The school days in Peru begin with “formation,” where all the students line up in a military-like fashion to sing the national anthem, do simple marching exercises, and hear announcements. The director of the main school in Poroto agreed to present me to the students and teachers at the school during formation, so I began my day by being introduced by microphone in front of hundreds of students. I also gave an impromptu speech indicating my interest in working with the youth both within and outside of the school. The whole thing was kind of funny, but it was a great way for almost all of the youth in the community to at least know who I am and have some indication of why some crazy “gringa” has been wondering around Poroto. I also had a chance to meet the teachers from the secundaria and arrange to participate in some of their classes in the upcoming weeks. Everyone’s first interest is teaching English, but they also seem open to some of the other projects I would like to eventually implement.

Immediately after this meeting I went to the primaria in Mochal and taught an English lesson. Teaching at this school is a bit of a challenge because the ages range dramatically, but the lesson was fairly successful today. It is amazing how difficult it can be to explain basic concepts of language to students who have never heard English before. It took me a solid hour to explain the difference between the question and answer segments of “What is your name?” and “My name is ____.” However, they eventually caught on and we were able to cover some different topics. As I was teaching I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a group of people with a video camera and I wanted to die. I had no idea who they were, but I certainly wasn’t particularly excited about my first English lesson being filmed. I later learned that they were university students who were doing a project about rural education systems, so I was able to speak with them a little bit about what I’ll be doing here.

This is along the road surrounded by sugar cane where I walk to the caserio to give English lessons.

After our English lesson was over one of the mothers invited me to lunch at her house, which was definitely a treat. We shared a lunch of arroz con pollo as well as fresh avocado pulled right off the tree in her farm. The house was definitely humble, with mud floors and walls, a tin roof, and two small rooms, but you would have never known by her kindness and generosity. She was warm and inquisitive about my life in the US and my adjustment to Peru. Her daughter was playing with a doll as we ate, and when I asked what her doll’s name was told me it didn’t have one. Seconds later, she held up the doll, which was your typical blonde haired, blue-eyed doll, and immediately declared, “Se llama Kelsi, porque sus ojos son celestes como tuyos!”

After lunch she and her two adorable children gave me an extensive tour of their farm and we sampled all kinds of new fruits as we trekked through the fields. I also met her three cows: Julio, Estrella, and Gringo; when I asked her why the one cow was named Gringo she giggled and explained “because its white, of course!” After my tour she filled a huge bag with sugar cane and guaba to take back with me and enjoy later.