bonding moment. We took a bunch of pictures together and then went to Salon Azul a restaurant, where I for the first time ever in my life ate Cuy (Guinea Pig) a delicacy here in Peru. It tasted like chicken kind of, but with less flavor…very little meat…just overall not bad, but not worth it. Afterwards we went and visited more family and then we had to take Bellie to the bus station, which thank gosh the bus left late otherwise we wouldn’t have made it.
I woke up Monday, still with this sickness I have now had for almost two weeks. However Monday was different, my cold has now moved into my chest as well, so I have a really nice and nasty cough. Needless to say I lounged around all day. Otherwise this week I have been going to the CEBE and working with Pedro and the other students. Today I got some Papolotes and have been working on getting all the survey answers that I gathered from my professors on to Papolotes to put up in the directors office, I also need to get a cuaderno to make a goal journal, so as a team the teachers and the CEBE and myself can set goals to accomplish with objectives and track our progress..
I’ll keep you updated more once I get my internet stick but until then, adios!