Well, almost two weeks have passed since my last post, which means that my time here is almost halfway through. I can´t believe it. My first week in the school flew by. It´s really tiring work, especially now that we´re taking care of lesson planning once we return at the end of the day. I return home around 7 or 8 in the evening with enough time to eat my dinner, shower, and pass out in my bed.
We had a mumps scare last week in the schools. About 12 children in Triunfo (the other school) supposedly caught it. The volunteers had an emergency info session with our on-call doctor. He said we should all be fine since we´re strong and healthy and that it´s better if the kids spread it amoung themselves to create an immunity. Influenza, he said, is the thing we should be worrying about instead. This winter season, which is colder than usual, the flu has already killed 28 children in Arequipa. Our kids would be a prime target: underfed, cold houses, dirty neighborhoods, etc. So far nothing has happened at our schools, and we pray it stays that way.
I´m becoming more familiar with the lives of some of the students outside of school; you would never pick up on the seriousness of their situations from their smiling faces at school. I wonder sometimes why Alfredo or Nancy don´t come back after lunch, only to find out later that they had to go home to take care of their younger siblings or help their mom prepare dinner. I asked Magdalena, a girl in second grade, what she likes to do when she´s not in school, expecting an answer like ¨play soccer¨ or ¨read.¨ On the contrary, Magdalena enjoys ¨working.¨ I found out
later that she takes care of most of the housework and her younger brother since her parents left for some reason. Many of them are forced to grow up way too quickly; I can´t even imagine.
The school itself is incredibly lacking in its resources. I think I´d like to find an encyclopedia set for the school before I leave, maybe install some shelves or buy english workbooks. I don´t know. There is so much that could be done. A proper bathroom, for one, would be the perfect addition. A sink was just recently installed outside for when the children wash their hands and hair and brush their teeth. It was like Christmas in June.
Here are a few pictures from school:
All the kids in one place. Sitting down. What a miracle.
My portrait courtesy of Eder--grade 3. See the resemblence?
Alison and Andi and me with our popsicle stick representation of the school.
Alejandra, Maricruz, and me.
Crazy third-grade boys.
This past weekend I went on a trekking trip to Colca Canyon, the second largest canyon in the world (second only to its Peruvian neighbor). Overall, we hiked for about 10 hours, and it was incredibly difficult considering the altitude and the vertical path. There were six other volunteers on the trip; I was very thankful to be one of two that did not get altitude sickness. The pictures can barely convey the depth and beauty of this canyon...
The ¨Oasis¨ wating for us after 7 hours of hiking. Well-deserved.
A beautiful view from the bus on the way home. Tons of terraces.
This weekend I and eight other volunteers are traveling to Bolivia...Copacabana to be exact. A bit of Lake Titicaca here and a bit of shopping there, and hopefully some time to relax, maybe sleep and read? It should be fun. Since I´m American, though, I have to pay a border crossing fee. Go figure. I´m gonna try to flirt my way out of it. Yeah right.
Carla, the new project manager, arrived last week (see right--the kids think we´re twins), along with two new volunteers this weekend: Thomas who is my age and from France, and Candy who is 30 from Hong Kong. I still remain the only American. Patrick arrived on Tuesday--he´s an intern for the next three months, my age and from England. I know what you´re thinking...and the answer is no :-)
I´ll leave you with some interesting things I´ve noted about Peruvian culture and life here in general:
1) My fingernails are ALWAYS dirty.
2) Most people have special covers made for their kitchen appliances to cover them when they´re not in use.
3) Street vendors sell the weirdest things; there´s shoelace man, hot water bottle lady, and suction hook guy. How can they make a living?
4) There are no public trashcans. It´s annoying.
5) You can´t always count on hot water, even in an upper-class neighborhood.
6) Any bill higher than 20 soles is such a burden to change. (20 soles = about $7)
7) Public school teachers have little motivation to show up at school on time (or sometimes at all).
8) The kids at school will copy whenever possible--creativity and imagination are not well-developed.
9) Apparently all gringas look alike. (gringas = white touristy females)
10) The public telephones are actually people who wear a fluorescent vest and carry a cell phone. They´re everywhere! They walk around saying ¨llamadas, llamadas, llamadas¨ and charge about ten cents per call.
11) There are specific streets that sell every type of specialty. There´s banana street, cake street, guitar street, shoe street, etc.
12) Road signs are basically nonexistent (you know, like the stop sign for example). To drive in Arequipa, one must honk the horn every 5 seconds and be very greedy when maneuvering through an intersection.
13) I pay an equivalent of 3 cents for a popsicle at the end of a long day at school. Seven dollars for a fancy and large meal is normal. I can get huge plates of cheap food for about $1 near the plaza. I think I´ll return even more stingy than when I left.
Until next time.
Hasta luego,
Jenna
Zimel and Eder, both in grade 3.
Felix and Alex. They´re brothers; can you tell?
Little Fernando and Ivan. 
Don´t worry, I didn´t buy it.
Copacabana.
Copacabana at sunset, from our hostal window.
A view of Lake Titicaca from the Isla del Sol.
The famous reed boats of Lake Titicaca.
On our way to school in the morning. The van gets quite cozy.
My Spanish teachers, Diana & Elsa, and me
The best view on the way to the Casa de Avila. (the Chili River and Chachani volcano) 
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