The Final Post (and other things).

So we've been back in the US for a week.  I think that this post (forgive me), is going to be one part summary, one part random thoughts, and one part advice.

The Monday before we left (we left Urubamba Tuesday night, and Lima Wednesday night), we had our despedida (going away party).  It was nice to see the people we worked with (Ameriko, Jaime), and all of our host families in one place.  Since it was our last night, at dinner Chris and I gave our host mom two framed pictures of our host brother as our goodbye gift.  She kissed one of the pictures, so I think we did good.

Our final day in Urubamba, Tuesday, we finished at 711 by giving all the classes new soccer and volley pelotas, and played some games with them.  After that, we were told to stick around for a bit.  6B gave us a cute speech on how much they appreciate what we've for them, how we'll be in their hearts, and how they're giving us gifts so we can remember them.  Each of the classes gave us a gift - 6A gave us each a money holder/satchel bag (handmade!), 6B gave us one too, and 6C gave us a beautiful ceramic bowl made in Urubamba.  It was really, really touching.  Also, 6B gave us a song on the environment, and on colors too!  See below. (videos are a little large, maybe I'll youtube it).

Figure 1: Confetti

Figure 2: handmade satchel

Even though they gave us gifts, and showered us with confetti (I swear I'm still finding it in my things), you gotta wonder - did we really do that much to help them?  I would like to think that yes, Emily and I made a significant change in their lives, they'll become more responsible with the environment, and they'll be role models in that aspect.  But you know what? I sort of doubt it - Urubamba's just not really a friendly place to be environmentally friendly.   I guess with a project like this, it's hard to really measure the progress you've made.  With stoves, you can count the number of stoves you've made, and say, "wow, I did a good job by making 'X' stoves."  With education, you just gotta give them a push and hope for the best.  Yes, a goodbye party is nice, and it is nice to know that we mean a lot to them, but really (and I'm being blunt here), did they like us because we taught them environmental science and English (and they liked it?), or did they like us because we represented a time away from their normal teachers?  I know that this past paragraph was really cynical, and that we probably did make a significant change to some degree, but as community service goes, you have to question your actual impact sometimes.

That Tuesday afternoon, we said goodbye to our host family (our mom gave us hats!), and we took pictures/exchanged emails.

Left to Right: Augusto, Ana, and Andre

Onto happier things: re-entry into the states.  Here's a list of changes from Peru-life to USA-life that I've noticed.

• The US is so clean.  Modern sanitation (and the ability to flush TP down the toilet) is amazing.
• We can drink tap water. Makes life so much easier
• I miss speaking Spanish to store-owners and people in general
• The US (summer) is so green.
• Supermarkets just rock.
• The skies in Urubamba are just way bluer. No comparison to US skies.
• Dogs have leashes!
• Roads are wide and paved/Drivers are nicer
• Wifi is unbelievably fast
• Having internet 24/7 is a luxury that we don't really realize we have
• I miss mountains

Finally, for all the dukies, or travelers, planning to go to Peru in the future and have stumbled across this blog, I'll leave you with an unofficial packing list of what to bring, but you should check out the rest of this blog to know what to expect.

Bring:

• Warm clothes + layers.  Dress for maximum high of 70 F, minimum of 40 F
• Really warm clothes (if you're going hiking, prep for 20-25 degree F)
• Internal Frame Backpack if you plan on hiking
• Rain jacket/pants (just in case)
• warm hat/socks/gloves
• pack light, because you can always buy alpaca sweaters for cheap
• dSLR if you've got one - Peru's just way pretty.
• clothes to get dirty
• all toiletries (more expensive in Peru)
• quick dry towel
• for guys - ex-officios
• Medicine: Immodium, lots of pepto bismol, 2-3 rounds of Ciprofloxacin (literally a life saver), hand sanitizer, sunblock, aloe vera, band-aids, blister band-aids/moleskin/duct tape.
• Water treatment: a water filter (like MSR Miniworks EX), or treatment tablets would've been great. Parasites suck.
• A good sleeping bag.
• Headlamp
• Leatherman
• ziploc freezer bags
• 3 prong - 2 prong adaptor
• Education: scotch tape, markers, english-spanish teaching book (with pronunciations)

I'll add more if it comes to me, but that's mostly what you should bring if you go to Peru (in the cusco region at least).

#Thanksforreading #blogtastic 

Respect and Reward

So this idea's been rattling in my head for a while (to all the teachers reading my blog, this goes out to you).

Respect in the classroom.

Now that we're coming to the end of our time in Peru, I feel like I can talk on the difficulties of teaching in Peru, and teaching in general.  In Peru, the children love: being competitive, and hitting each other.  With being competitive (in activities), we've just told them to calm down, and tried to be just.  With hitting each other, we tell them sternly to not do it, and tell their teacher if things get worse than a little hit.  From what I can tell, that's the only difference from American children. (oh, and they really love copying things from the board for some reason).  Now on teaching, sixth graders are sixth graders.  They're loud, don't want to pay attention sometimes, and can be difficult to teach sometimes.

Onto respect.  I feel like despite us spending so much time with them, we have yet to gain their full respect as teachers.  That feeling, my friends, is not a good one.  For example, we can't get the class to a full silence without the teacher there (attempts elicit laughter/mockery).  Maybe it's because we're too nice, or we're just too gringo for them to take us seriously.  While I feel like we succeeded in teaching them the material we wanted them to learn, which is great (some of them spontaneously broke out in "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" Tuesday!!), I still kinda regret not fully gaining their respect like their teachers have.  Again, maybe it is because we don't yell enough (Peruvian teachers yell a lot), or because we can't really do much to punish them.  (the Spanish component might have something to do with it as well)  Either way, for all student teachers I've ever had, for all teachers that have had a difficult class/student, I completely understand, and am sorry.

The beautiful part of this, however, is that we can see how far they've progressed.  I think some of you know how good it feels to see when a lesson has gotten through. That's where reward comes in, and makes my qualms about respect irrelevant!  See, the best part about teaching (and volunteering), is getting something back in return for all the sweat and tears you put in.  I think in the end, that's what I'm going to let define my time here.  Because honestly, seeing my kids sing in English was pretty awesome.


#totheteachers #6daystillthestates #notsickanymore #whenisitgoingtostopraining

I guess we're doing something right?

So our wonderful Site Coordinator, Kate, came by 711 today to talk to the teachers about a field trip we're taking the kids on next week (we're taking them to the La Salle greenhouses!), and to observe us teaching.  She talked to the 6C teacher for a while, and told us that he said that the Duke volunteers coming to teach has been a really positive experience.  So much so, that he wants to try and work out something where Pro-World volunteers can come teach at 711 year-round!

That's really great to hear, and it's fantastic that we've made such a positive impression.  Made my day.

#unexpected #icanteach! #howawesomeisthat

Week in Review

Hey everyone, it's been a busy week, so I'm just going to cram everything into one post.

School:

711 school

-This week, we taught water/air pollution, and we used a jug of water to demonstrate tragedy of the commons, in which each student pollutes a clean jug of water with a spoonful of trash/dirt/oil.

-6B has cemented itself as my favorite class, they're so cute!

La Salle

-Made liquid fertilizer: cow/chicken feces, fish/chicken heads, chicken guts, water, chicha, yeast, corn bits, sugar - it gets to sit for three months and ferment!

-Pigs are cute

A little piglet trying to get some water

-There's lots of poo. Everywhere.

Life

-My birthday in Peru was cool, I got to go see the Ollantaytambo ruins and the Pisac ruins/market (So Cool!  The market is fantastic)

Pisac ruins

-There is this amazing cereal type thing here - think life cereal (or frosted mini wheats without the frosted), except that it's filled with chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry filling (amazingly good)

-The stars here are so amazingly bright, and the sky is clear as can be. Go Peru.

Starry Night.

#inlovewithPeru #inlovewithperuvianfood

La Salle

The environmental education volunteers teach at 711 on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. On Wednesdays and Fridays (market days in Urubamba), we work with La Salle, an organization that cultivates and sells organic fruits and vegetables (to Urubamba and some restaurants in Cuzco). Two of us work in the market in Urubamba, selling the fruits and veggies, while the other two work in the greenhouse, taking care of the plants (then we switch).

The market in Urubamba (on market days), is ginormous! It covers at least a block-wide radius, if not more, including a 3-story warehouse full with vendors. Apparently all the vendors come from the communities around Urubamba, to sell their products. All types of trinkets, grains, bread, fresh fruit/veggie/meat, etc. can be found here, and it's an experience to just walk around and see what everyone has. La Salle has a little space outside of the warehouse, and there, we sell what's ripe and ready. People come to the market at 7 for the freshest items, and the produce generally runs out by noon. Yesterday, Emily and I sold tomatoes ("¡uno cincuenta por kilo!" - 1.50 soles per kilo of tomatoes), and it was pretty cool. The gente would come, ask about the price, ask for a set price/weight, and we would help them. A custom here, is that if they're exactly at, say one kilo, then they want to "aumentame", or add some more (for free). This happens especially with the older women of Urubamba, and if they ask for it, you just give them a smaller, slightly damaged tomato for free. That's the market!

In the greenhouse, we do weeding around the plants and generally prepare the ground to grow really, really good organic fruits + veggies.  (organic strawberries are Ah-mazing!) There are baby pigs, baby cows, regular/gigantic sized cows (only females to produce milk, they sell the males).  La Salle produces organic: tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, beets, peppers, milk, yogurt, etc. It's pretty cool!

#organicwin #babycowsarecute #markettime

711

So after teaching all three classes, I think I can comment on how things are / are going to be. All the students have a uniform, which consists of tan button down shirts with epaulets and matching tan pants (sometimes with a hat), and then a sweater if they're cold. All the students are super cute - upon walking into the school, we're immediately surrounded by students excited to see us (calling out "¡Profe!", short for profesor), and in some cases, I'm called "ProfeDavid." It's adorable :)

Emily and I are teaching 3 different 6th grade classes, the oldest in 711. What's interesting is how each of the 3 classes differ (mostly) based on the teacher. In 6A, the profesora is really strict, and the class is super quiet as a result. In 6B, the teacher is pretty chill and nice, and the class is really energetic and fun to teach. In 6C, the teacher seems good…but today when Emily and I taught his class for the first time, he kinda dipped out on us for all of the class, except for the first ten minutes. Read: Emily and I had to control one of the more inherently rowdy classes by ourselves (not that bad but still). Regardless of the class dynamic, I love teaching these kids, and I think that the next 7 weeks are going to be excellent. (this week we focused on icebreakers, trying and failing to remember names, and gauging their level of knowledge of the environment and english). After I work in the greenhouse tomorrow, I'll post about that aspect of my project work.


#socute #imateacherquestionmark #myspanishisbetterthanithought

Project Time (here we go)

So, for those who aren't exactly sure on what I'm doing in Peru, I'm teaching the environment to 6th graders in Urubamba for most of the time. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, I get to go to the 711 school, which is so exciting! The kids are really cute - we met them today, and they just congregated around us (due to us sticking out like a sore thumb). We were there for recess, and we got to play volleyball with them (super fun). I think this will be pretty challenging, considering that we have to make lesson plans and make sure our spanish is up to par for actually teaching for an hour and a half at a time (~1 hr for environment, ~30 min for English teaching). On the days that we don't teach at 711, we get to either work in a greenhouse cultivating plants, or selling those plants at a market! There'll be more on all of this later, but that's the basic rundown.

#socool #excited #littlenervous