Nevertheless, I still decided to sign up for the Ecology class, because I think I will be able to work with the professor after class for extra help if I don't understand something and the other students are very helpful too. Other than Ecology, I decided to officially sign up for Photography and Peruvian Social Reality (along with the Spanish language class of course). I'm really excited, because I find all of my classes very interesting and I think I will be able to learn a lot from them.
During the first week of classes, we also went with our friends Rey and Jonna to a bar on Thursday night to see a band called Tavarra play. Jonna had grown up with all the members of the band, and they reminded me of a Peruvian version of Sublime. I absolutely loved the music! On Saturday night we went to Meg and Jen's house to meet a bunch of our friends. We had a little fiesta on the roof patio of their house, and Rey, Fernando, and Rumi gave us some brief festejo lessons. After, we all went out to dance at a discoteca. On Sunday, Meg, Meredith, and I woke up early to go for a long run along the coast to train for the half marathon. We went for a two hour run and got some beautiful views of the sea and the huge cliffs on the coast in Lima.
This past week was a very busy one! All the foreign students officially matriculated on Monday, and I got into all of the classes I needed. On Monday when I was standing outside of the classroom for Peruvian Social Reality waiting for class to begin, a boy named Guillermo approached me and started a conversation. He asked me where I was from and when he confirmed that I speak English, he told me he really needed help with his homework for English class and asked me if I could help him understand some of his readings. I sat with him for 10 minutes before my class started, and then ended up meeting with him for a few hours later that day to help him out. I figured I might as well take advantage of an opportunity to finally help someone here, since I feel like for the past two months everyone has been helping me! It was also a nice chance to make a friend, and I got to know a little more about my new friend.
Other than classes this past week, I decided to try out a few new activities. I tried out the chapel choir that sings at mass on campus at La Católica, since I sing for the chapel choir at Holy Cross. All of the kids were really nice and I really enjoyed it, but I think the rehearsals conflict with my schedule so I may not have the chance to do it. I also went to my first class of Afro-peruvian dance, which meets every Thurday evening to practice. It definitely put me out of my comfort zone, but it was so much fun to learn such a uniquely Peruvian dance! On Thursday, my new friend from Peruvian Social Reality class invited me to come play basketball with her. She plays every week on Thursdays as part of a 2-credit class, and she said it would not be a problem for her to bring a friend. It was so much fun to play, even though I haven´t really played much basketball since I graduated from High School, and I got to meet a lot of really nice girls on the team.
The other activity I started last week was my volunteer work. Every Friday from 9am to 12 I will go and volunteer at the public Children´s Hospital in Lima with Evelyn. This past Friday, Evelyn and I went for the first time and got to meet the Católica professor who runs the program Aprendo Contigo in various hospitals throughout Lima and will be there during the times we volunteer. I absolutely loved it, and I am so excited to start volunteering. The program is through the education department at La Católica, and the volunteers visit with the kids and help teach them since most of the kids cannot make it to school.
We got to meet some of the kids, and saw one wing with HIV patients and another with cronically ill patients. I met a 16-year-old girl named Leidi who has basically lost all physical use of her body and had bandages covering sores on her head. Despite her heartbreaking condition, she had the most positive attitude and was talking to me about how she likes helping foreign volunteers improve their Spanish. The maturity and positive attitude of a little girl placed with such suffering was truly enlightening for me to see. I have a feeling that I will be learning more from these children than they will be learning from me, but I do hope that I can make some sort of impact in their lives.
After the first day of volunteering, I was so happy with my preview of the kind of work I will get to do this semester. This volunteer work is exactly what I´ve been hoping to do for quite some time now. I have also been in touch with the same professor and am going to go try out a second hospital location on Thursday afternoons for children with HIV. Lima is full of opportunities to volunteer, and I am excited to get started.
Besides all my new activities, we had a pretty busy weekend as well! On Friday, the HC kids and I went to a dance performance put on by students from La Católica in a local museum. All of the student perfomers were extremelly talented and we saw typical dances from all over Peru. Rey danced in the Afro-peruvian festejo dance and Jonna sang the music for many of the mountain-region dances. They both have so much talent, and it was fun to go and cheer them on! On Saturday we had a mini fiesta in Sean and Peter´s house to celebrate Sean´s birthday.
El viernes - un baile de la sierra
Los chicos con Rey y Jonna despúes del show
On Sunday, it was the big half marathon day! We woke up at 6am to get to the center of Lima for the start of the race at 8am. Meredith, Meg, Peter, and I all ran together, along with our Peruvian friend Hugo. It was an amazing experience, and although I definitely got tired at times, we all finished the 21 kilometers/13 miles without having to stop at all along the way - and we crossed the finish line hand in hand! The weather for the race was perfect - the typical Lima weather of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit and cloudy - and the race was almost totally flat. The route went all through Lima, from downtown to Miraflores to the coastal views, and there were different bands playing music along the way to cheer us on! It was a great feeling to finish the race, and we were all so glad we got to participate.
Los corredores con éxito despúes de la media maraton
Con nuestras "hinchas" dedicadas
After resting a lot yesterday, I have to start catching up on some of my homework and readings for classes! I will write more again soon!
Nos vemos,
Michelle
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