Life in Poroto has been going well! I’m still settling into the lifestyle here, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how busy I’ve been and the experiences I’ve had thus far. My mentality of what constitutes a productive day is slowly beginning to shift in order to adapt to the culture and pace of life here in Peru, but I’m definitely excited about the opportunities that await and the relationships that I’m slowly beginning to develop.

The infamous “Hora Peruana” is quite evident here in Peru; people tend to be late for just about everything. I went to meeting about the water systems and importance of clean drinking water at the health post this morning and it started a solid 2 hours after it was scheduled. Luckily I was able to have some interesting conversations in the meantime, but I still can’t believe how acceptable it is to be incredibly late to meetings and gatherings. Regardless, the water meeting was informative and definitely seems to be one of the main focuses of development here in Peru. It affects nearly every sector of society, so the government is working to help promote clean water throughout the country.

I visited one of the school director’s in a nearby caserio to plan some events in the upcoming weeks, which worked out well. I’ll be teaching some English classes as well as meeting with professors and parents to determine some of the needs of the school and the community. The director was ready to have me jump in and begin teaching and facilitating workshops, lessons, and meetings, but I had to explain that I first needed to get to know the community and the people here in order for my work to be relevant. It was encouraging to see his enthusiasm, and I’m looking forward to beginning projects soon. Later, I met with the Consejeras de Salud youth group where I’m also going to begin presenting workshops and “charlas” in the upcoming weeks during their sessions.