El Doctor Sonia me ha curado.

Well, it´s already Sunday (and JUNE!) and hard to believe that a week has passed since I arrived in Peru. Here´s an update of my week since I posted on Monday. I finally made it out to the school on Friday, so I´ll give you an idea of the conditions we´re working in; It´s very humbling.

I spent all of Tuesday in bed, sick (for the first time since my 13th birthday) from eating some grapes that were washed in the sink water (we think). I forgot how much I hate throwing up. Not fun. Well, I eventually got those grapes out of my system and felt much better by Tuesday night. ¨El Doctor Sonia te ha curado,¨ my mom said to me, which means ¨Dr. Sonia has cured you.¨ Whenever I pack a lunch now, Raul asks me if I want to take some grapes; it´s our little joke.

Thursday I was able to explore the city by myself a bit, hanging out near the Plaza de Armas and doing some homework in a cute little coffee shop near the Casa de Avila. I ran a few errands and used my bartering skills to get a taxi home. It was a great day for practicing some Spanish and trying not to look like a tourist, which is difficult considering my height and skin color, and basically everything else.

Friday was my first day in the school. It was a good day to go because every Friday is gym day and ends a bit earlier than usual. The GVI volunteers squeeze into a van at 8:00 in the morning and travel to the outskirts of the city, arriving at 8:30 at the schools. The children are finishing up their breakfast of warm milk and run to us to give us hugs and say good morning. They´re dirty and a bit rowdy but so precious. The school itself is extremely small, only two rooms (one for grade 1-3 and another for grade 4-6). It is situated in the middle of a very rocky and dusty mountain which overlooks the city and has a beautiful view of the volcanos. Most of the children´s parents work in the chacras, which are the fields at the bottom of the mountain. They work about 12 or 13 hours per day, from 5am-5pm or something like that, which leaves little time to be with their kids. The children get up in the morning on their own and come to school without much breakfast (and in many cases no dinner the night before). I´ve never been so close to poverty in my life; It´s quite saddening but so incredible how happy these children are. I´m really excited to get to know their names and personalities in these next few weeks. Teaching them will be quite the experience.

Friday night I went to the movies with the ¨younger¨ volunteers. The theater and mall area is about 5 minutes from my house. Saturday the GVI people had a BBQ at the Casa de Avila, where we were introduced to the two new volunteers, Nadia and Georgina (from Colorado and London, respectively).

The weather has been constantly beautiful here in Arequipa: no clouds, sunny during the day (between 60-75ish), and nice and cool at night. It might not rain a single time while I´m here; we´re not in the season for rain. Perfect weather, if you ask me.

Here´s a picture of my Mom and Dad (Sonia y Raul):



I´ll put pictures on here from the GVI computer until I buy a new camera cord.
There you have it. One more week of Spanish classes to go and then I´ll be leaving a bit earlier each day to help in the school. Congratulations for reaching the bottom :-)

Love you all,
Jenna (or ¨Jane¨ as my mom calls me)

¡Que perfecto!

So, my faithful readers, I´m officially in love with Arequipa. Here´s a not-so-short recap of the last few days for you:

After some delays in Newark and Miami, I arrived on time in Arequipa and was greeted by my GVI project manager, Chrissie, and Alison, a volunteer my age from Canada. We went to the Casa de Avila, which is the home base hostal for the Spanish classes I´ll be taking for two weeks and the home of GVI´s partner, Armando, and his family. I dropped my things off in my temporary room and left right away to eat lunch with Alison. We had some delicious (and cheap) sandwiches and then met up with the other five volunteers, who are all older than me (40ish) and from England (with the exception of Andrea, who is 24 and from Canada). I tagged along with the group as they went shopping for birthday gifts for the children who have birthdays in May. They will celebrate their birthdays this week in the two schools; for some students, this will be their first birthday party ever.

Later that evening we had a BBQ at the Casa de Avila with Armando and all the guests of the hostal. Armando made some traditional dishes, incluing ceviche, which is basically raw fish in a lemony sauce. I loved it (you would too, Dad). We hung around in the garden area for a while eating and chatting, and then I went to bed around 8:30, exhausted from a full day of traveling and walking around Arequipa.

The next day (Sunday) the new volunteers had orientation with Chrissie. The four of us learned about the GVI project, who\why we are helping, the city of Arequipa, our Spanish classes, host families, etc. We all went out for a wonderful lunch (again, very cheap, and when I say cheap I mean about 15 soles for a very nice and satisfying meal, which translates to about 5 dollars) where we finished our paperwork and then headed back to the Casa de Avila where we were to meet our host families.

I absolutely love my host family! My mother´s name is Sonia and my father is Raul. They have two sons: Sergio, who is 29 and lives in Cusco with his wife and daughter, and Alonzo, who is 23 and studying in Lima to become a priest. Sonia´s sister lives next door and is hosting Vanessa, a GVI volunteer from England who is 43. She barely knows Spanish, but she´s learning very quickly, and it´s really nice having someone so close to walk to school with. I have my own room and bathroom and can come and go as I please. It´s wonderful. I´ve been speaking so much Spanish at home with my mama y papa; I can already notice improvement.

Today (Monday) was my first day of Spanish classes. They´re from 9am-1pm. I have two teachers, two hours per teacher. Today we conversed in Spanish, got to know each other, and got an idea of my ability level. For the next two weeks, I will have class every day, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon I will visit the school and meet the children and get to know the processes of how things work. The rest of the day is for homework, a late lunch, and exploring the city.

Well, it´s about 9:15, and I´m heading to bed. I don´t think I´ve been to bed as early as this in a looooooooong time. I would love to post a few pictures, but my camera cord was stolen from my suitcase...so those will have to wait. Keep me in your prayers; as much as I love it here, it´s still a bit dangerous for a ¨tourista¨ like me.

Love you and miss you all so much,
Jenna

PS FYI, the time is an hour behind here.

Anticipation...

I depart on Friday, May 23rd for Arequipa, Peru, for eight weeks of service through Global Vision International (made possible by the Bonner Program at UR and my church). More specifically, the first two weeks will be filled with one-on-one Spanish classes, followed by six weeks of volunteering in an elementary school right outside of the city. The volunteers mainly teach art, physical education, and English, although at times we may need to teach math or science or history, etc., (in Spanish).

I will be living with a host family in Arequipa and will work with about 5 other volunteers in my assigned school during the week. The evenings and weekends are free for us to explore the city and travel. There are a few trips planned for the volunteers so far, including a 3-day trek into the Colca Canyon (which is larger than the Grand Canyon), mountain biking through the villages in Pichu-Pichu, and horseback riding. I hope to fit in a trip to Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and the beach....if I have time! I'm starting to wish I had planned to stay for more than 8 weeks. My bank account would like to think otherwise.

I'm really excited to be thrown into another culture and to experience some challenging situations. I'm anticipating a bit of failure and loneliness (and diarrhea...), but in a way I'm excited for those things (not the diarrhea) because I know that in those moments of weakness God can teach me more about myself and others and can make me stronger.

I'll try my best to post some interesting stories and pictures as often as possible. Please restrain yourself from bombarding me with packages :-) If you have the urge to send me something, a letter is best (I will have e-mail access, though):

Jenna Garber
c/o Casa De Avila
Av. San Martin 116
Vallecito, Arequipa

Much more to come,
Jenna